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Your crash course in... the EU's grand plans for 'technological sovereignty'

The European Commission unveiled a slate of proposals this week on data rules and AI.

IT HAS BEEN a busy week in the halls of Brussels as the European Commission revealed its game plan for data regulation, artificial intelligence and “technological sovereignty”.

On Wednesday, the EU executive’s president Ursula von der Leyen and commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton presented both the strategy for data and a white paper on artificial intelligence.

The announcements, at this stage, are merely a set of proposals and ambitious ones that will take years of wrangling, bargaining and compromise to get over the legislative line.

They cover a broad set of themes but at their core are rules that will pave the way for data sharing in industry and greater oversight on artificial intelligence.

“The breadth of our strategy reflects the scale and nature of the transition ahead of us,” von der Leyen said.

She said that Europe wants to carve out a landscape where tech competes under fairer rules for all and people can trust in those rules and technologies, adding that for many, tech has “not yet earned that trust”.

It aims to stimulate Europe’s digital economy in a world where the biggest and most popular tech products and services come from the US and China.

EU regulations, as seen recently with GDPR and antitrust fines, can have a global reach and are a concern for Big Tech. 

Data sharing

The commission wants tech companies to make their data available fairly to third parties.

It is taking aim at the staggering amount of the world’s data is stored within the troves of a small number of companies. It wants this data to be more accessible to industry across Europe to foster the growth of data-driven businesses in the bloc.

Ian Talbot, chief executive of Chambers Ireland said the measures would be “especially useful for smaller companies that do not have the means to finance their own research labs”.

Any data sharing initiative will have to fall within the parameters of the EU’s already-stringent data protection regulations.

The shape of these data-sharing rules is up in the air but it may resemble the second payment services directive (PSD2) and open banking, which requires banks to share data with third parties.

margrethe-vestager-thierry-breton Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton Xavier Lejeune Xavier Lejeune

Thierry Breton admitted that Europe is playing catch up with the data-driven economy and that regulations should have been introduced when the power of personal data and the platforms that control it started to become apparent.

“We recognise that we missed the battle for personal data to the US,” Breton said. “The battle for industrial data starts now.”

The commission will likely attempt to formalise these plans with a Data Act in 2021.

Artificial intelligence

Von der Leyen’s commission has artificial intelligence in its sights too but is sending some mixed messages.

She said the EU will “invest in a network of local digital innovation hubs and in centres of excellence for advanced research and education” that will help European businesses.

Vestager stated that AI as a whole is a neutral technology but it can be contorted into problematic uses.

One case that causes consternation is facial recognition. In recent weeks, leaked documents revealed that the commission was considering a ban on the use of the controversial technology in public spaces. That proposal was since been pulled back.

Rather, the commission has called for independent testing of “high-risk” AI uses cases before they can be permitted for use in the EU. This may include sectors like healthcare and law enforcement.

Balance

At the heart of the proposals, the EU wants to create a more even playing field for businesses and researchers in Europe that would, at least in theory, bolster innovation and competition.

Europe finds itself stuck in between the US and Asia when it comes to the tech sector. While it has produced a few “champions” such as SAP, Spotify and Nokia, Europe’s tech pedigree pales in comparison to Silicon Valley, China and South Korea.

This is also a political maze to navigate as the US and China butt heads over trade and Europe attempts to play both cards with Huawei and 5G.

It’s one thing to publish a strategy and another thing to implement it so expect only a portion of these proposals to become reality and others to be watered down.

A consultation period with member states, industry and civil groups will play out over the next few months.

Furthermore, the proposals don’t touch on how or if the European Union will try to introduce some bloc-wide rules on the removal of harmful content and who is liable for that content, which will be a tricky debate around free speech online.

Resistance

While the extent of how these proposals will materialise into actual law remains to be seen, the tech industry knows that change is coming in some form.

shutterstock_1098814634 Mark Zuckerberg Frederic Legrand - COMEO Frederic Legrand - COMEO

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg attempted to get in front of things on Monday by meeting with EU officials.

He conceded that regulation is inevitable and presented his vision of the direction that this regulation should take but the EU’s top brass weren’t enamoured with the CEO’s overtures.

Executives from Google, Apple and others have made similar lobbying efforts in recent weeks as well to get their two cents in and shape the frameworks to come.

Actions on antitrust and the passing of GDPR have proven that the EU is willing and able to position itself as the world’s tech watchdog.

It will want to repeat these actions but as it juggles contentious budget debates – that will affect how all of these tech efforts will be financed – and trade deals, there’s a long road ahead.

Get our Daily Briefing with the morning’s most important headlines for innovative Irish businesses.

Written by Jonathan Keane and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute mickmc
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:03 AM

    What’s the betting we soon have a labour shortage in this country again. Of course we still have the 5-10% of the labour force who are quiet happy to sit back and live off the rest of us.

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    Mute Dub_Right
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:27 AM

    @mickmc: I think they are referring to the lack of qualified staff with the right knowledge, skills and experience needed to operate a high tech business or manufacturing operation.
    Ireland needs to sort out it’s severe housing and transport issues in order to ensure people who emigrate to Ireland have somewhere to live.
    As well as reducing the tax burden on highly skilled staff who may command salaries internationally of €100k++

    As for your 5 to 10% who are “Happy to sit back” just stop the chimp comment and realise that the figure you have chosen could contain those in training, out of work due to illness or pregnancy, those made redundant and seeking employment. Or who due to age for example find obtaining work extremely challenging..

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    Mute mickmc
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:30 AM

    @Dub_Right: excuse excuses excuses.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:39 AM

    @mickmc: you’re never going to get 100% employment. Ever.

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    Mute mickmc
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 9:13 AM

    @Deborah Behan: well if there was less incentives to stay on it we probably could get to 98-99%.

    22
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    Mute CeannairBlue
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:02 AM

    @Deborah Behan: True – due to the reason stated.

    The “we will work only when there are jobs paying what we believe we are worth”.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:07 AM

    @Dub_Right: Not sure what these ‘knowledge skills’ you refer to are. Surely there are plenty of jobs which require common sense skills and energy to perform and learn rather than having to produce a piece of paper from a third level institution.

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    Mute Bossman Ben
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:37 PM

    @mickmc: you’re a typical keyboard warrior and probably a cynical dick on top ..

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    Mute Bobby Phelan
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 3:47 PM

    @Dub_Right: don’t expect ff fg to sort any thing out there the ones that created this mess along with their buddies liebour

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    Mute Connolly Association
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:11 AM

    Does anyone know if IBEC have ever been right before…about anything?

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    Mute Chucky Arlaw
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:42 AM

    @Connolly Association: they’re right more regularly than all those groups with Connolly in their names

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    Mute Barney Dooley
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:57 AM

    @Connolly Association:
    Concepts of right and wrong are irrelevant to Ibec. They will always support the interests of the minority capitalist class and oppose the working class. In the same way the esteemed consultants E&Y quoted were “wrong” when they needed to be about Anglo’s accounts and missed the €7 billion (that’s a 7 and 9 zeroes ) in loans flying between Irish Life & Permanent and the bank just a few weeks before Anglo reported it’s accounts.

    http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ernst-young-may-face-disciplinary-hearing-over-anglo-irish-bank-34933762.html

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 11:07 AM

    @Barney Dooley: You really are a toothache looking for a tooth Wally. If it rained liquid gold you’d complain about getting wet.

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    Mute Robert Woodward
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 11:20 AM

    @Colin Moran: Improvements in the economy are trouble for Wally and his politics. The hard left need unemployment and recession to increase their support, the trouble is when the economy improves that small increase of support (and we are talking just 4 to 5 % here) they have got over the last few years will fall away.They will move from being irrelevant to completely irrelevant.

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    Mute Barney Dooley
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:55 PM

    @Robert Woodward:

    Our future is secure then as late stage parasitic capitalism drives more and more of the population into poverty to continue to enrich the oligarchy:

    “George Magnus, a senior economic analyst at UBS bank, wrote an article with the intriguing title: “Give Karl Marx a Chance to Save the World Economy”. Switzerland-based UBS is a pillar of the financial establishment, with offices in more than 50 countries and over $2 trillion in assets. Yet in an essay for Bloomberg View, Magnus wrote that “today’s global economy bears some uncanny resemblances to what Marx foresaw.”
    In his article he starts by describing policy makers “struggling to understand the barrage of financial panics, protests and other ills afflicting the world” and suggests that they would do well to study the works of “a long-dead economist, Karl Marx.”
    “Consider, for example, Marx’s prediction of how the inherent conflict between capital and labor would manifest itself. As he wrote in Das Kapital, companies’ pursuit of profits and productivity would naturally lead them to need fewer and fewer workers, creating an ‘industrial reserve army’ of the poor and unemployed: ‘Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery’.”
    He continues:
    “The process he [Marx] describes is visible throughout the developed world, particularly in the U.S. Companies’ efforts to cut costs and avoid hiring have boosted U.S. corporate profits as a share of total economic output to the highest level in more than six decades, while the unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent and real wages are stagnant.
    “U.S. income inequality, meanwhile, is by some measures close to its highest level since the 1920s. Before 2008, the income disparity was obscured by factors such as easy credit, which allowed poor households to enjoy a more affluent lifestyle. Now the problem is coming home to roost.”

    http://www.marxist.com/karl-marx-130-years.htm

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 1:03 PM

    @Barney Dooley:ah Wally, you’re poor little brain must get in an awful tizzy when you have to constantly rummage through your files to cite someone who said something about something. The rest of us just live our lives like normal, knowing that the world is not, nor will ever be, perfect but that capitalism is here to stay no matter how much you click your diamond slippers and wish it away.

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 1:15 PM

    @Barney Dooley: Oh Wally, by the way, is that the same George Magnus that said on 21st March in Prospect magazine:

    “The US, though, is the single most important part of the world’s economic jigsaw. As I commented here recently, the Federal Reserve’s decision two weeks ago to raise interest rates for the third time since the financial crisis is being taken as a sign of confidence. After an extraordinarily long inventory rundown, lasting five quarters, the US economy is perkier, growing by 3.5 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, in the last two quarters of 2016. The early indications for the start of 2017 are mixed, but employment growth has been firm, there has been some gentle rise in wages and labour force participation, and we have yet to see any impact from the Trump Administration’s spending and tax policies. Even if financial markets are exaggerating the growth boost from his tax and infrastructure policies, there should be some positive impact on growth in 2017, and a slightly bigger one in 2018.

    What could go wrong? Unfortunately, quite a lot. Political risk looms large over the current expansion. The Dutch may have dodged a bullet in last week’s elections, but there are more battles to fight against resurgent populism and the restrictive, protectionist economic policies that populists embrace. Politics aside, though, economic expansions can’t be milked forever. Imbalances emerge over time, and someone’s balance sheet—whether it belongs to the government, companies, banks or households, deteriorates to the point where it threatens and then undermines the business cycle.”

    So he’s positive about the global markets, employment, anti-restriction, anti-protectionist and anti-populist as well as his comments about the government balance sheet making total shite out of your nonsense about governments never having to be in debt etc.
    hmmmmmmm.

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    Mute Barney Dooley
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 3:54 PM

    @Colin Moran:

    “you’re poor little brain must get in an awful tizzy when you have to constantly rummage through your files to cite someone who said something about something.”

    Says my loyal little stalker as he rummages around to cite someone who said something about something :)

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    Mute Barney Dooley
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 3:57 PM

    @Colin Moran:
    P.S He’s a macroeconomic illiterate much like yourself who he believes the issuer of the dollar can run out of dollars. That’s why he’s looking to Marx to explain how the capitalist economy operates. You should do the same instead of trotting around after me like an obedient hound :)

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 5:32 PM

    @Barney Dooley: So when you cite external references from the Internet it’s valid but when anyone else does it’s not?
    Very Trumpian of you there Conor.

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 5:34 PM

    @Barney Dooley: a ‘macroeconomic illiterate’?
    I can see why you quoted him to substantiate your point! HahahAAA!!!
    You’re a complete clown Conor and what you call stalking I call ‘making Wally and the AAA look like idiots’.
    It’s fun! And easy.

    3
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    Mute O'Reilly
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:23 AM

    Jobs. There will be outrage here…

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    Mute Science of beer
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:31 AM

    Brilliant. Now all we need to do is sort out the tax system so we can attract the best to the country.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:40 AM

    @Science of beer: and accommodation.

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    Mute cortisola
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:34 PM

    @Deborah Behan: and transport

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    Mute Adrian
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:43 PM

    And that’s not noonan, or coveney, or ross, or harris, or kenny, or leo, or martin.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 9:59 AM

    While the job forecasts are welcome, there is still a shortage of affordable housing to rent around our cities. People will be more cautious this time about buying houses unless they are sure that employment is sustainable

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    Mute cortisola
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:38 PM

    @Chris Kirk: Housing and rents will only go worse with that according to my experience. Thou as prosperity cant stay too long we will face overall collapse in few years and everything will go back to normal.

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    Mute Fred Jensen
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:48 AM

    If anything these forecasts are too pessimistic, the construction sector alone is going to expand at least 15% this year given the huge backlog of projects about to start.

    The media likes to make out that we are entirely dependent on world events, but the truth is we have a domestic economy with it’s own momentum which should carry us through the next few years, even if exports are flat.

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    Mute Paul Fahey
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 9:14 AM

    @Fred Jensen: and this construction growth, are they only building commercial property for domestic Irish companies? Are they only building residential properties for the Irish born population? The answer to both if course is no. As a nation we are almost entirely dependent on foreign investment, our politicians have built our economy around it and to suggest otherwise is utterly deluded.

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    Mute Robert Woodward
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:39 AM

    Recovery deniers will be along soon to call this a fake news story and to tell us that “nobody they know has got a job or pay increase”

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    Mute YouHaveGotToBeJoking
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:35 AM

    I am waiting for the flood of multinationals to come over after BREXIT with their highly skilled workforce and add further damnation to the housing situation. Granted, a percentage of these companies will employee people from the Island although it is a gaurentee that many existing employees will follow – the already crippled housing situation with fall asunder.

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    Mute Fred Jensen
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:00 AM

    Between 2002 and 2007 (the so-called Celtic tiger), our exports were largely falt or increased only marginally. All of that growth was domestic construction and consumer spending led.

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    Mute Paul Fahey
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:07 AM

    @Fred Jensen: and yet you are supporting and celebrating growth in construction in your comment above. Only an idiot would not learn the lessons of the past.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 10:20 AM

    @Fred Jensen: You are right, but look where the celtic tiger led us, Ireland became greedy and uncompetitive. Some so called builders and trades people charging ridiculous prices for shoddy workmanship for houses sold from a plan. I hate to think that people would be that foolish again and we could end up back to that era. But if fianna fail get back into government you never know what will follow. I wish that someone would prioritise the country’s public transport network.

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    Mute Adrian
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:40 PM

    I read in the paper yesterday that we are going to lose kobs as irish companies move to Britain!

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    Mute Robert Woodward
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 12:49 PM

    @Adrian: And along comes captain miserable Adrian.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 5:17 PM

    Britain probably needs people who can spell.

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    Mute Marcus Tullius Cicero
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    Apr 3rd 2017, 8:34 PM

    Jobs… OK. Tax cuts….OK. Borrowing….not OK. In a nutshell. Debt still there….

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