The European Commission unveiled its landmark Data Act legislative proposal in February 2022 with the aim of creating new rules for data sharing and the data economy. The new framework wants to help unlock the value of data use and stimulate a competitive and innovative data market in the EU.

According to the Commission, the Data Act will enable a ‘fair and innovative data economy,’ by addressing the ‘legal, economic and technical issues that lead to data being under-used.’ It does so by creating access and sharing rights for the data generated by users of connected products, introducing a framework for the public sector to access and use private data for certain exceptional circumstances and creating new requirements that apply when customers switch between cloud providers. These new measures will have a huge impact on the data economy and the relations between the different actors in the market. Since the publication, stakeholders and legislators alike have shown great interest in the proposal, highlighting the opportunities it can create and the challenges it may pose.

This EIF event will gather a panel of policymakers and stakeholders to discuss some of the biggest issues at stake in the Data Act. The panel will touch upon the key provisions around business-to-business and business-to-government data sharing and the measures on cloud switching. Key challenges related to privacy, security and international transfers of data will also be addressed.

• Programme

  Opening remarks

  Pilar del Castillo MEP and EIF Chair

  Miapetra Kumpula-Natri MEP, EIF Steering Committee Member

  Speakers

  Yvo Volman, Director of the Data directorate, DG CNECT, European Commission

  Jason Oxman, CEO and President, the Information Technology Industry Council

  Laszlo Toth, Head of Public Policy, GSMA Europe

  Alberto Di Felice, Director for Infrastructure, Privacy and Security, DIGITALEUROPE

  First Respondent

  Isabella De Michelis, Expert, European DIGITAL SME Alliance; ErnieApp Ltd CEO and founder

  Exchange of views with the participants under the Chatham House rule