supporting Eastern Partnership countries’ digital economy and society

the challenge

EU4Digital’s goal is to extend the benefits of the European Union’s Digital Single Market to the Eastern Partner states, channelling EU support to develop the potential of the digital economy and society, in order to bring economic growth, generate more jobs, improve people’s lives and help businesses. Action’s team, in partnership with EY, was tasked with promoting EU4Digital’s six thematic areas of the digital economy and society (Telecom, Trust and Security, eTrade, eHealth, ICT Innovation and eSkills) in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) over the course of three years (2019-22). The challenge was to translate the technical actions into practical benefits for citizens, what the digital transformation brings into their lives and leverage concrete achievements into messages while activities were under various stages of implementation. EU4Digital was to be established as a recognised brand, encompassing EU support to the digital economy and society in the EaP region.

our approach

• We focused the communication around thematic campaigns, based on the six EU4Digital topics, highlighting their practical benefits for the whole society, from individuals to businesses. For the Telecom campaign, for instance, we explained that roaming with the EU’s six Eastern partners would get 90% cheaper until 2026, paving the way to a common roaming space with EU Member States. For the eTrade campaign, we focused on businesses being able to send invoices digitally, saving time and money. For the eHealth campaign we explained how digital medical services would be more accessible to citizens, how they would make it possible to get medical help remotely and across borders, etc.
  
• We ensured positive messaging of EU4Digital by working with local media partners for the production and publication of success stories. We researched and selected citizens, who are benefiting from digital services and presented them as heroes of the campaigns both in traditional and social media.
  
• We produced a number of communication tools and activities, tailored to the campaign objectives with thematic factsheets, infographics.
  
• We provided coherent branding, continuous flow of information on the EU4Digital multi-lingual website that we utilised as a platform, where stakeholders can find more in-depth information. Traffic to the website was driven both through published success stories and advertised social media posts that highlighted key information about each facility.