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#Tech, Media, Telecom

Digital Industrial Policy for Europe

  • December 12, 2022
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Digital Industrial Policy became a ‘hot’ topic in Europe. The concepts of open global market economy and borderless digital infrastructures are no longer an integral part of the mainstream policy agenda. Profound international crises (such as climate change, war, and cyber threats), as well as the pushback against the ‘Washington Consensus’ have shifted the perceptions on industrial policy. In parallel, digital technologies have become pervasive across all economies and societies, and their transformative, disruptive, and global nature have rendered ‘digital’ a fundamentally geopolitical topic.

Against this background, developing a strong industrial base for these digital technologies has become a key determinant for EU and Member State sovereignty, as exemplified by the ubiquitous strategic autonomy debate.

In this new CERRE Tech, Media, and Telecom report, Professor Dr Paul Timmers provides a novel approach, with the aim of developing an analytical framework for an EU digital industrial policy, adapted to a time of rising geopolitical tensions, global challenges, and disruptive digital technology development. Drawing insights from national competitiveness, industrial economics, and international relations models, it zooms in on three case studies – semiconductors, cloud, and digital identity – to provide both general and case-specific policy recommendations.

The main recommendations for an EU digital industrial policy are:

  • Apply the three-level methodology – geopolitical, industrial ecosystem, firms – prioritising digital industrial policy that brings in key EU user industries and the core of government.
  • Extend institutional capability and capacity for EU-level and national digital industrial policy development, notably to coherently integrate internal and external policy interventions.
  • Pro-actively monitor and act on risks and pitfalls for digital industrial policy starting with actions on critical dependencies (chokepoints).

When it comes to the three cases, the main recommendations are:

  • Semiconductors: complement the EU Chips Act with a fully geopolitical approach that addresses geopolitical developments, including the risk of conflict such as subsidy races. This can build on international cooperation with ‘like-minded’ partners, notably with the US such as in the TTC, and include a rolling impact assessment on investments and funding.
  • Cloud: develop an industrial policy analysis for edge cloud and consolidate cloud policy actions into an EU cloud industrial policy and/or edge cloud industrial policy, including the international impact
  • Digital identity: urgently come forward with a digital identity EU industrial policy, coherently integrating existing actions and complementing or extending these, where needed, to safeguard EU sovereignty.
Author(s)
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1598771323161
Paul Timmers
CERRE Research Fellow
University of Oxford, KU Leuven & EUC Cyprus

Prof Dr Paul Timmers is a research associate at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, professor at European University Cyprus, visiting professor at KU Leuven and the University of Rijeka, senior advisor EPC Brussels, President of the Supervisory Board Estonian eGovernance Academy and CEO of iivii.  Previously, he was Director at the European Commission/DG CONNECT where has held responsibility for legislation and funding programmes for cybersecurity, eID, digital privacy, digital health, smart cities, and e-government. At the European Commission, he was also a cabinet member of European Commissioner Liikanen. He worked as manager of a software department in a large ICT company and co-founded an ICT start-up. He holds a physics PhD from Radboud University (Nijmegen, NL), MBA from Warwick University (UK), EU fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill (US), and a cybersecurity qualification from Harvard. His main interests are digital policy, geopolitics, and Europe. He frequently publishes and speaks on the interplay of digital developments with sovereignty, cybersecurity, industrial policy, and sectoral policies such as digital health and is regularly advising governments and think tanks.

Prof Dr Paul Timmers is a research associate at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, professor at European University Cyprus, visiting professor at KU Leuven and the University of Rijeka, senior advisor EPC Brussels, President of the Supervisory Board Estonian eGovernance Academy and CEO of iivii.  Previously, he was Director at the European Commission/DG CONNECT where has held responsibility for legislation and funding programmes for cybersecurity, eID, digital privacy, digital health, smart cities, and e-government. At the European Commission, he was also a cabinet member of European Commissioner Liikanen. He worked as manager of a software department in a large ICT company and co-founded an ICT start-up. He holds a physics PhD from Radboud University (Nijmegen, NL), MBA from Warwick University (UK), EU fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill (US), and a cybersecurity qualification from Harvard. His main interests are digital policy, geopolitics, and Europe. He frequently publishes and speaks on the interplay of digital developments with sovereignty, cybersecurity, industrial policy, and sectoral policies such as digital health and is regularly advising governments and think tanks.

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