Policy program for digitalisation need to be developed in two areas

At the request of the European Commission, researchers Håkan Burden and Susanne Stenberg at RISE, Centre for Applied AI, together with the Big Data Value Association, KU Leuven in Belgium and TNO in the Netherlands, have commented on the EU's latest policy program for digitalisation - the Digital Decade Policy Program. They highlight two areas where they see a greater need for the initiatives to converge. The first area concerns the regulation of digitalisation in relation to other legislation.

"One example is how we should work with personal data based on GDPR and the upcoming rules for AI systems, or products such as vehicles and the rights around user-generated data," says Håkan Burden.  

The second area concerns the financing of the initiatives, so that the investments in technology realise a data-driven economy based on fundamental rights. In both cases, they see a need for broad representation from small and large companies, the public sector but also civil society.

"We also see that test and testbeds, regulatory sandboxes and policy labs could play an important role in connecting EU initiatives with ongoing innovation and development. They can also provide a safe space for the exploration of proposed rules," concludes Susanne Stenberg.