In recent years, standards have increasingly been recognized as key drivers of global competitiveness, particularly in the digital era. In February 2022, the European Commission introduced its first-ever Standardization Strategy, aiming to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness through more efficient and robust standardization processes.
Towards connectivity: The Gigabit Infrastructure Act
by Mónika Mercz The Digital Decade initiative of the European Union involves a pledge to reach 100% of 5G and fiber coverage by 2030 for EU citizens, and to ensure that new players have sufficient access to innovative business-to-business and business-to-consumer…
Horizon scanning and breakthroughs in Quantum technologies
by István Kopácsi The report shortly titled „Breakthroughs in Quantum Technologies”[1] (Report) provides an in-depth exploration of emerging quantum technologies, with a focus on key trends and innovations that are likely to shape the field in the coming years. In this review…
GDPR: Second report published by the European Commission
by Fatma Ceren Morbel The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) applies to all organizations that handle personal information related to citizens and residents of the European Union since 2018. The regulation enhanced the rights of data subjects, redefined the…
Factors of success and downfall in industrial policy
by Mónika Mercz A good and effective policy is not only defined by the commonly used top-down approach. Rather, involvement of several stakeholders, a strong bureaucratic capacity, and safeguards against regulatory capture are all essential components of it. While we must…
The EU’s Digital Decade
by Mónika Mercz Despite the significant initiatives undertaken, according to the report on the Digital Decade, key goals are not expected to be fulfilled by 2030 at the current rate of development due to the low level of private investments.[1] Digital…
Way-out from the cookie fatigue? – Cookie pledge principles to help consumers to understand tracking and to manage cookies requests through effective choices
by Judit Szalatkay The European Data Privacy Board (EDPB) established a taskforce to set an overview on practices of existing cookie banners. The taskforce published its report[1] in the beginning of the year 2023 in which it identified several deceptive and manipulative…
EDPS opinion addresses AIA exemptions
by Dávid Szász On 21 April 2021, the European Commission introduced a proposal known as the AI Act, which aims to establish consistent regulations for artificial intelligence. Following this, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor…
Illusion of Green Claims? – Thoughts in the Heat
by Judit Szalatkay As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their purchasing, companies tend to exploit the commercial possibilities of such worries by advertising their products with certain environmental performance. In several cases, green claims are proved to…
Digitalising Europe: Telcos against Big Tech
by István Kopácsi In its Digital Decade programme, the European Union has set ambitious goals to ensure the digital transformation of the economy and society, using the potential of these technologies – such as AI, 5G and even 6G, blockchain, cloud…