I have long been convinced about the many benefits of new digital services – and remain so. These are tools we all can enjoy and benefit from – more convenient, more efficient and offering a huge boost to our economy and society.
But recent allegations remind us how important privacy is. People will only use those services as much as they trust them. Trust that they or their data won’t be compromised, hacked into or spied on. Particularly if they’re sharing personal or sensitive information online. Read the full entry
Today the European Parliament voted to formally agree new rules on open data – effectively making a reality of the proposal which I first put forward just over 18 months ago, and making it easier to open up huge amounts of public sector data. This is about the data that public authorities can lawfully put out there – a huge wealth of information about your public services, how administrations are spending your tax euros, geographical or cultural information, and the like.
There’s a huge benefit to opening up. Once information is out there, there is so much you can do with it. Today many of you are familiar with apps that tell you where you are and where you need to go – based on public data from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. But it goes beyond that: the boost from easier access is of the order tens of billions of euros. In short, this is an amazing raw material for innovation; we’re basically sitting on a goldmine. Read the full entry
Today a guest blog from Gilles Babinet, French Digital Champion
“A major revolution is occurring in the field of education. A revolution that will change the way we teach and learn forever. This major change is at least as important as the one that happened during the second half of the 19th century when some European countries decided school would become mandatory until 12 years old.
You may be wondering: what is this change I am talking about?What will education look like after it has changed? Education is just about to become massively ubiquitous, totally free and more compelling to kids – thanks to the rise of more interactive teaching methods and, above all, the notion of gamification. Read the full entry
Last week I was in Egypt – meeting a lot of bloggers and activists working for reform. Online tools played a big part in Egypt’s fight for freedom; and they are still hard at work.
It’s an important reminder of the role that freedom of expression continues to play around the world.
But two stories this week reminded me that media freedom is not just an issue beyond our borders, but also something we must defend here in the EU. Read the full entry
A couple of days ago I had a great virtual “hangout” with a group of young entrepreneurs talking about the challenges they face – and some of what the EU can do for them; check it out for yourselves!
And also this week I had the chance to meet a couple of young innovators from one Dutch startup; Yori Kamphuis and Friso Stoffer from cybersecurity company Coblue.
I’m always interested in the culture and reasons that motivate people to set up their own business; and Yori’s tale was particularly fascinating. Read the full entry
Here’s my speech yesterday at the European Parliament – talking about why we need a telecoms single market, and what EU action means for roaming, net neutrality and more.
I’ve just returned from Egypt: impressed by the courage and ambition I found, worried by some of trends I saw, and pleased that the Minister was willing to commit the open internet.
Deep inside one of the Pyramids in Giza (you can climb many stories into them! incredible experience), the guide turned and announced: “the problem with Egypt is that we talk too much about the things we DID, and nothing about the things we will DO.”
Coming from a man who talks about the past for a living, that got me thinking. Read the full entry
