In her one-hour “State of the Union” speech on Wednesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed many important points, including the future of digitization in Europe. Among other things, she said: “The future of our children needs both that we invest in sustainability and that we invest sustainably. We must finance the transition to a digital and net-zero economy.”
In her speech, it once again became very clear that the times we are living in are particularly challenging times: The threat of climate change and the current energy crisis as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine show us that we must strive harder than ever for a more resource-efficient and energy-efficient way of living and doing business. At the same time, digital resilience and technological sovereignty are becoming more important than ever.
Digital technologies and infrastructures are playing an increasingly important, often central role for the economy, society and the state. Digital sovereignty and strengthening the resilience of digital infrastructures to safeguard against future crises is becoming increasingly key to keeping them functioning. Resilience, sovereignty and sustainability must be understood as a common challenge for the European single market.
That is why digitalisation is part of the solution for a sustainable transformation of our industry and economy. Secure and high-performance digital infrastructures such as data centres are the foundation of Europe as a competitive and independent digital location based on an innovation-strong data economy.
A forward-looking and responsible European digital policy must recognise these connections and include them in its regulatory framework. In concrete terms, this means that data sovereignty requires efficient data centres in Europe. Data centres need affordable electricity, realistic climate targets and modern administrative processes.
The Internet knows no borders. Even the issue of cyber security, which seems more acute in the face of increasing international tensions, must continue to be thought of in European terms in the context of the common European digital single market.
In this issue, we report on digital identities, on the current energy crisis and the upcoming legal dispute between SpaceNet AG and the Federal Republic of Germany. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will decide on 20 September, whether the German regulations on data retention are compatible with EU law.
Also included in this issue is a statement from eco Chair Oliver Süme on the German federal government’s Digital Strategy. In eco’s point of view, this move towards digital transformation is long overdue as there is great dissatisfaction in large parts of the population in Germany about the sluggish progress of digitalisation. The current Digital Policy Opinion Barometer, which eco has been gathering together with the market and opinion research institute Civey, shows that 71.1 per cent of German citizens are not satisfied with digital policy in any area.
On the Strategy itself, Süme comments: „We would have liked to see a more functional digital policy that is more oriented towards concrete current challenges, such as the looming energy crisis or advancing climate change.”
