As everybody in the “Brussels bubble” knows, in about one and half years, the European Commission’s term will expire and a new set of Commissioners will come to town. One might assume that given this relatively short time frame and the slow pace of decision making in Brussels, the current Commission will wrap up current dossiers and start making preparations for the newcomers. Well, in the technology field this assumption is not true. The current Commission has and will still deliver key measures whose impact will go far beyond 2014. In my opinion, three measures are of the utmost importance:
– The ongoing review of the 1995 Data Protection Directive
– The Cloud Computing strategy
– The upcoming Cybersecurity strategy
Thanks to a combination of these instruments, Europe will finally attain the much dreamt about Digital Single Market! The latter has been described as the “crown jewel” of Europe but to fully enjoy this ornament, national barriers need to be dismantled and current market fragmentation needs to be addressed.
Today we hosted a Roundtable debate on the EU Cloud Computing Strategy. We benefited from the input of two distinguished speakers: Mr Ken Ducatel (Head of Unit Software and Services, Cloud Computing at DG Connect, European Commission) and Mr Andreas Tegge (Vice President of Government Relations at SAP). We were happy to welcome more than 30 attendees, mainly representatives of technology firms but also from other sectors like retail and financial services that see the potential impact of cloud technology on their business.
I am unable to disclose details of the Roundtable as it was under Chatham House rules but I can share a paper I wrote on the EU strategy and its impact on business, as today’s debate touched upon most of the significant points outlined in the paper (standards, data protection, copyright levies etc).
Hope you’ll enjoy the reading and do not hesitate to comment or getting in touch directly if you would like to know more.
Teresa
