In 2020, the European Commission adopted its European Data Strategy. On November 25, 2020, the European Commission issued the Data Governance Act, the first proposal regarding the implementation of the Strategy. With the Strategy implementation, the EC is targeting to reach €829 billion value of the data economy in 2025 in the EU from €301 billion (2.4% of EU GDP) in 2018.
What are the prospects for the data economy in Eastern Partnership countries? To what extent are the Eastern Partnership countries able and interested to become part of the common European strategy? This will be discussed at the StrategEast.Live panel discussion “European data strategy implementation in EaP” on March 31 at 10 a.m. CET.
The event will be held in Zoom and broadcasted live to StrategEast social media pages available for the government representatives from Eurasia, the United States and the European Union, leaders of the global and local IT industry, representatives of international financial institutions, development agencies and civil society leaders among the viewers.
The panel will be moderated by Kesi Katsitadze, Development Manager Business and Technology University (BTU), Georgia.
Panel participants:
Florian Marcus – Digital Transformation Adviser at the e-Estonia Briefing Centre, Estonia;
Federico Milani – Deputy Head of the Data Policy and Innovation Unit of CNECT Directorate General, European Commission;
Oleksii Sobolev – CFA Chief Executive Officer PROZORRO.SALE, Ukraine;
Vitalie Tarlev – Moldova Digitalization Advisor at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Moldova.
The main issues to be discussed:
- Is the Data economy capable of becoming a new driver of economic growth in the EaP countries?
- What steps should be taken by the state authorities of these countries?
- At the European data strategy, the number of data professionals in the EU is planned to grow from 5.7 million in 2018 to 10.9 million in 2025. Will the EaP countries also be able to provide the industry with new specialists? Are the relevant curricula developed there?
- It is planned to increase the level of digital literacy in the EU from 57 to 65%. What programs to increase digital literacy work in the EaP countries?
- What assistance could the EU and European development institutions provide in the creation of the data economy in the EaP countries?
StrategEast.Live is a series of online panel discussions launched by StrategEast in 2020 to continue the conversation on how technology can lead to an overall transformation in Eurasia. During these events, the esteemed guests put forward ideas that facilitate the further development of a knowledge-driven economy in the region.
