On the occasion of the EU Summit on digitalization in Tallinn, representatives of five European organisations met on 29th September 2017 to launch the “European Digital Squads”.
The initiative focusses on two main aspects: to produce policy scenarios and solutions for the digital future of Europe and to improve the dialogue between European institutions and digital ecosystems. With these concerns, the experts of digitalisation from different EU countries swapped ideas on the launch of their initiative, among others, with the French President, Emmanuel Macron. It is about catalysing the working capacities and the visions of expert bodies from four different countries for setting up a think and do tank at European level. The aim is to help developing a digital EU strategy on digitalisation. With their experience and visions, the representatives of the cooperation will help law- and decision-makers across Europe address the main challenges of digitalisation.
Philipp Otto, Founder & Executive Director of the German think tank iRights.Lab, is also on the ground and discusses the digital future of the European Union. For him the exchange among the experts is of central importance:
“We want to enable the right preconditions for a successful Europe in the digital 21st century. To this end, we bring the expertise of our structures and think tanks together and help the European heads of state and government build a digital Europe.”
The first meeting is merely the beginning of a series of actions intended by the members of the Squads. In addition to iRights.Lab, the following organisations are involved: The National Board of Trade Sweden, The Foresight Center of Estonia, The French Digital Council and the Internet Economy Foundation. But it doesn’t have to stop there: The cooperation is open to other organisations, willing to join the initiative later on.
Press contact and in case of questions: kontakt@irights-lab.de
Press release of the “European Digital Squad“: PDF