On Monday 5 November 2018, CEEP General Secretary Valeria Ronzitti addressed the Macro-Economic Dialogue, in presence of Mario Centeno, ECB President, Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission VicePresident, and Hartwig Löger, Austrian Minister of Finance. Focussing on the potential of digitalisation to support the economic recovery and the EU competitiveness, Valeria Ronzitti highlighted the following priorities:

Digitalisation to modernise Public Services and SGIs: “Public services’ enterprises in all sectors are on a firm path towards digitalisation, as it can contribute to reaching cost reduction targets, to driving productivity and quality, and to allowing organisations to refocus on delivering critical public services.”

Digitalisation calls for new skills needs: “For Public services’ employers, many public services jobs are forecast to be displaced because of automation by 2030. However, it is clear that digitalisation will imply an increased demand for new skills, both digital skills and soft skills such as analytical, social and entrepreneurial skills. This will lead to a great need for the upskilling and reskilling of employees.”

Digitalisation and the need for a level-playing field: “The digital transformation of public services will require large investments in the public sector. These are investments that will come on top of investments in infrastructure and human capital and could have an impact on the growth and stability pact. One way to meet the demands for increased investments is to allow public services’ enterprises to follow the same deduction rules for investments as private companies”.