The European Commission has outlined its priorities for Digital Day 2018, which will take place tomorrow in Brussels, Belgium.
Digital Day 2018 will see the European Commission gather with other representatives of EU countries, industry, academia and civil society stakeholders, to further the commission’s aim of introducing a digital single market.
Since the inaugural Digital Day last year, significant progress has been made in fostering co-operation in key areas, which include:
- Artificial intelligence;
- Blockchain;
- eHealth; and
- Innovation.
The commission has particularly highlighted a number of new measures which represent progress towards its digital single market ambitions; namely, the removal of roaming charges, the portability of online content, and the upcoming entry into force of the general data protection regulation.
What are the commission’s priorities this year?
The European Commission’s Digital Day 2018 agenda includes the issuing of declarations on efforts to collaborate on five key areas. These include:
- Joining forces on artificial intelligence;
- Building a European partnership in blockchain technologies;
- Sharing data to personalise healthcare;
- Encouraging innovation with a new online tool; and
- Creating 5G cross-border testing corridors to support connected and automated mobility.
Alongside these declarations, the EU has also offered financial support to innovative efforts in these sectors. In February, the commission established the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, which will see it invest some €300m in blockchain projects, and which represents just one example of the commission’s efforts to innovate in the digital single market.
What has the commission said about the event?
The European Commission’s Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, said that the EU’s progress towards implementing the digital single market is beginning to have a significant impact on people’s lives.
He said: “Europeans are starting to feel the benefits of the digital single market on the ground… This year’s Digital Day is the perfect moment to recognise what we have achieved, but to also encourage EU member states to move forward quickly with the legislative proposals still on the table. We need to prepare our digital future together; we need to do more, joining forces and resources to grasp the opportunities offered by technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain.”
