Data Sovereignty: why and how the potential of data should be harnessed to fuel Europe’s Digital Decade and strengthen its global digital presence.

Today almost anything can be wirelessly connected. Just about any electronic device can generate data – phones, cameras, watches, etc. Taking that information and making it work for us can lead to making better decisions, understanding risk and guiding actions.

Data is valuable information that can bring about a better future. Data can help researchers turn towards new discoveries; it can support doctors in making better diagnoses; it can make small businesses manage operations and cut costs.

As we discuss and shape the digital transformation, we have to make sure that the European society and economy benefit the most from the data revolution. The European way of handling data is the key to achieve that goal. It shapes a data governance model based on giving to citizens and businesses control on the data they contribute to generate and on respecting EU values and fundamental rights in all data-sharing, access and use contexts.

As a matter of fact, on 9 March 2021, the Commission presented a vision for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030 and adopted the Communication “The 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade”. The EU's ambition is to be digitally sovereign in an open and interconnected world, and to pursue digital policies that empower people and businesses to seize a human centred, sustainable and more prosperous digital future. The policy programme Path to the Digital Decade sets up a monitoring and cooperation mechanism to achieve the common objectives and targets for Europe's digital transformation.

At the present webinar, experts and policy makers will dig into what makes data a crucial cornerstone of the 2030 Digital Decade policy programme. Data is woven into the Digital Decade targets, which declare the following goals for 2030:

• 75% of EU enterprises use cloud computing services, big data or Artificial Intelligence
• Europe grows the pipeline of its innovative scale ups and improves access to finance, leading to doubling the number of unicorns 
• 100% of key public services for citizens and businesses are available online 
• 100% of European citizens have access to electronic health records 
• 80% of citizens have access to a digital ID solution 

You can join us as we tackle important questions, we need to ask now to move data sovereignty in the right direction: what challenges are SMEs facing in ensuring user data is protected? How can data sovereignty fuel innovation and growth? What can Europe do to attract more tech experts? Plus, any other question that you can add to the debate.

Agenda:

Introduction

12:00 - 12:02   Introduction & what to expect – Mr. Eric PETERS, Deputy Head of Unit, Implementation of the Regulatory Framework, DG Connect, European Commission

First Session

What is data sovereignty and why is it important for Europe’s digital transformation? Where does the EU stand today on data sovereignty?

12:02-12:05    Introduction of the first session & speakers – Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

12:05 - 12:15    Ms. Miapetra KUMPULA NATRI, S&D in the European Parliament, Rapporteur for European Strategy for Data

12:15 - 12:25   Mr. Yvo VOLMAN, Director of Data Policy and Innovaction, DG Connect, European Commission

12:25-12:30   Q&A – moderated by Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

Second Session

Panel discussion

12:30 - 12:35   Introduction of the second session – Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

12:35-13:15   Data Sovereignty – A panel discussion

Moderator:   Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

Speakers:

• Ms. Denia KANELLOPOULOU, Innovation Services Expert, Ahedd  
• Mr. Kai WAGNER, Chief Advocacy Officer at Jolocom & Co-chair of the Identity Working Group and Member of the Board of Directors, International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA)
• Mr. Daniël DU SEUILS, Convenor of the European Self-Sovereign Identity Framework (EBSI) within the European Blockchain Partnership 
• Ms. Rebekka WEISS, Head of Data Protection and Consumer Law, BITKOM e.V.

Third Session

Questions & Answers and Slido

13:15 - 13:20   Q&A with panelists - moderated by Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

13:20 – 13:25   Slido questions for the participants – moderated by Ms. Nadina IACOB, Associate Research Fellow in the Global Governance, Regulation, Innovation, and Digital Economy Unit at CEPS

Conclusion

13:25 - 13:30   Conclusion & next steps – Mr. Eric PETERS, Deputy Head of Unit Implementation of the Regulatory Framework, DG CNECT