Türkiye to join EU’s $8B digitalization grant program

BRUSSELS

Türkiye will join the European Union’s Digital Europe Program to support digitalization of public organizations and businesses with a total budget of €7.5 billion ($8.1 billion), the European Commission announced on Friday.

The EU executive body said in a statement that it “signed an association agreement for the Digital Europe Program with Türkiye.”

Once the ratification process is completed, “Türkiye will be able to access the calls of the Digital Europe Program, a program with an overall budget of €7.5 billion in the 2021-2027 period,” the statement explained.

Under the program, small and medium-sized enterprises, public and other organizations will be able to apply for EU grants for projects to advance digital technologies, in areas such as artificial intelligence or advanced digital skills, and set up digital innovation hubs in Türkiye.

The EU Commission expressed hope that Türkiye will “foster closer links to the EU economy and society, cooperate more on developing our technological capabilities” with the help of the Digital Europe Program.