Digital sovereignty – from users’ empowerment to technological leadership – PL 02 2020

11 June 2020 | 17:00-18:00 | Studio The Hague | | |
Consolidated programme 2020 overview / Day 1

Proposals: #42, #67, #129, #158, #168, #178 (#133)

Session teaser

The session will discuss how the different facets of Digital Sovereignty, at the individual level and at the macro-level, can be reconciled to shape Europe’ technological leadership.

Session description

Digital sovereignty can be defined as the ability to ensure citizens’ control over their digital lives, in particular through the control of their personal data. It also refers to the capacity to reinforce the digital “capacities” of a country, in terms of its networks, cyber-security capabilities, and control of advanced technologies like A.I. The session will discuss the different aspects of digital sovereignty and how they can be reconciled to support the digital transformation of Europe and its technological leadership without compromising on democracy, openness and fundamental rights.

Format

Moderated panel discussion

Main questions to be addressed during the sessions:

1. With its advanced regulatory framework, is Europe doing better than other regions of the world in protecting end-users’ digital sovereignty, in terms for example of controlling their personal data, managing their digital identity, or exercising their digital “self-determination”?

2. Beyond regulation, how can we bring the technology angle in the picture and develop (in Europe) the technologies that increase end-users’ digital sovereignty? How can we best articulate technology development with our norms and values and make it a competitive advantage for Europe?

3. What digital infrastructures (e.g. 5G, IoT, Cloud, data, AI, but also core internet infrastructures like the DNS) do we need to ensure our sovereignty, both at individual level (protecting personal data) and at industrial level? What policy measures are needed to increase our sovereignty in terms of digital infrastructures? What role for cooperation between public and private actors?

4. How to combine a sovereignty approach to the global nature of the internet and digital technologies? How can we be sovereign and at the same time remain open and engage in global digital cooperation? Or is sovereignty necessarily leading to the balkanisation of the internet?

Further reading

• ENISA (2017), "Principles and Opportunities for a Renewed EU Cybersecurity Strategy. ENISA's Contribution to the Strategy Review"

• Posch, Reinhard (2017), "Digital Sovereignty and IT-Security for a Prosperous Society", in Informatics

in the Future. Proceedings of the 11th European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2015), Vienna, October 2015, ed. by Hannes Werthner, Frank van Harmelen

• "Promoting Digital Self-Determination" (Paper by the Swiss network “Digital Self-Determination”): https://eurodigwiki.org/mw/images/e/e9/Dig_Self_Determination_EN.pdf

People

Focal Point

• Valentina Scialpi

Organising Team (Org Team) List them here as they sign up.

• Vittorio Bertola
• Andrew Campling
• Lucien Castex
• Sofia Badari
• Debora Cerro Fernandez
• Riccardo Nanni
• Livia Walpen
• Giacomo Mazzone

Key Participants

• 1. Kerstin Noelle Vokinger (Academia);
• 2. Steven Tas (Private sector);
• 3. Francesca Bria (Public institution);
• 4. Pierre Bonis (Technical community)

Moderator

Olivier Bringer, Head of Unit, Next Generation Internet, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Remote Moderator

Trained remote moderators will be assigned on the spot by the EuroDIG secretariat to each session.

Reporter

• Katarina Andjelkovic, Geneva Internet Platform

Messages

A short summary of the session will be provided by the Reporter.

Video record

Will be provided here after the event.

Transcript

Will be provided here after the event.