We need more tech giants and less regulation in Europe
Looking at the European Commission’s proposal for the next long-term budgetand the future innovation research programme Horizon Europe, the prospect for digital is promising. There is a growing budget and there is much more emphasis on innovation. And we see outside Horizon Europe an additional €9 billion for digital, in particular around artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
All in all, that’s very good news. But even though digital topics are increasingly prominent in the popular press – looking at topics such as bitcoin/blockchain, privacy, Facebook-Cambridge Analytica, or cybersecurity, to name a few – I still think the impact and importance of digital is not always very well understood.
Compared to the US, investments in Europe are still lagging behind. And despite all efforts, we are still far from completing the digital single market. If Europe wants to remain competitive in the long run, we need to build on our strengths and develop European tech giants to match global playerslike Facebook or Amazon instead of introducing more regulation of the tech industry.
Helping home-grown European companies use the continent’s research in areas like artificial intelligence to compete on a global scale is the only way forward. And we have to allow Europe’s innovation ecosystem to act fast to stay on top of the curve. Legal frameworks are important to ensure level playing fields and protect consumers and users of technology. But the time it takes to legislate must not become an impediment to sustaining a digital industry in Europe.
Supporting your leadership development projects through project management and communications
6 年“The US creates technology and the EU regulates it”. You hear that thrown around here and there, often on an accusatory tone, as though it were somehow an offense not to thoughtlessly roll out new tech. I have no qualms with advancing technology, but as Stephen Hawking (possibly one of the Earth’s few true geniuses along with Einstein?) warned, artificial intelligence poses a threat to mankind at large and if there is one thing we should not stop doing, it is to ensure that we understand and contain said threat. Full support for continued EU regulation here.
Director at COST Association - European Cooperation in Science and Technology
6 年Europe is a community of shared values. Cart blanche for tech giants that violate our values is not bringing us any value.
Founder at WolperTec
6 年I didnt read the article but upvote solely on the title. Well done
Distinguished Engineer at Cisco
6 年Your article deserves a different title. We need more, protective (employees, public), overarching and simpler regulation that is truly enforced. That certainly does not mean "less regulation" in the common sense.