Tech & Digitalisation

Belgium’s cultural diversity, ease of access to EU institutions and proximity to large consumer markets make it an ideal location to reach out to the rest of Europe. The country offers an entrepreneur-friendly environment with tax benefits to SMEs, start-ups and R&D. Government, grassroots, and private sector initiatives make Belgium favourable to new technologies overall.

In April 2024, Belgium launched the "Embracing openness" campaign, promoting innovation and research partnerships to boost international investment. However, Belgium faces challenges in digital advancement. It ranks 16th out of 27 member states on the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI 2022) and 39th on the UN eGovernment index (2022), behind most EU countries. The Belgian IT sector suffers from a labour shortage and poor fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and 5G connectivity.

Investment in digitalisation is high with up to 27% of Belgium's Recovery and Resilience Plan allocated to digital objectives. Belgium remains committed to achieving the EU Digital Decade 2030 objectives and to providing world class digital public services accessible for everyone. The country looks to the Nordics for inspiration in eGovernment, with the Flemish government considering Northern Europe a priority for policy learning in science and innovation.

Attitudes around advancements in AI are shifting toward realising productivity increases, with up to a third of Belgian employees now using AI tools daily. This trend is a sign of the ongoing digital transformation of the Belgian economy.