Europe is aiming to become a forerunner in both trustworthy artificial intelligence and the data economy. The EU Commission recently presented corresponding strategies and launched consultations on this topic, with the consultations having drawn to a close on 31 May. The Association of the Internet Industry took this opportunity to comment on the Digital Strategy, the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, and the Data Strategy, all of which were published by the Commission on 19 February. Overall, the Commission’s plans can be described as a mixed bag. While it is good to see that new funds are to be invested in research and development, the Internet industry in particular is facing both expanded regulation with the Digital Services Act – which is to replace the e-Commerce Directive – and the stringent regulation of artificial intelligence. These latter plans urgently require further discussion.
For eco, instead of resolving the conflicting approaches between a forward-looking AI policy and a backward-looking data policy, the Data Strategy would serve to perpetuates thes. The opportunity has been missed to clarify how the balance between responsible data use and privacy protection can be achieved.
The Commission’s strategy sets out the intention to present a legislative Digital Services Act and a European Action Plan for Democracy in the course of 2020. The eIDAS Regulation is also also be revised, and cybersecurity is to be strengthened by the establishment of a self-contained common cyber-services unit. Based on the feedback on the Data Strategy and the White Paper, the Commission also intends to “support the development of trustworthy AI and the data economy” with a comprehensive regulation.
The eco position papers on the Digital Strategy, the White Paper and the Data Strategy are available online here.
