Europe’s Tech Sector is taking a distinct path in terms of privacy-friendly and ethical tech. However, the majority of digital consumer products and services are shaped by the large digital platforms from the Silicon Valley.
How can Europe move towards a more human-centric and ethical technology, while catching up in digital innovation? The European DIGITAL SME Alliance is proposing a new Focus Group Fairness, Ethical Tech & Interoperability, which will focus on the open tech that has become a symbol of the European tech sector.
With the new FG Fair, we want to support an ethical and fair approach to digital markets and technology by connecting European SMEs around topics of interoperability, open digital markets, privacy, and ethical technology. The group will gather businesses that share a strong belief that competitiveness & fairness in digital markets comes from openness and interoperable solutions, and that technology can follow a responsible and ethical approach, e.g., in terms of protecting privacy and other fundamental rights.
During this event, we would like to discuss with European tech leaders and policy-makers, what ethical business means in tech and what framework conditions are needed to transition to a more sustainable digital environment.
Rewatch here:
AGENDA
| 16.00 – 16.10 | Welcome by DIGITAL SME |
| 16.10 – 17.10 | Panel discussion: Responsible & Ethical Digital Markets: How to get there?
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| 17.10 – 17.25 | Focus Group Fairness, Ethical Tech & Interoperability |
| 17.25 – 17.30 | Wrap up: Priorities & Next steps |
Join us on 7 July to be part of the discussion! There are two ways in which you can participate:
1) Register below and join the webinar to get a chance to ask your questions in person and interact with the experts!
2) Follow the live-stream via YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.
Join us for a workshop on ePrivacy, its implications for SMEs, and how it differentiates from the GDPR, organised by DIGITAL SME’s Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence together with Cyberwatching.eu on 10 May, 11.30 – 13.00 CEST!
“My personal opinion in the legislative making process in the EU, is that we should move a little bit away from our very prescriptive and lengthy traditions in regulating every possible scenario and try to work on principles. That, I think is the correct recipe to regulate the future”. – Dr. Paolo Balboni
“Stricter rules are better for us and I think in the long term, a large data collection of metadata has been already monopolised by American companies, and there are bigger possibilities for European companies to grow if the law is a little bit stricter on these issues”. – Leonard Johard
“I called the Eprivacy regulation the missing piece of the puzzle on GDPR, as it is a very important piece of legislation. Eprivacy is about private life, it is a different fundamental right so it’s the missing piece of the GDPR scheme”. – Joâo Ferreira Pinto
Re-watch the event here with us.
Download Dr. Paolo Balboni’s ePrivacy Regulation Presentation slides
The first ePrivacy Regulation proposal was published by the European Commission in 2017. In contrast to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which concerns individuals’ personal data, the ePrivacy Regulation protects the confidentiality of electronic communications, for example through WhatsApp or Skype.
As of today, the legislation has still not been passed by Council and Parliament, who have rejected multiple proposals and draft regulations. This uncertainty negatively impacts SMEs active in sectors covered by the ePrivacy legislation. However, what is certain is that the new ePrivacy rules will have a large impact. It is necessary to remain updated, especially for SMEs who may not be able to fully follow the process nor employ professionals to ensure the correct interpretation and compliance for their company.
In this workshop, we will look at the current state of the Regulation, its potential impact on SMEs and how it will interact with the GDPR, as well as how the EU approach to data protection is evolving.
After the panel, participants will have the chance to ask questions during the interactive session. This includes specific legal questions which the speakers from ICT Legal will be happy to answer.
This SME workshop is organised in the framework of the European Project Cyberwatching.eu, which will contribute to making the Digital Single Market a safer place by promoting the uptake and understanding of cutting-edge cybersecurity and privacy services emerging from Research and Innovation initiatives across Europe.
Agenda
11.30 – 11.35 Introduction
Justina Bieliauskaite, DIGITAL SME
11.35 – 12.15 Elephant in a room: ePrivacy Regulation (Panel session)
João Ferreira Pinto, Portuguese Permanent Representation
Leonard Johard, INDIVID/Brilliance Center B.V.
Paolo Balboni, ICT Legal
12.15 – 12.30 ePrivacy Regulation and the current data protection legal framework
Paolo Balboni, ICT Legal
12.30– 13.00 Interactive Session with audience
Paolo Balboni – Laura Senatore, ICT Legal
Join us on 10 May to be part of the discussion! There are two ways in which you can participate:
1) Register below and join the webinar to get a chance to ask your questions in person and interact with the experts!
2) Follow the live-stream via YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.
DIGITAL SME’s Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence and Working Group (WG) Standards organised the workshop “AI-standardisation landscape & the role of Digital Innovation Hubs” on 18 February 2021, 09.30-11.00 CET. The workshop is an invitation-only event for DIGITAL SME members and selected stakeholders from the European institutions, the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) network, and other organisations.
Rewatch:
This hands-on workshop will provide SMEs and other interested stakeholders with an overview of Europe’s standardisation landscape in AI. We will present companies with the opportunity to discuss how their business can benefit from AI standards, and how they could get involved in standardisation organisations.
In the new Digital Europe Programme, it will be the role of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to help support the uptake of future technologies such as AI among SMEs. However, DIHs will also support technology frontrunners, such as AI innovators. Therefore, this workshop extends to DIHs from across Europe to allow for the development of a network to support DIHs in helping to advance Europe’s digital transformation.
This effort is part of DIGITAL SME’s focus on AI as a key technology for the competitiveness of Europe’s digital economy. To stop Europe from falling behind, DIGITAL SME has taken a leadership role in AI for SMEs, gathering more than 100 AI innovators in the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (a joint effort with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre). Although Europe is considered a global leader in AI academic research and champion of a human-centric approach to AI, it lags behind the US and China when it comes to the industrial applications of its scientific achievements. SMEs need to better understand the standardisation landscape and how to get involved in it when it comes to AI applications. This is where Working Group STANDARDS comes in. WG ST is the place-to-be for all things standardisation & SMEs. As the leader of Small Business Standards’ ICT approach, DIGITAL SME has created WG ST as a forum for SME experts from all around Europe to decisively shape the standardisation process and make it accessible for SMEs.
| 9.30 – 9.40 | Welcome |
| 9.40 – 10.30 | Overview of the AI standardisation landscape
Dr. Stefano Nativi, Big Data Lead Scientist at the European Commission DG Joint Research Centre Lindsay Frost, Chief Standardisation Engineer at NEC Laboratories Europe, Board member of ETSI, ETSI OCG AI Chair, ETSI ISG CIM Chair Prof. Stelian Brad, Professor at Technical University of Cluj-Napoca & President of Cluj IT Cluster |
| 10.30 – 10.55 | Discussion with the SME Focus Group on AI
Moderated by DIGITAL SME |
| 10.55 – 11.00 | Closing & next steps |
This is an invitation-only event for members of our Working Groups and selected stakeholders from European institutions and European Digital Innovation Hubs. You can apply to join our WGs here. If you think you should have been invited but haven’t received an invitation, please contact Annika Linck (a.linck@digitalsme.eu)
If you would like to receive news about these types of events and receive access to meeting recordings and documents, you can create an account at digitalsme.eu and subscribe to our newsletter and email updates where we will inform you about subscriber-only content.
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On 20 January 2021, DIGITAL SME held a workshop titled “What does the new Data Governance Act mean for SMEs?” for members of the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (FG AI) and other invited AI-stakeholders.
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Malte Beyer-Katzenberger from DG CNECT explained the consequences of the Data Governance Act for innovative, AI-driven SMEs, telling participants that the legislation was designed to “protect your ideas”.
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Common European data spaces, data intermediaries, data altruism, and other significant aspects included in the European Commission’s proposal have important consequences on small and medium businesses in the AI sector.
The event recording is available here:
On 20 January 2021, DIGITAL SME held a live workshop titled “What does the new Data Governance Act mean for SMEs?” for members of the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (FG AI) and DIGITAL SME’s extended network. The event’s main topic was the Data Governance Act, a proposal for a regulation published by the European Commission last November.
While the workshop shed light on the European Commission’s strategy when it comes to data, important questions remain: What will the Data Governance Act (DGA) mean for small businesses on the ground? Access to data is a key hurdle for companies: How will the DGA and the Commission’s data strategy ensure this access?
The DGA aims to turn Europe into a leading data economy, especially for industrial data. For this purpose, the DGA wants to build a comprehensive European data-sharing framework. The DGA is part of a wider European Data Strategy, which will also include a Data Act, to be announced by the end of 2021. This framework aims to allow businesses and researchers to fully exploit data by lowering transaction costs linked to B2B and C2B data-sharing through data intermediaries. It provides a framework for the re-use of public sector data and promotes the concept of “data altruism”, i.e., allowing data use by individuals or companies for the common good. Finally, the DGA foresees the creation of an expert group, the ‘European Data Innovation Board’.
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger, Policy Officer at the European Commission’s DG CNECT, presented the DGA to an audience of AI-developing SMEs to better understand the EU’s overarching strategy for data. Participants were also able to ask questions about the proposal and bring their critical feedback to the attention of the European Commission.
Creating value and ensuring the availability of data through Common European Data Spaces
Common European data spaces are infrastructures designed to materialise data-sharing platforms: their main leverage will be the possibility of reusing data. The DGA will define an open ecosystem independent from big players in which increased involvement creates more value. Mr Beyer-Katzenberger highlighted that “the European Commission will play the role of catalyser of the relevant actors in these data spaces”, but he added that they will be “driven by the stakeholders that are part of them”.
The DGA also introduces the notion of data intermediaries which will allow companies to recourse to third parties offering and obtaining data-related services. These intermediaries will strengthen businesses sovereignty over their own data as “they will share data while maintaining their control and value”, as Mr Beyer-Katzenberger explained. At the same time, questions remain when it comes to the additional bureaucracy associated with this notion – may it hinder smaller players from developing new business ideas based on the collection of data sets?
Finally, Mr Beyer-Katzenberger elaborated on the concept of “data altruism”, where individuals or companies can give consent to share their data for the common good; voluntarily and free of charge. This can lead to an increase in the amount of data at the disposal of companies who need data to scale up and innovate.
DIGITAL SME will continue to champion SME voices in important digital legislation
A poll conducted during the session indicated that only 60% of participants had heard of the Data Governance Act prior to the workshop. Towards the end of the session, the poll showed that the sentiment regarding the projected effects of the DGA on participants’ businesses was neutral to positive.
DIGITAL SME would like to thank Mr Beyer-Katzenberger for his presentation and all participants for sharing their feedback and questions. We will continue to bring together stakeholders to discuss digital legislation in the field of AI and beyond to make sure it is fit for SMEs.
The governance framework proposed by the DGA can have important consequences for innovative companies in AI or data intelligence services – and DIGITAL SME wants to ensure that the dialogue between the EU-level and the affected SMEs is established from the start.
Our Working Groups are the place-to-be to network and discuss policy and how it impacts your business—and you can join them! Go to digitalsme.eu/working-groups to learn more and apply.
DIGITAL SME organised the workshop 5G vs Cable: Benefits & Security Risks on 12 April, 16.00 – 17.00 CEST, to discuss the future of 5G for the industry and modern attacks.
Rewatch:
The current 5G discussion focuses on the benefits of this technology, especially for industry. But 5G – like any other wireless communication – can be manipulated. Currently, the industry is mostly communicating via wired connections, which makes it hard for attackers to infiltrate the communication. If major industry sectors only rely on 5G networks in the future, they open attack vectors to criminals that weren’t there in the first case. This is why one of our experts in this debate argues: Wireless protocols are not redundant communication channels!
In our pursuit of a more connected future, we must place equal focus on the security of those connections, devices, and applications.
This SME workshop is organised in the framework of the European Project Cyberwatching.eu, which will contribute to making the Digital Single Market a safer place by promoting the uptake and understanding of cutting-edge cybersecurity and privacy services emerging from Research and Innovation initiatives across Europe.
Speakers:
- Steffen Mauer, Founder of Atlas Intelligence GmbH
- Jean-Philippe Boever, Owner & angel investor at GridCop / Manager at Eolis Media Company
- Enrico Frumento, Cybersecurity Senior Domain Expert at Cefriel
Moderator:
- Sebastiano Toffaletti, Secretary-General at European DIGITAL SME Alliance
Join us live on 12 April to be part of the discussion! There are two ways in which you can participate:
1) Register below and join the webinar to get a chance to ask your questions in person and interact with the experts!
2) Follow the live-stream via YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.
[caldera_form id=”CF606443e247eec”]
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On 20 January 2021, DIGITAL SME held a workshop titled “What does the new Data Governance Act mean for SMEs?” for members of the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (FG AI) and other invited AI-stakeholders.
-
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger from DG CNECT explained the consequences of the Data Governance Act for innovative, AI-driven SMEs, telling participants that the legislation was designed to “protect your ideas”.
-
Common European data spaces, data intermediaries, data altruism, and other significant aspects included in the European Commission’s proposal have important consequences on small and medium businesses in the AI sector.
On 20 January 2021, DIGITAL SME held a live workshop titled “What does the new Data Governance Act mean for SMEs?” for members of the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (FG AI) and DIGITAL SME’s extended network. The event’s main topic was the Data Governance Act, a proposal for a regulation published by the European Commission last November.
While the workshop shed light on the European Commission’s strategy when it comes to data, important questions remain: What will the Data Governance Act (DGA) mean for small businesses on the ground? Access to data is a key hurdle for companies: How will the DGA and the Commission’s data strategy ensure this access?
The DGA aims to turn Europe into a leading data economy, especially for industrial data. For this purpose, the DGA wants to build a comprehensive European data-sharing framework. The DGA is part of a wider European Data Strategy, which will also include a Data Act, to be announced by the end of 2021. This framework aims to allow businesses and researchers to fully exploit data by lowering transaction costs linked to B2B and C2B data-sharing through data intermediaries. It provides a framework for the re-use of public sector data and promotes the concept of “data altruism”, i.e., allowing data use by individuals or companies for the common good. Finally, the DGA foresees the creation of an expert group, the ‘European Data Innovation Board’.
Malte Beyer-Katzenberger, Policy Officer at the European Commission’s DG CNECT, presented the DGA to an audience of AI-developing SMEs to better understand the EU’s overarching strategy for data. Participants were also able to ask questions about the proposal and bring their critical feedback to the attention of the European Commission.
Creating value and ensuring the availability of data through Common European Data Spaces
Common European data spaces are infrastructures designed to materialise data-sharing platforms: their main leverage will be the possibility of reusing data. The DGA will define an open ecosystem independent from big players in which increased involvement creates more value. Mr Beyer-Katzenberger highlighted that “the European Commission will play the role of catalyser of the relevant actors in these data spaces”, but he added that they will be “driven by the stakeholders that are part of them”.
The DGA also introduces the notion of data intermediaries which will allow companies to recourse to third parties offering and obtaining data-related services. These intermediaries will strengthen businesses sovereignty over their own data as “they will share data while maintaining their control and value”, as Mr Beyer-Katzenberger explained. At the same time, questions remain when it comes to the additional bureaucracy associated with this notion – may it hinder smaller players from developing new business ideas based on the collection of data sets?
Finally, Mr Beyer-Katzenberger elaborated on the concept of “data altruism”, where individuals or companies can give consent to share their data for the common good; voluntarily and free of charge. This can lead to an increase in the amount of data at the disposal of companies who need data to scale up and innovate.
DIGITAL SME will continue to champion SME voices in important digital legislation
A poll conducted during the session indicated that only 60% of participants had heard of the Data Governance Act prior to the workshop. Towards the end of the session, the poll showed that the sentiment regarding the projected effects of the DGA on participants’ businesses was neutral to positive.
DIGITAL SME would like to thank Mr Beyer-Katzenberger for his presentation and all participants for sharing their feedback and questions. We will continue to bring together stakeholders to discuss digital legislation in the field of AI and beyond to make sure it is fit for SMEs.
The governance framework proposed by the DGA can have important consequences for innovative companies in AI or data intelligence services – and DIGITAL SME wants to ensure that the dialogue between the EU-level and the affected SMEs is established from the start.
Our Working Groups are the place-to-be to network and discuss policy and how it impacts your business—and you can join them! Go to digitalsme.eu/working-groups to learn more and apply.
Rewatch the event here:
Presentation Slides by Mr Beyer-Katzenberger
DIGITAL SME’s Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence and Working Group (WG) Standards are organising the workshop “AI-standardisation landscape & the role of Digital Innovation Hubs” on 18 February 2021, 09.30-11.00 CET. The workshop is an invitation-only event for DIGITAL SME members and selected stakeholders from the European institutions, the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) network, and other organisations.
This hands-on workshop will provide SMEs and other interested stakeholders with an overview of Europe’s standardisation landscape in AI. We will present companies with the opportunity to discuss how their business can benefit from AI standards, and how they could get involved in standardisation organisations.
In the new Digital Europe Programme, it will be the role of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to help support the uptake of future technologies such as AI among SMEs. However, DIHs will also support technology frontrunners, such as AI innovators. Therefore, this workshop extends to DIHs from across Europe to allow for the development of a network to support DIHs in helping to advance Europe’s digital transformation.
This effort is part of DIGITAL SME’s focus on AI as a key technology for the competitiveness of Europe’s digital economy. To stop Europe from falling behind, DIGITAL SME has taken a leadership role in AI for SMEs, gathering more than 100 AI innovators in the Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence (a joint effort with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre). Although Europe is considered a global leader in AI academic research and champion of a human-centric approach to AI, it lags behind the US and China when it comes to the industrial applications of its scientific achievements. SMEs need to better understand the standardisation landscape and how to get involved in it when it comes to AI applications. This is where Working Group STANDARDS comes in. WG ST is the place-to-be for all things standardisation & SMEs. As the leader of Small Business Standards’ ICT approach, DIGITAL SME has created WG ST as a forum for SME experts from all around Europe to decisively shape the standardisation process and make it accessible for SMEs.
| 9.30 – 9.40 | Welcome |
| 9.40 – 10.30 | Overview of the AI standardisation landscape
Dr. Stefano Nativi, Big Data Lead Scientist at the European Commission DG Joint Research Centre Lindsay Frost, Chief Standardisation Engineer at NEC Laboratories Europe, Board member of ETSI, ETSI OCG AI Chair, ETSI ISG CIM Chair Prof. Stelian Brad, Professor at Technical University of Cluj-Napoca & President of Cluj IT Cluster |
| 10.30 – 10.55 | Discussion with the SME Focus Group on AI
Moderated by DIGITAL SME |
| 10.55 – 11.00 | Closing & next steps |
This is an invitation-only event for members of our Working Groups and selected stakeholders from European institutions and European Digital Innovation Hubs. You can apply to join our WGs here. If you think you should have been invited but haven’t received an invitation, please contact Annika Linck (a.linck@digitalsme.eu)
If you would like to receive news about these types of events and receive access to meeting recordings and documents, you can create an account at digitalsme.eu and subscribe to our newsletter and email updates where we will inform you about subscriber-only content.
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On 29 October 2020, DIGITAL SME hosted an online event titled “Digitalisation in the Energy Sector: Thermal Energy contribution to the Green Deal”, focussing on the SABINA project that tries to enhance buildings’ energy consumption through thermal inertia
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Digitalisation of the energy sector brings tremendous benefits in terms of energy efficiency and climate neutrality, positively contributing to the Green Deal
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Experts agreed that data sharing, standardisation, and interoperability are crucial enablers of market efficiency and competition, leading to the introduction of innovative solutions to achieve the “Twin Transition”
The objective of a climate-neutral economy presents enormous challenges for the energy sector. Renewable energy—including thermal technology—is one of the solutions to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Finding a way to effectively “turn buildings into batteries” by interlocking their thermal inertia with the energy grid is the goal of the SABINA project.
Four years of work, one step towards the Twin Transition
On 29 October 2020, DIGITAL SME organised a Policy Webinar on “Digitalisation in the Energy Sector: Thermal Energy contribution to the Green Deal”. This event highlighted the past four years of work done within the SABINA project. It presented the possibilities of scaling up energy-related technologies that use IoT standards to reach maximum benefits for producers and consumers in the energy market while increasing climate neutrality at the same time.
How can technologies such as SABINA contribute to the overall energy efficiency of buildings and extend such benefits to neighbourhoods and even cities? And how can digitalisation and standardisation address these challenges? At the Policy Webinar, experts in energy, construction, and digitalisation engaged in an interactive discussion to discuss and answer the questions above.
First, Antonio Kung, CEO of Trialog, and a key partner in H2020 project InterConnect underlined that to create a positive impact in the energy market, new technologies should be developed through a flexible and interoperable ecosystem in two main areas: energy and ICT. In addition, Mr Kung gave his vision on how policy and standardisation can help the energy domain, providing guidance for IoT use cases, semantic interoperability, IoT data frameworks, IoT trustworthiness and interoperability. He also asserted that digitalisation in the energy sector shall contribute to an enhanced ecosystem that provides benefits to all stakeholders and enable them to better understand the market needs.
Next, Andrew Bolitho, Senior Energy Management Consultant at SMS, presented the achievements and the benefits of SABINA. He said that “If we want to achieve climate neutrality, then the entire energy system has to be decarbonised. Moreover, our behaviour and interaction with the market have to change significantly. SABINA is essential in addressing these objectives”. Mr Bolitho stressed that SABINA is effective in creating flexibility and highlighted its strong capability in managing energy costs. He concluded his speech with a call for action to governments to provide policies that support flexibility.
Achieving the twin transition thanks to the digitalisation of the energy sector
Then, the Policy Webinar continued with the roundtable discussion which saw the interesting contribution of participants from the public and private sector. They brought their knowledge and experience concerning how different stakeholders could contribute to the EU’s energy targets by embracing digitalisation in their core activities.
The construction sector is facing several challenges related to the green transition, firstly in relation to the turnover rate of buildings that should be higher than 2% per year, as stressed by Vittorio Cossarini (President of AssoESCo – Italian Association of Energy Service Companies). Mr Cossarini affirmed that digitalisation is important with regard to the way we design and build, as well as the prediction of energy consumption in buildings using Artificial Intelligence. Pietro Bertelli from Alperia Bartucci highlighted how AI and a higher level of automation can help Europe reach its climate neutrality goalsThrough the presentation of “The Concrete Initiative”, Francesco Biasioli (Secretary General of ERMCO) explained how thermal inertia works in buildings. “We need to work with systems which allow dynamic energy modelling and SABINA is doing exactly that”, Mr Biasioli explained before stressing the need for architects and people involved in planning and execution of construction to take into consideration solutions that help to optimise the use of thermal energy, transforming buildings into “batteries” and enhancing energy efficiency.
Figure A: Scaling up energy efficiency using IoT and Smart Cities
Omar Dhaher from the European DIGITAL SME Alliance discussed standards identified for the project and their role in enhancing data-sharing and interoperability with other stakeholders’ systems and solutions. According to Mr Dhaher, the real value of solutions such as SABINA is their ability to share and use data to provide better information to consumers, prosumers, and producers. However, for SABINA and similar digital solutions to effectively work, policymakers need to acknowledge the need for accessible, fair, and open data. Standardisation in the area of data exchanges and interoperability can be strategically viewed as a vehicle to promote and strengthen competition in the energy markets.
SABINA and similar IoT solutions can act as a middle-ware between smart cities and the common European data spaces, a key element of the EU Data Strategy to enhance access to data. At the same time, allowing access to data will provide more information regarding de-carbonisation and contribute to the Green Deal goals. As such, SABINA is an interesting manifestation of the twin transition, i.e., providing environmental solutions through digital transformation.
The importance of data sharing and standardisation in the energy sector
At the end of the session, speakers unanimously agreed that data sharing and interoperability in the context of Smart Cities and Common European Data Spaces can achieve more flexibility in the energy mix and increase competition for efficiency. In this framework, standards come into play as key enablers of innovative solutions, which enable the energy market to grow and achieve the Green Deal by 2050.
For more information on the SABINA project, visit the project website here: https://sabina-project.eu
Digital Services & Markets: Towards an open and competitive digital space for SMEs
The Digital Services Act package will lay the legal foundation of Europe’s internet economy of the future. What will that mean for SMEs? Join the debate on 22 January via the webinar by registering below or simply watch the live-stream via YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter!
On 15 December 2020, the European Commission published two pieces of legislation that will update the rules for digital companies in Europe: a Digital Services and a Digital Markets Act, collectively known as the Digital Services Act package. In a nutshell, the Digital Services Act (DSA) focuses on illegal content. On the other hand, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) promises to tackle the dominance of large gatekeeper platforms like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM).
At DIGITAL SME, we believe that Europe needs an open, fair, and competitive digital ecosystem that enables innovation. Continuous dialogue and information flow between the stakeholders can help to create a better system for all. Therefore, DIGITAL SME is organising an online exchange with the European Commission about the Digital Services Act package.
Join us for a debate between policymakers and representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to discuss the proposed solutions for a fair and competitive digital ecosystem. This will ultimately allow SMEs and a wider audience to gain first-hand insights about the proposals of the Digital Services Act package, which may substantially shape digital markets in the years to come.
Agenda
| 15.00 – 15.05 | Welcome by DIGITAL SME |
| 15.05 – 15.15 | Opening Statement by Prabhat Agarwal, Head of Unit Digital Services and Platforms at DG CONNECT, European Commission |
| 15.15 – 16.00 | Panel discussion: How to create a fair and competitive digital environment for SMEs?
Speakers:
Moderated by DIGITAL SME |
| 16.00 – 16.15 | Closing remarks
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With support from the COMPACT Project
Platforms & markets: Towards an open competitive digital space
On 2 December 2020, the European Commission will propose a new piece of legislation, the Digital Markets Act, which will likely define a set of obligations to address imbalances in digital markets and to tackle issue such as illegal content online. This piece of legislation will update the legal framework set by the e-commerce Directive of 2000, which fundamentally shapes the online environment today. For instance, under the current rules, online platforms are not legally responsible for illegal content posted on platforms or circulated via their channels but have to remove it once they have become aware of it.
The internet has evolved significantly over the past years. In contrast to the early days of the internet, which relied on openness and interoperability, many services offered by large online platforms (such as messaging, social media, etc.) are accessible only in closed-off proprietary environments that rely on network effects, lock-in their users and are largely shielded from competition. The European Commission recognises that while there are over 10,000 online platforms operated in Europe’s digital economy “a small number of large online platforms captures the biggest shares of the value”. These platforms act as “gatekeepers between businesses and citizens, benefitting from strong network effects”. This may create hurdles for competitors trying to enter the same market because “some of these large online platforms exercise control over whole platform ecosystems that are essentially impossible to contest by existing or new market operators”.
Against the background, this online event will offer a forum to discuss issues of fairness and competition in digital markets, and the dominance of large gatekeeper platforms from the perspective of smaller players. It will feature a debate with innovative digital SMEs as well as technology experts and academia to discuss solutions for a more open competitive digital ecosystem.
Agenda
| 9.00 – 9.10 | Welcome by DIGITAL SME |
| 9.10 – 9.30 | Opening statements
What will a Digital Markets Act mean for SMEs in Europe? |
| 9.30 – 10.30 | Panel discussion
A fair and competitive digital environment: How to regulate platforms without causing harm for smaller players? |
| 10.30 – 10.45 | Closing remarks |
