A European Digital Skills strategy

On 18 November, EIF organised a virtual debate titled "A European digital skills strategy" hosted by MEP Victor Negrescu.

The discussion, moderated by EIF Director-General, Maria Rosa Gibellini, featured the following speakers:

- Alina Ujupan, Member of Cabinet of Executive VP Vestager, European Commission
- Izabela Milewska, Digital Skills Global Leader, Amazon Web Services
- Nenja Wolbers, Project Manager, Digital Opportunities Foundation
- Rok Kvaternik, CEO, Ernst Klett Publishers, Region Eastern Europe & Baltics
- Janine Costa, Education Attaché, Coordination Education, Youth and Sports, Portuguese Permanent Representation

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Energy transition and Digital revolution

On 17 November 2020, in collaboration with European Energy Forum, EIF organised a debate on the Energy Transition and the Digital Revolution, the real engines that can drive us toward a zero-carbon future that puts the consumer at the centre.
The virtual debate was co-hosted by MEPs Pilar del Castillo, EIF Chair and EEF Vice President, and Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, EIF Steering Committee Member and EEF Vice President. The discussion, co-moderated by Maria Rosa Gibellini, EIF Director General, and Pascale Verheust, EEF Director General, featured the following speakers:

• Mark Van Stiphout, Deputy Head of Unit 'Innovation, clean technologies and competitiveness', DG Energy, European Commission
• Stefan Kapferer, member of the Elia Group Management Board and CEO of 50Hertz
• Dorothée D'Herde, Head of Sustainable Business, Vodafone
• Annika Hedberg, Head of Sustainable Prosperity for Europe programme, EPC

More information at www.internetforum.eu

Europe's Digital Sovereignty

Geo-blocking: the next steps

On 28 October 2020, EIF organised a virtual discussion amongst several experts to explore the territorial dimension of the single market and the possible scenarios about its regulation.

In a virtual debate moderated by EIF Director General Maria Rosa Gibellini and chaired by Róża Thun MEP and EIF Steering Committee Member, different experts shared their views:

- Andrus Ansip MEP and EIF Member
- Prabhat Agarwal, Head of Unit ‘E-Commerce and Platforms’, DG CNECT, European Commission
- Léon Mölenberg, Senior Policy Advisor, Ecommerce Europe
- Linn Selle, Policy Officer, the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV)
- John Phelan, Director General, ICMP
- David Martin, Senior Legal Officer, Team Leader, BEUC
- Enrico Turrin, Deputy Director/Economist, Federation of European Publishers (as First Respondent)

More information at www.internetforum.eu

Emerging Technologies: Artificial Intelligence and Supercomputing

On 14 October 2020, EIF organised a debate on ‘Emerging Technologies: AI and Supercomputing’, aimed at taking stock of what is happening at global level and investigate what Europe is doing to secure its place as a leader in this geopolitical tech race.

The discussion, moderated by EIF Director General Maria Rosa Gibellini, was hosted by the MEPs Pilar del Castillo, EIF Chair, and Eva Kaili, EIF Steering Committee Member, and featured the following speakers:

- Lucilla Sioli, Director of Artificial Intelligence & Digital Industry DG CNECT, European Commission
- Dr. Zhou Bin, CTO, Huawei Ascend Computing
- Dr. Alessandro Curioni, Head of IBM Research in Europe, Director of the IBM Research Lab in Zurich
- Dr. Jacques Bughin, CEO, Machaon Advisory; Advisor, Fortino Capital and Venture Partner, Antler; Professor Solvay Business School

More information at www.internetforum.eu

The European Data Strategy

On 13 October 2020, EIF organised a debate on the European Data Strategy, in the light of the European Parliament report and the upcoming legislative proposals from the European Commission. The discussion, moderated by EIF Director General Maria Rosa Gibellini, was hosted by Miapetra Kumpula-Natri MEP and Rapporteur for the Data Strategy, and featured the following speakers:

- Malte Beyer-Katzenberger, Policy Officer, Unit G1 'Data policy and innovation', DG CONNECT European Commission
- Dr. Richard Benjamins, Chief AI & Data Strategist, Telefónica
- Adam Ocharski, Head of Business Intelligence, Santander Bank Polska
- Eline Chivot, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Data Innovation (as First Respondent)

More information at www.internetforum.eu