Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Just over a week ago, along with the other members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Industry, I spent three days in the Czech Republic taking a closer look at the ground-breaking research there in the fields of cybersecurity, space technology and artificial intelligence.
From 21 to 23 February, we met with legislators, visited research centres and key stakeholders, including those from the private sector, to find out how they address digital challenges, improve connectivity and support the digitisation of businesses, especially SMEs. In this respect, the Czech Plan for Recovery and Resilience (RPR), consisting of a financial contribution of 7 billion euro in grants, will support the implementation of crucial investment and reform measures in the country. More than 20% of the total allocation will be devoted to measures that support the digital transition.
Visits to Prague and Brno allowed us to maintain contact and remain up to date with cybersecurity actors, skills and digital innovation. This is essential as we work on the next legislative framework aiming to build, step-by-step, a true European digital sovereignty.
From our exchanges, it is clear to us that the digital sector needs freedom to innovate and stability within an established framework of values. We have to enable the European Union to become more innovative and competitive and, at the same time, make sure that European citizens support these technological developments and policies. To do this, we must continue to develop digital skills and digital literacy, as well as clearly definite the kind of digital society we want. And that is exactly what we MEPs and this Committee are working on.
Space policy that serves society
The EU’s technical strategic independence and sovereignty is also our goal in space. Space policy is at the service of society, citizens and businesses. It is already present in many services we use on a daily basis. We want the EU to set up a regulatory framework for an innovative space sector through a positive investment climate, with appropriately adapted governance, synergies between sectors, and more support for research and innovation.
The EP is playing a major role in building the European space policy. Parliament ensured an EU endowed with a single integrated Space Programme, where flagship programmes of satellite systems function in a synergetic way: navigation with Galileo, Earth Observation imagery with Copernicus and Govsatcom with telecom.
The European Union Governmental Satellite Communications (Govsatcom) programme will be extended within the Secure Connectivity to cover private as well as governmental users. When it came to the Galileo programme, the EP took the necessary steps to ensure that it has the best governance for the future of the system.
Furthermore, prior to the recent communication on space traffic management (STM), the Commission launched an STM pilot project at the request of the Parliament. The project aims to provide a comprehensive picture of existing and emerging frameworks and to identify current and future needs.
For the first time, thanks to the innovative eCall Directive, we have introduced the mandatory use of the Galileo signal in all new cars as a safety feature in case of accident. Already, this device has helped save hundreds of lives in the EU.
A safe and human-centric AI
EP Committees are currently working on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), which was first proposed by the European Commission in the spring of last year. It marks the first-ever attempt to regulate AI and has been developed as part of a broader ambition to make Europe a global leader in the field by being the first to set clear guidelines.
The plenary vote is planned for November, which means that the Czech presidency of the Council may be the one to kick start inter-institutional negotiations on the regulation. The ITRE Committee is working on some key aspects of the proposal, including the definition of Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity aspects, measures for small-scale providers and users and data and data governance.
The EP has always advocated actively for the EU and its member states to harness, promote and enhance the added value of artificial intelligence and to ensure that AI technologies are safe, human-centric and consistent with European values, fundamental rights and norms. In order to remain economically competitive as a global power, the EU needs to become a global power in AI. In a time of international insecurity, these European systems must remain safe, and resilient. This means that embedded security concerns need to go hand-in-hand with the development of artificial intelligence.
Parliament recently adopted a report on shaping the digital future of Europe. It calls on the European Commission to do more to tackle the challenges posed by the digital transition and urges it especially to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital single market, in order to improve the use of artificial intelligence and support digital innovation and skills.
