The European Commission invites cities and communities to express their interest to take part in the Support services for EU Smart Communities initiative.

In today's digital age, European urban and rural communities are progressing in their digital transformations, but not all are moving at the same pace. Some communities have already embraced advanced digital technologies, like Local Digital Twins, AI, and high-performance computing, while others are just starting to invest in their digital journey.

Through the Digital Europe Programme, the European Commission has launched a collaborative effort to accelerate digital maturity, with a particular focus on communities that are less digitally ready for digital transformation. These services aim to foster the adoption of local digital twins and other digital solutions across rural and urban areas, ensuring that technology is accessible to all.

The Support services for EU Smart Communities are dedicated to the first and second group of EU cities/communities (i.e. regions, provinces, neighbouring districts, harbour districts, rural areas) that are at an early stage of digitalisation, or that are in the scaling phases of their digitalisation efforts. It aims to help cities/communities develop their digitalisation strategy and roadmap, including an identification of the required digital tools (for meeting their objectives) and provide access to digital expertise available in the EU.