Challenges of the Digital & new EU Economy

Digitalisation transforms societies and economies, affecting the way we live, work and relate to one another. Digital services increasingly weave into Europe’s economy and are shaping Europe's digital future and this trend has been further accelerated with the COVID-10 crisis.  

As a result, digitalisation is high on the EU policy agenda.  The European Commission has been particularly active in launching different initiatives to foster Europe's key political objective of digital sovereignty through ensuring a safe, fair, open and accountable online environment for its citizens and unleashing the potential of its Digital Single Market.

The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act are two flagship initiatives of Europe's answer on how digital services should be provided and, more generally, on helping European societies take full advantage of the "new Economy".

However, progress in digitalisation still remains uneven across the EU. Many rural and remoter communities are actively seeking new opportunities in digital services to drive economic growth, but face difficulties due to inadequate infrastructure and skills.

This webinar is extremely topical: It aims to contribute to the debate on how to make DMA and DSA "fit for purpose" and, thus, feed into the legislative process currently underway by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

At the same time, it will open a wider debate on the EU initiatives which are still needed to help diffuse the potential of digital services for European businesses and citizens making them genuine leverages of sustainable development throughout our continent.

The debate will be the opportunity to discuss the following:

  1. How digital services weave into Europe’s economy and are shaping Europe's digital future?
  2. How to turn the Digital Markets Act (DMA), alongside with the Digital Services Act (DSA) into an opportunity, a solution to catching up with the digital age?
  3. How the pandemic unleashed the power of digital technology to: (i) cope with this unprecedented public health challenge; (ii) mitigate the economic impact; (iii) set Europe’s recovery off to a flying start?
  4. Interaction between digital literacy and digital services: How can the digital literacy of EU citizens be improved as a means to make better use of digital services and platforms?  
  5. Digitalization in rural areas:  How to turn it into an effective tool to sustainability?