Welcome back! I hope you’ve enjoyed a great Summer holiday!
Schools are opening again and it is a great occasion to recall that we need to maintain a close dialogue with teachers and governments on the importance of digital skills in Europe.
Here, at DIGITALEUROPE, the team is already in full gear.
We have been busy advocating for e-labelling in August and we are now preparing for a busy September with a strategic Board meeting session next week, the ongoing discussions and progress on our Manifesto, the preparation of an Open House event and cocktail reception mid-September, the continuation of the European Commission AI High-Level Group (HLG) as well as business trips to Paris, Dublin, Vienna and Gastein.
On e-labelling, it is a no-brainer that manufacturers should be allowed to display compliance information electronically instead of printing the label on products. There is now a unique opportunity to include a provision in the proposed regulation on Compliance and Enforcement, in the so-called “Goods package”, that would legally recognise e-labelling in the EU. The European Parliament’s IMCO Committee will vote on this regulation on 3 September and we fully support the “e-labelling amendment” (number 241).
Artificial Intelligence is also extremely high on the agenda. I look forward to participating in the Commission’s HLG meeting on the 20th as well as to discussing AI’s ethics principles at the meeting and during a dinner that I will host with a group of stakeholders in Brussels. AI can help achieve an inclusive human-centric society – through a strong ethics framework, investment, education, empowerment and innovation-friendly policies.
Dialogues between all stakeholders and a long-term strategy on AI are of critical importance! We must go beyond an elite discussion and consolidate our views to demonstrate leadership in the EU and support the Member States in defining and implementing AI.
In Paris, I will be meeting with the OECD to discuss the future of taxation in the digital era, present our views and support the OECD-led efforts to review the appropriateness of the current international tax framework. In Dublin, I will participate in an event with the Irish Prime Minister where we will discuss how to strike the right balance between innovation and regulation online.
In Vienna, we will be meeting relevant officials of the Austrian Presidency of the Council and I will have the honour to speak at the high-level conference on the future of eGovernment. In Gastein, I will have the privilege to recall the importance of AI, digital technologies and data exchange for the future of a patient-centric healthcare.
Finally, let us not forget that the European Parliament rejected the unbalanced proposal on Copyright in July and that the plenary is scheduled to look again at the file on 12 September. We urge everyone to support all amendments for an investment & innovation-friendly approach, such as to allow text-and-data mining for AI development.
Arçelik and Rockwell Automation join DIGITALEUROPE
We are delighted to announce that Arçelik and Rockwell Automation have joined DIGITALEUROPE this summer. Welcome on board!
TechUK Annual Dinner
DIGITALEUROPE’s Director-General, Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, participated in a lively TechUK’s Annual Dinner in London on the 11th of July, which coincided with England playing the World Cup semi-final! Earlier during that day, she held meetings with Margot James, Minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport; and with Matthew Gould, Director General for Digital and Media Policy. Both meetings were a good opportunity to discuss issues such as digital trade, data protection and data adequacy in the context of Brexit. Minister Margot James will be one of our keynote speakers at Masters of Digital on 21st February 2019.
Advocacy campaign on e-labelling
e-labelling is a cost-efficient and digital solution to indicate market compliance. Many countries - together representing over 56 per cent of the world’s economy - have already adopted e-labelling schemes. The European Union, on the other hand, still relies exclusively on the physical marking of devices. On 3 September the Parliament will vote on the Goods Package and we urge MEPs to support amendment 241. Read the data
We are looking for a new Policy Manager
We have a new exciting opportunity for a Policy Manager to join our team in Brussels. See the offer
Cybersecurity meeting with US Congressional team
On 16 August, a group of US Congressional staff visited DIGITALEUROPE to discuss cybersecurity. The objective was to share best practices on successful public-private cybersecurity cooperations on both sides of the Atlantic. The delegation was welcomed by Chris Gow, Member of the Board and Chair of the Privacy & Security Policy Group, and Iva Tasheva, Policy Manager. Participants discussed their respective experience on how to deal with future major attacks. Specifically, they reviewed the lessons learned from the 2017 WannaCry attack, which impacted hospital and transport infrastructure across the globe.
Study trip to London
DIGITALEUROPE is constantly looking at ways to maximise our policy impact in Member States. It is in this context that DIGITALEUROPE’s Director of Communications & Political Outreach, Lionel Sola, spent three days at TechUK in London this Summer. Lionel attended the launch of TechUK’s report “Dealing with the Deals: Existing EU international agreements and the tech sector” at Westminster. He also spent time exchanging ideas and learning about TechUK’s communications best practices with TechUK’s Chief Marketing Officer, Blaise Hammond, and his team.
Discovering Taiwan's ICT ecosystem
From 6 to 14 August, DIGITALEUROPE Trade Manager Sarah Wagner travelled to Taiwan to participate in a seminar reviewing the situation of the Taiwanese ICT industry. During the trip, Sarah built ties with the European Economic & Trade Office in Taiwan, the Taiwanese Bureau of Foreign Trade, DELTA, and the Center for High-Performance Computing. Read more
Spotted in the press
Parliament magazine, Brussels e-labelling for Europe Read more
European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) How Digital Transformation Impacts both the Society and the Economy
Article by Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl Read more
