Vice-President Ansip in Tallinn for the Digital Summit
Tomorrow, Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market will be in Tallinn, Estonia for the Digital Summit 2018, gathering heads of government, ministers, tech community leaders and influential thinkers to discuss implications of digitisation on governments, economies and societies.
At last year’s Summit President Jean-Claude Juncker used the occasion to urge Member States to complete the Digital Single Market. In October 2017, Member States had only adopted 6 legislative proposals out of 24 the Commission had put forward a year ago. Ahead of this year’s Summit, Vice-President Ansip stressed “When it comes to completing the Digital Single Market, the good news is that we are not starting from scratch. We have achieved quite a lot. More than two-thirds of our proposals have now been agreed. But in the digital era, where digitisation drives innovation, there is no time for complacency. We need to do more than pledge our commitments, but act and agree on the remaining proposals, such as e-privacy, cybersecurity and copyright, if we want to stay competitive and create sustained growth and jobs in Europe.” This year’s summit will focus on how artificial intelligence (AI) and free-moving data can be wielded in the service of digital states, economies and societies. The Commission presented its European approach on AI in April 2018, and is now working with Member States on a coordinated plan to be presented by the end of the year. Member States are encouraged to develop their national strategy, to open data and to increase investment in order to make the most of this strategic technology. An overview of the Digital Single Market is available here.