WORDS OF INTRODUCTION

 
I hope you have had a great start of the Year!
 
I look forward to a busy and exciting 2019, expecting to see you at the Masters of Digital on 21st February and working together, in Brussels and in the countries, at shaping Europe’s digital policy landscape before and after the EU elections!
 
Europe is on the cusp of a major technological shift. While artificial Intelligence (AI) is proving to be this year’s hot topic, its applications are already shaking mindsets. Countries have begun to seriously consider the potential of adopting AI. Over the past year alone, the world has witnessed an average of almost one new national AI strategy per month.
 
And the possibilities of new value creation are endless. These range from improved healthcare, more efficient transportation systems, more sustainable products and processes, tailored education programmes and overall improved service delivery for both businesses and public entities alike. AI is also a change agent that holds considerable growth potential. It could double growth rates in most European countries and increase productivity by 40%.
 
As AI-powered applications are bringing practical solutions to the fore, they are also unearthing novel challenges. Key challenges include slow and uneven adoption rates, and estimates predict that 52% of the workforce will need re-skilling by 2022, thus squeezing the talent pool.
 
While the global hunt for top talent intensifies, global competition becomes more fierce and continents are racing to be at the forefront of innovation. This is particularly visible when comparing global investment levels in AI.
 
In 2016, private investment for AI in the European Union (EU) was between € 2.7-3.6 bn, in China it was € 7-11 bn and the US was leading with € 14-21 bn – more than 5 times that of Europe’s.
 
Differing levels of investment are merely a symptom amongst many others that depict diverging approaches to adopting AI and increasing competitiveness. In fact, an important aspect of AI is its potential to fundamentally reshape global competitiveness. 
 
Europe currently relies on many strengths that it can further build on. It has abundant research competences and foreign companies operating in its Single Market that can tap into the available brain power.
 
Europe has a very advanced public sector. If countries cooperated more closely, the EU could deliver world class digital public services and lead in several areas such as preventive healthcare or smart transportation systems, for example. Moreover, Europe can apply AI solutions in a government-to-citizen market context to utilise the full potential of its renowned public service delivery. Europe also has a solid industrial base and couldbecome a global leader in digital manufacturing.
 
Considering such a favourable starting point, Europe’s approach of a “safe and ethical AI” could be harnessed as a competitive advantage. Indeed, the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group in Artificial Intelligence articulates this point by aiming to keep high levels of trust amongst citizens. This is often the cornerstone of successful advanced economies.
 
 
I invite you to provide comments to the European Commission’s draft Ethics Guidelines before the 1st of February and to join the discussions which are taking place through the European AI Alliance, the EU’s multi-stakeholder platform on AI.
 
The challenge for Europe is to position AI at the core of its common market so that it serves the interests of both its citizens and businesses while bringing prosperity for all.
 
All the best,


Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl

• Regulation for promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediaries (P2B)  
   
• Joint industry statement on the draft ecodesign and energy labelling regulations for electronic displays (Lot 5)