The forgotten trade angle: cyber security
Cyber security has become an imperative. Governments around the world are preoccupied by the possibility of targeted cyber-attacks and they rightly take initiatives to protect their citizens. To...
View ArticleOf Mice and Men
John Steinbeck reportedly borrowed this title from a verse authored by Robert Burns: « The best laid schemes o’mice an’ men often go awry ». Arguably, times of crisis hold out as many opportunities as...
View ArticleDriving the transition to the low carbon economy
Back in 2009 the European Commission published a recommendation on ICT which promoted the adoption of ICT and ICT-enabled technologies to deliver emissions reductions. In return, the sector agreed to a...
View ArticleWeather forecast in Brussels: when the emergence of the cloud spells welcome...
The last couple of weeks have been improbably eventful and positive in Brussels on an issue notorious for moving slowly, if at all. 1. The Cloud strategy released on 27 September under the propitious...
View ArticleOpening doors or creating barriers to trade?
DIGITALEUROPE’s vision is of a Europe that nurtures and supports digital technology industries, and prospers from the jobs we provide, the innovation and economic benefits we deliver and the societal...
View ArticleMeasuring resource efficiency
The resource efficiency agenda aims at merging two narratives that at times were perceived as opposing each other: economic growth and environmental protection. Indicators need to make for a compelling...
View ArticleTech and creators need each other – and it’s not a new idea
Tech and content have always needed each other. Just like plants and bees. Ninety years ago a group of six tech companies in the UK actually created the BBC. They had radio (one of them was Marconi)...
View ArticleMemorandum of Understanding on common mobile charger delivers three years on
Last week, European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Antonio Tajani, stated that more than 95% of the new models of data-enabled mobile phones placed on the EU...
View ArticleLa « nouvelle vague » numérique est une lame de fond
Est-il raisonnable de se voiler la face et de se retrancher derrière un dérisoire statu quo au moment où une technologie s’avère révolutionnaire et omniprésente au point d’attirer chaque jour 2,2...
View ArticleTectonic shift: why the “new wave” of digital culture is no ripple
When a technology proves disruptive and ubiquitous enough to power networks that attract 2.2 billion users – one third of the world’s population – daily, is it reasonable to pretend that nothing is...
View ArticleCreativity exposed or shielded? Striking the right balance for copyright in...
Europe has been fertile ground for creative minds for centuries. Over the past two decades, the digital economy has taken this to a new level. The European Commission’s orientation debate on copyright,...
View ArticleEU and US jointly set their sights on new trade standards for global economies
The European ICT industry was anxious to hear what President Obama would have to say in his State of the Union Address about the US trade agenda and in particular the much-talked about EU-US Free...
View ArticleDigital and Security – a tricky mix
Good audit committees need to be able to deal with all types of risks – many associated with matters about which committee members have no personal prior knowledge. Cyber security is a classic example....
View ArticleCreating digital jobs easier than putting humans on the moon
I’ve always been interested in space. Mysteries of the universe, space travel, black holes and all that. So it was a real pleasure to hear an 83-year-old Buzz Aldrin speak at a dinner in Brussels...
View ArticleCulture, how many crimes are perpetrated in your name!
“Liberty, how many crimes are perpetrated in your name!” History tells that these were the last words uttered by Manon Roland before being beheaded by guillotine in 1793. She was not afforded much time...
View ArticleA cultural exception gone awry may spell serious trouble across Europe
As the Council is poised to give the Commission a mandate to negotiate an ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Mrs Filipetti, in her capacity as France’s Culture minister,...
View ArticleToo bad the cultural exception is not a train: they would stop once off track
On 13 June, France’s leading evening daily published a letter from the Culture Minister addressing the cultural exception in the perspective of the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment...
View ArticleDigital Agenda Assembly: what can you do for Europe?
The Digital Agenda Assembly took place in Dublin on 19-20 June. DIGITALEUROPE attended Workshop 1 on the Grand Coalition and Workshop 4 on technology enablers. Overall, jobs and education came out as...
View ArticleRoll over cultural exception, a France-led cultural revolution is marching on
The current debate between the “reactionaries” opposing globalization and the progressives behind it somewhat smacks of the 17th century row between the old and modern schools of thought. Unlike the...
View ArticleEuropean culture: the big switch from exception to revolution
On the face of it, the cultural exception won a major victory on 14 June when the Council of the European Union unanimously agreed to keep this issue off the TTIP negotiating table. On a closer look...
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