As part of a cycle of webinars on “Building back resilience” implemented in the framework of EBSOMED project, BUSINESSMED, in cooperation with the Union for the Mediterranean, is organising the Online BSO Management Academy "The Sanitarian Crisis as an accelerator of the digitalisation path of the Mediterranean Business Ecosystem" to be held on 25 February 2021.

The digital economy has benefited substantially from the COVID-19 crisis. The Mediterranean witnessed a rapid migration to digital technologies driven by the pandemic which is still ongoing into the recovery. BSOs and SMEs were aware of the fact that business continuity is closely linked to their digital transformation. Hence, they are accelerating their shifts toward digital-first models at warp speed.

The European Union is strongly committed in the digital agenda for recovery  and in accelerating the “digital leap” in the different sectors. Beginning 2021, the European Commission started committing the funds under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, following the adoption of the relevant sector-specific rules as well as of the annual budget for 2021 by the European Parliament and the Council. This framework focus on a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe. Strategically, the EU adopted the approach of spending on digital offers large returns on investment and this must be a central component of the post-recovery.

Digital technologies are also a critical prerequisite for achieving the EU Green Deal’s sustainability goals across different sectors of the economy and society, such as agriculture, transport, health, and education. The Green Deal sets the goal of reducing transport emissions by 90%  in 2050, and with the 2030 climate target plan, the EU intends to achieve an EU-wide and economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by 2030 of at least 55%. To do so, the EU is enhancing multimodality and supporting the uptake and use of the most sustainable transport and mobility solutions. Innovation, digitalisation and new technologies have crucial role in addressing these challenges and in keeping society functioning.

The Mediterranean needs to accelerate these developments by placing digitalisation at the core of the post-COVID-19 recovery.

The Union for the Mediterranean considered the digitalisation as an important factor to consider when looking at methods and policies to reduce poverty and to create  jobs.  The digitalisation is positively correlated with labour productivity especially following the lockdown. The UfM pushed to have the social economy increasingly incorporated into initiatives and programmes aimed at strengthening the private sector in the MENA region. They also declared the importance of improving digital competences within the social economy and increasing their development in emerging and innovative sectors in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

BUSINESSMED is committed to accelerate the digital transformation and fostering the interconnectivity across the Mediterranean. Through its innovative platform the Business Country Desk – BCD, BUSINESSMED is targeting the increase of regional cooperation and stability. The platform is facilitating business-to-business trade online and cooperation within the region and on the border rules-based multilateral systems.

Broadly speaking, the sanitarian crisis has emerged new concepts, new business models including a drive to create a regional oriented strategies to help realise the necessary shift in the paradigm. The EU Digital Economy and Society Index 2020 highlighted that mainly following the pandemic, enterprises benefit furthermore from cross-border e-commerce by exploiting economies of scale. This helps to reduce costs, increase efficiency, promote competitiveness and improve productivity. Following this perspective, BUSINESSMED is launching the Business Country Desk Platform enabling SMEs to benefit from the cross-border e-commerce.

The objectives of the webinar are:

• Provide concrete solutions to meet the challenges of the Post-COVID-19 economic recovery;
• Debate the ways the crisis had accelerated the digitalisation path of the Mediterranean Business Ecosystem;
• Debate the trade opportunities of the Post-COVID-19 that the countries of the region should seize;
• Discuss the opportunities that technologies offer in the post-COVID-19 era to the Mediterranean region.

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Registration is available via this link.