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Trust in the Digital Decade - Making sure technology serves EU citizens

21-06-2021

Trust in the Digital Decade - Making sure technology serves EU citizens

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE



The first event of a EURACTIV - GIGAEurope Digital Debate Series

On March 9th, the European Commission presented a vision for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030. This vision for the EU's digital decade focuses on around four key points: skills, government, infrastructures, business. A framework of digital principles will help promote and uphold EU values in the digital space. At the heart of this is a secure and trusted online environment.

In February, when the European Commission unveiled proposals for the region to be a leader in artificial intelligence, Commission President Ursula von her Leyen, stated that "we want citizens to trust the new technology." This concept of trust in the digital sphere has been repeatedly emphasised by Commissioner Vestager. In December 2020, she reiterated the importance of promising Europeans a "safe, fair, trustworthy digital world, for the decades to come."

The EU has an ambitious recovery plan that will be green and digitally-led. EU citizens are already seeing the advantages of next generation e-health and e-mobility. These are enabled by gigabit networks. Gigabit network providers have an important trust role to play by providing Europeans secure and reliable access to the digital world through super-fast connectivity.

For connectivity providers, trust is defined as a secure connection, which is linked to cybersecurity; a private connection, which builds confidence about the transparent and trustworthy use of our data; and a resilient, future-proof and high-quality connection, which ensures good Gigabit speeds, including in rural areas.

Industry must partner with authorities to guarantee that citizens get the most from their connection, acquiring good digital skills, and extract maximum value for themselves from all the digital world has to offer: e-learning, e-health, future of work, smart manufacturing, smart cities etc. And those with advanced digital skills will also be better informed about disinformation related to connectivity.  Again, trust plays an important role in combatting disinformation which has 'real world' effects such as the sabotage of 5G masts, putting 5G roll-out on hold.

If the economic benefits from a digitally-advanced ecosystem are in doubt, a report released in February, Digitalisation: An opportunity for Europe, shows how increased digitalisation of Europe’s services and value chains over the next six years could boost the European Union’s GDP per capita by 7.2% – equivalent to a €1 trillion increase in overall GDP.

Join this EURACTIV - GIGAEurope Digital Debate Series to discuss the role of trust in empowering Europeans to access and benefit from the fast-changing digital world.

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE

Location

Online

Panellists

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Margrethe Vestager
, Executive Vice-President, European Commissioner a Europe Fit for the Digital Age

PANELLISTS
Lorena Boix Alonso, Director, Digital Society, Trust & Cybersecurity, DG CONNECT, European Commission
Brando Benifei MEP, Member AIDA Committee, European Parliament
David Stevens, President, Belgian data protection authority
Manuel Kohnstamm, GIGAEurope Co-Chairman, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Liberty Global
Joakim Reiter, GIGAEurope Co-Chairman, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Executive Committee Member, Vodafone Group

Moderator

Brian Maguire, Journalist, EURACTIV

Schedule

11:00 - 11:05 Welcome
11:05 - 11:20 Keynote Speech
11:20 - 11:30 Panellist statements
11:30 - 12:25 Discussion and Q&A
12:25 - 12:30 Closing statements

Contact

Simona Ovesea
simona.ovesea@euractiv.com
+32 (0)2 788 36 86

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EU digital agenda to foster trust in digital technologies, Vestager says

EU digital agenda to foster trust in digital technologies, Vestager says

Europeans have low trust in technology and this might hamper the uptake of emerging technologies, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager has warned. “The development of digital technology holds the key to a large degree of our prosperity...