Digital Partnerships in Action (DPA)

About the project

The Digital Partnerships in Action (DPA) project is funded by the European Union and managed by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI).

See: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/partnerships

Digital transformation is a policy priority for the European Commission. In practice, this translates to a digital transformation inspired by European democratic values and respect for fundamental rights, and which contributes to a sustainable, inclusive, climate-neutral and resource-efficient economy.

Within this context, the EC expects digital technologies to significantly improve the lives of citizens and bring major benefits to society and the economy, while also contributing to a “twin”, green and digital transition in Europe and beyond. In line with the EU’s Digital strategy, which seeks to make the European Union the most connected continent by 2030, the EC is expanding its connections between Europe and the rest of the world to address the digital divide and further develop a sustainable digital economy with trusted partners.

In line with that approach, in 2022, the EU announced the creation of Digital Partnerships (DPs) with three Asian countries: Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore. As underlined by the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, when announcing the DPs, these are likely to impact recent EU proposals, such as the EU Chips Act or the AI Act; as well as help achieving interoperability between the EU and Asia, as the EU Commission and ASEAN countries continue to cooperate in the digital space.

The overall objective of the assignment is to support the implementation of Digital Partnerships between the EU and Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singapore, seeking the alignment and convergence in different areas of the digital economy in order to facilitate digital trade, business links and a human-centric digital transformation.