European Commission today launches the first phase of a draft proposal that will help EU nation companies take advantage of their enormous data banks and gain an advantage over US tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
The artificial intelligence and data strategy discussion papers are part of some of the arrangements to assist European companies have a good chance of competing with US giants and state-aided Chinese firms in the digital world.
European Industry head Thierry Breton, along with Margrethe Vestager, who is the European digital and antitrust head will present the proposals by the afternoon.
European firms need to utilize their data effectively
The main purpose of the EU data strategy is to create an environment where European companies can utilize their data effectively.
Other elements to be discussed in the draft include manufacturing standards, data interoperability, energy, agriculture, healthcare, auto industry, climate change, and financial services like Forex trading and business loans.
However, one controversial issue raised in the proposal is the need to abolish EU competition rules when it comes to anti-competition data sharing.
While responding to the observation about the ultimate power large online platforms like Amazon and Facebook are yielding, the EU pledged a solution. The commission wants to introduce a rule that would prevent tech giants from imposing conditions for accessing and using their data.
According to the commission, it wants to protect the competitive strength of European companies. It said that stopping the tech giants’ unilateral and imposed control of data will be a good place to start.
The main goal of the artificial intelligence discussion paper is to establish a process that will dictate the use of technology utilized by a number of companies. According to the discussion paper, the rule will only be applicable to high-risk sectors like predictive policing, transport, as well as healthcare.
Commission plans to clamp down on Tech giants
The commission is also planning to set up more rules that would require the tech giants to take more responsibilities for their actions. According to the EU, these tech giants do not take enough responsibilities for the contents they host in their platform.
But the new rule shall seek measures to make them responsible for contents and other actions they take. New measures are expected to be announced at the end of the year.
