THE NEW EUROPE IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ERA: Current Rule-Maker, Future Investor?

6 Novembre 2019

mercoledì 06 Novembre 2019 ore 17:30 - 19:30

European Parliament, Room A3H1, Rue Wiertz, 60

Contents
Speakers

[tp lang=”it” not_in=”en”]La rivoluzione digitale sta producendo cambiamenti radicali in Europa, coinvolgendo una varietà di attori e settori e ponendo enormi sfide per l’ecosistema industriale europeo. Per promuovere l’innovazione, responsabilizzare e proteggere i cittadini e rafforzare la propria leadership digitale, l’Unione Europea è chiamata a monitorare e regolare questo processo di trasformazione sviluppando al contempo nuove forme di investimento in grado di rafforzare significativamente la sua sovranità tecnologica.

I-Com ha organizzato il 6 novembre (17.30 – 19.30) presso il Parlamento Europeo a Bruxelles il simposio “THE NEW EUROPE IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ERA: Current Rule-Maker, Future Investor?”. L’evento – ospitato dall’eurodeputato Brando BENIFEI – ha fornito un’occasione di confronto sul futuro delle politiche digitali europee. Il dibattito ha coinvolto rappresentanti delle istituzioni europee, organizzazioni di ricerca, imprese, associazioni di categoria del mondo industriale e dei consumatori e si è incentrato su temi chiave dell’agenda politica della nuova Commissione europea, quali l’intelligenza artificiale, le reti 5G, la sicurezza informatica, l’Antitrust & Innovation, gli smart consumers. Il simposio è stato anche l’occasione per presentare lo studio di I-Com sui temi oggetto dell’evento.

Roberto VIOLA, Direttore Generale della DG CNECT, Commissione Europea, ha partecipato al simposio, formulando delle osservazioni sul dibattito svolto e i temi affrontati.

Il simposio fa parte dell’iniziativa I-Com 2019/2020 Back to the Future, che mira a informare le nuove istituzioni dell’UE sullo stato dell’innovazione in tre settori (Digital, Healthcare e Energy/Mobility) e a formulare raccomandazioni sulle politiche future allo scopo di rafforzare la competitività dell’UE.

Programme
I-Com presentation
I-Com study[/tp]
[tp lang=”en” not_in=”it”]The digital revolution is producing dramatic changes in Europe, affecting a variety of actors and sectors and defining huge challenges for the European industrial ecosystem. In order to promote innovation, empower and protect citizens and finally reinforce its digital leadership, the European Union is called to monitor and regulate this process of transformation while developing new investment forms able to significantly enhance its technological sovereignty.

I-Com has organised on November 6 (5.30 – 7.30 pm) at the European Parliament in Brussels the symposium “THE NEW EUROPE IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ERA: Current Rule-Maker, Future Investor?”. The event – hosted by MEP Brando BENIFEI – has provided a forum for EU Institutions representatives, research and business organisations, trade and consumer associations and other relevant stakeholders, to discuss the future of the European digital policies – such as Artificial intelligence, 5G networks, cybersecurity, Antitrust & Innovation, smart consumers – which are expected to be at the hearth of the new European Commission’s political agenda. The symposium has also been an occasion to present a study developed by I-Com on related issues.

Roberto VIOLA, Director General at DG CNECT, European Commission has participated and delivered his remarks on the main issues discussed at the Symposium.

The symposium is part of I-Com 2019/2020 Brussels Flagship Initiative Back to the Future, which finally aims at informing the new EU institutions about the state of innovation in three sectors (Digital, Healthcare and Energy/Mobility) and making recommendations on future related policies to strengthen EU competitiveness.

Programme
I-Com presentation
I-Com study

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Speakers

[tp no_translate]Brando BENIFEI
MEP, Socialists and Democrats, IMCO Committee[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Brando Benifei, European Federalist, is one of the youngest MEPs, recently re-elected for a second mandate, and is from La Spezia, Italy. His main areas of work are Internal Market and Consumers Protection, Employment and Social Affairs, and Constitutional Affairs. He is rapporteur for the Single Market Program and shadow rapporteur for the European Social Fund Plus. He is active on youth policies, digitalisation and rights of persons with disabilities. In the previous term, he was responsible for the European Solidarity Corps, for the Post-Arab Spring in the MENA region and for key reports on the social inclusion and integration of refugees into the EU labour market, as well as youth employment policy such as the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative. He was also co-chair of the Youth Intergroup and vice-chair of the Disability Intergroup. In 2018, he received the MEP Award for his work on Employment and Social Affairs issues, for his work on youth unemployment. In 2016, Forbes included him in its annual 30 under-30 most influential in EU Politics list. [/tp]

[tp no_translate] Caterina BORTOLINI
Head of International and European Institutional Affairs High-Level, TIM [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Caterina Bortolini has been working for TIM, the Italian telecom company, since 2000 and is currently the Head of International and European Institutional Affairs of the Company. She is a member of the Board of ETNO, the EU association of telecom operators, and the Chair of the Digital Single Market Working Group within the association. She is graduated in EU law and specialized in EU matters, with a particular focus on policy and regulatory issues related to the digital sector. She has also been in charge of National Legislation Analysis and has contributed to a number of publications on international issues and EU competition law. Since 2007 she is based in Rome, after a long experience in Brussels. [/tp]

[tp no_translate] Wassim CHOURBAJI
Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Government Affairs EMEA, Qualcomm [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Wassim Chourbaji is Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He oversees Qualcomm’s public policy, regulatory affairs and senior government relations across the region. Mr Chourbaji leads a senior team responsible for technology, intellectual property, digital economy, spectrum, standardization, data and competition policies. He has been appointed member of the UK’s Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board and is also the Chairman of TechUK Communication Infrastructure Council. Mr Chourbaji studied engineering and mathematics.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Stefano DA EMPOLI
President, I-Com[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Stefano is the president and principal policy analyst at I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank based in Rome and Brussels which he founded in 2005. He currently teaches political economy and economic policy at the Roma Tre University, in Rome. Stefano is a graduate of the Coripe Consortium for Research and Continuing Education in Economics (Piemonte, Italy), where he received a Masters Degree in Economics, and the George Mason University (Virginia, USA) where he obtained his MA (Economics). Stefano has served in key advisory or expert positions on a number of taskforces or scientific boards, including: Vice President of the Health City Institute; Scientific Director of the La Scossa Association; Board member of the European Foundation EYPROM; Expert Member of the Eurelectric Task Force on Investment; Expert Member of the Technical Secretariat for the Protection of Nature in the Italian Ministry of the Environment; Director at the Observatory on Energy Policy of the Einaudi Foundation. He has authored numerous publications on economic themes, particularly with regard to policy and regulation of the energy market and infrastructural services and the governance of the institutions, and his opinions and analysis has featured in major Italian newspapers including Il Foglio, il Sole24 Ore, Huffington Post Italia and more. Stefano has also undertaken study and consultancy assignments for Italian and international public institutions, including the Senate of the Republic, the Department for EU policies, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the OECD, leading companies and non-profit organizations.[/tp]

[tp no_translate] Robert DEHM
Attaché for Telecommunications and Information Society, Permanent Representation of
Germany to the EU[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Robert Anton Dehm works as a Councellor in the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU (since 2016). He has also worked as Policy Officer at the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, within the Economic and Societal Aspects of the Digital Agenda, Digital Sovereignty unit. He also served as First Secretary for Industry Policy at the German Embassy to the United States, Washington DC. He has a Master’s degree from Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Economics. [/tp]

[tp no_translate] Claudia HERBEN
Business Technology Leader EMEA, Johnson & Johnson [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Claudia held many different roles within her 28 years career, growing from a technical engineer towards a business leader. Her focus is always about innovation, continues improvement and customer centricity. Over the many years that Claudia has been active in technology, she has seen a great evolution in how technology is positioned in companies. Where in the past, technology was considered a supporting function for the business, technology today is considered an enabler for the business. In her role as CIO, Claudia looks for opportunities for innovation through technology to develop new “go to market” models. One of the critical success factors is to do research externally and look for opportunities for great partnerships and combine with the internal strengths of the company. Claudia also strongly believes in taking data driven decisions. First question should always be, what business problem are we trying to solve as very often we tend to go into solutioning before even understanding the problem. In looking for that answer, it is important to measure so we can see the opportunity for improvement rather than base it on assumptions, using “lean thinking” and “six sigma” to drive business improvement within the organization. This concept can be used both for problem solving and for identifying opportunities to build for the future, bringing processes and business outcomes to the next level. Every company has customers so in any activity performed within the company, there should always be the benefit for the customer, confirmed by the customer. Too often, Claudia has seen companies starting efforts with great intention but when asking the customer, they didn’t see the value in it. So, in her role as business leader and technology leader, the customer is always at the center.

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[tp no_translate] Ursula PACHL
Deputy Director General, BEUC – The European Consumer Organisation [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Ms. Pachl is the Deputy Director General of BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, representing 45 independent national consumer associations from 32 European countries. Before this, she has held different positions at BEUC, starting as Legal Advisor, then working as Senior Policy and Institutional Affairs Advisor. In her current role Ms. Pachl leads BEUC’s work on digital policies, consumer rights, redress and enforcement. She is also responsible for horizontal and strategic policy such as EU governance and Better Regulation issues and represents BEUC in High Level groups, namely the European Commission’s High Level Group for Artificial Intelligence, the stakeholder group of the EU’s Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) and the European Commission’s REFIT platform. [/tp]

[tp no_translate]Kristiina PIETIKÄINEN
Chair of EU Council Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society, Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Kristiina Pietikäinen works as a Councellor in the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU (since 2017). She has also worked as national seconded expert to the European Commission DG CNECT (2010- 2013). Her background is from the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications where she has worked over 20 years in different tasks in the fields of electronic communications policy, digitalization and data security and privacy. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Helsinki majoring in communications and sociology. [/tp]

[tp no_translate] Renato SABBADINI
CEO, All Digital [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] As CEO, Renato is responsible for strengthening the position of ALL DIGITAL as a leading European actor in the field of digital competences for citizenship, inclusion, education and employability. A linguist by training, Renato started his career at the University of Bergamo and served for 9 years as Bergamo City Councillor; in 2004 moved to Brussels to serve as advisor to Green MEP Monica Frassoni. Renato has led the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), where he was elected co-Secretary General in 2008 and appointed Executive Director 5 years later. Under his leadership, ILGA re-gained consultative status with the UN ECOSOC Council, tripled its budget, doubled the membership, moved the office to Geneva and opened three regional offices in Buenos Aires, Johannesburg and Bangkok. Renato speaks 6 languages (IT, EN, FR, ES, DE, RU), is passionate about freedom of speech and equal opportunities and – above all – authenticity in human relationships. [/tp]

[tp no_translate]Yana TOOM
MEP, Renew Europe, EMPL Committee[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Yana Toom is Member of the European Parliament since 2014 in the Renew Europe Group. She has been working in several EP Committees such as EMPL, CULT, PETI. In her political career, she served as Deputy Mayor of Tallinn in 2010-2011 and then as Member of the Estonian Parliament in its 12^th term, from 2011 to 2014. Beforehand her career was focused on journalism, working as editor in chief, journalist and correspondent for relevant Estonian newspaper.

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[tp no_translate] Roberto VIOLA
Director General, DG CNECT, European Commission [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Roberto Viola is Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission. He was the Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT, European Commission from 2012 to 2015. Roberto Viola served as Chairman of the European Radio Spectrum Policy group (RSPG) from 2012 to 2013, as Deputy Chairman in 2011 and Chairman in 2010. He was a member of the BEREC Board (Body of European Telecom Regulators), and Chairman of the European Regulatory Group (ERG). He held the position of Secretary General in charge of managing AGCOM, from 2005 to 2012. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Regulation Department and Technical Director in AGCOM from 1999 to 2004. From 1985-1999 he served in various positions including Head of Telecommunication and Broadcasting Satellite Services at the European Space Agency (ESA). Roberto Viola holds a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). [/tp]

[tp no_translate] Véronique WILLEMS
Secretary General, SMEunited [/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate] Véronique Willems is representing Crafts and SMEs in Europe as the Secretary General of SMEunited (formerly known as UEAPME) since January 2017. Beforehand and as from 2009, she was the Head of European affairs at UNIZO (SMEunited Belgian member organisation) and was responsible for advocacy on policies affecting SMEs at EU-level. In January 2016, she was nominated deputy to the SME-representative for Belgium at the European Economic and Social Committee. Ms Willems started her career at UNIZO in 1999 as Policy Officer in charge of education, training and SME counselling and went on to work at the regional office (Vlaams-Brabant & Brussel) as responsible for advocacy at regional level, mentorship programs and individual counselling for entrepreneurs. Ms Willems holds a Law degree from Vrije Universiteit Brussels and a Master’s Degree in Commercial sciences / Business management from VLEKHO Brussels.[/tp]