Assessing digitalisation under the CAP Strategic Plans
This Thematic Working Group aims to set the basis for assessing digitalisation in CAP Strategic Plans and guiding evaluations for better delivery and alignment with CAP objectives.
Digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, data analytics e.g. based on Artificial Intelligence, and decision support systems, can lead to more tailored and precise farming operations that enhance productivity and farm sustainability. The growing use of digital tools generates vast and diverse agricultural data, benefitting not only farmers, but also the broader value chain. For rural communities, digitalisation can enhance service provision, facilitate rural-urban linkages, and create jobs. Although digital technologies and their uptake have been supported under the 2014 – 2022 programming period, the 2023–2027 CAP places a greater emphasis on digitalisation, requiring Member States to develop Digital Strategies for agriculture and rural areas and providing several references regarding the role and use of digitalisation, not only in the objectives (CCO and SO2) but also in farm advisory services and in a variety of types interventions.
For the evaluation of digitalisation, the digital strategy is one of the key elements that must be assessed when evaluating the effectiveness of the Cross-cutting Objective. Digitalisation can play a central role in the delivery of the policy and its simplification, and it is an aspect that must be analysed when Member States assess the efficiency of their CAP Strategic Plans.
Monitoring the CAP’s contribution to digitalisation is complex due to inconsistent strategies and inadequate tracking tools. An integrated approach is needed to enable Member States and the Commission to effectively assess CAP support for the digitalisation of agriculture and rural areas, building on and adapting existing data sources.
Objectives
The main objectives of this Thematic Working Group are to:
- Develop a conceptual framework for the role of digitalisation under the CAP Strategic Plans, including its delivery and simplification;
- Propose a set of criteria that can be utilised to categorise the interventions of CAP Strategic Plans according to their contribution to digitalisation;
- Analyse indicators that can be used to monitor and assess digitalisation in CAP Strategic Plans, focusing on data sources and ways of improving them;
- Explain what should be the main elements and focus of evaluations during the design, implementation and assessment of digitalisation interventions with their contribution to CAP’s objectives.
The outcome of the Thematic Working Group (TWG) will take the form of a thematic report.
Working process
This Thematic Working Group will run from March to July 2025 and is structured as follows:
- Working Package 1: Launching of Thematic Working Group 9, elaborating on the state-of-play of CAP Strategic Plan interventions related to digitalisation.
- Working Package 2: Coordination of content development, developing a classification framework to categorise interventions based on their contribution to digitalisation, exploring practical approaches for assessing digitalisation in the CAP Strategic Plans.
- Working Package 3: Quality control and finalisation of the thematic report.
- Working Package 4: Dissemination of the thematic report.
Organisation
The Thematic Working Group is set up by the EU CAP Network supported by the Evaluation Helpdesk. Participation in this Thematic Working Group is by invitation only, and members of the group include evaluation experts, Commission staff and, potentially, representatives of Member States.
As part of the Thematic Working Group, a Sounding Board consultation will be organised to provide written feedback on the draft version of the thematic report. Participants may include Member State representatives in charge of evaluating CAP Strategic Plans, Paying Agency representatives, evaluators, and other relevant experts.
For any questions, please contact the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP at evaluation@eucapnetwork.eu.