Európsky hospodársky a sociálny výbor
The European Economic and Social Committee is organising the Second edition of the AI Europe stakeholder Summit entitled: White paper on artificial intelligence - What civil society has to say? The Summit will focus particularly on two topics: 1) Use of AI in the workplace and 2) AI-driven biometric recognition systems (including facial recognition).
The event aims to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the European Union in the post-2020 era. The discussions will focus on the programme of the new European Commission, which will be taking up office in just a few weeks' time. The speakers will also exchange views on a wide range of topical issues, such as the challenges posed by new technologies, Brexit, sustainable development and the development of Europe’s Green Deal. The event will be addressed by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Chris Fearne and by leading local business representatives and stakeholders in the European institutions.
The aim of the conference was to discuss the opportunities and challenges provided by digitalisation, in particular cutting-edge digital tools, AI and robotics as well as the prerequisites to make this happen. It also addressed expectations for future steps of policy making on the European Level.
In the framework of its own initiative opinion on "Blockchain and distributed ledger technology as an ideal infrastructure for Social Economy", the EESC organizes on 29 May 2019 a public hearing on "Blockchain: technology for the social economy 4.0".
The objective of the hearing will be to give the floor to experts in the field, but also to present case studies aiming at showing how Social Economy can benefit from this new technology.
The EESC believes that sustainable European systems of transport, energy and services of general interest are vital for addressing the global challenges in a modern, digitised and smart environment. The active participation and engagement of European Civil Society and citizens are crucial when assessing the challenges, consequences and impacts of digital transformation.
The objective of the hearing is to gather relevant views of experts and stakeholders that will help the EESC to know first-hand the objectives and concerns of Civil Society regarding the digital transformation and to formulate recommendations to the new European Commission and European Parliament for achieving shared goals.
The public hearing on "Towards a more resilient and sustainable European economy with a vision for completing EMU" to be held on Friday, 12 April 2019, starting at 11.30 a.m., will discuss from a wider civil society perspective the future of the European economy and the political initiatives and decisions that need to be taken during the upcoming legislative term and beyond. Taking into account the conclusions of the debate, the EESC will draw up two own-initiative opinions, entitled "Towards a more resilient and sustainable European economy" and "A new vision for completing the Economic and Monetary Union", to be forwarded to the new European Parliament and European Commission.
As a follow-up to the Consumer Dialogues, "Les Assises des Consommateurs" (the 2018 Consumer Summit) showcased the results of this outreach and offered the opportunity for debate and conclusions.
The Workers' Group is organising an event for the presentation and discussion of the study "Overview of the national strategies on work 4.0 – a coherent analysis of the role of the social partners".
The study will be presented by its author, Anna Byhovskaya, Senior Policy Advisor at the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD.
Opportunities for SMEs emerging from digital revolution – this will be the focus of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Bureau of the Employers' Group that will take place in Vienna on 24 and 25 October 2018. Apart from bringing concrete examples of SMEs benefitting from digitalisation, the participants will elaborate on potential of eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) for SMEs and show the perspective of non-EU country on digital revolution. The impact of digitalization on education and dual system will also be analysed.
Globally, inequality and poverty also have led to migration, fostering, inequality and tensions in the host countries.
Europe has reacted to these challenges by proclaiming the European pillar of social rights, a set of key principles aiming at a more social Europe. Its main purpose is to fight against inequality and poverty. The fight against inequalities is also linked to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
