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26 September 2023


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CEE Digital Summit: Regulatory challenges and insufficient investment are development obstacles

Regulatory challenges, including over-regulation in many areas, as well as under-investment in the development of new digital solutions, such as artificial intelligence, are the main issues for the European digital agenda, according to experts. – We need to invest more in human capital, including research capacity – pointed out Fredrik Erixon, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy during CEE Digital Summit 2023 in Warsaw, Poland.

The role of CEE in achieving European growth and competitiveness was one of the topics discussed at the CEE Digital Summit in Warsaw. Industry leaders discussed means to best leverage the region's potential, as well as the challenges ahead of the development of the digital economy and the conditions needed to take advantage of existing opportunities. – One of the main issues to be considered is the cooperation in the area of digital policies. The digital age must improve the society's lives. Establishing the same principles and goals will allow us to align out transformation – Marius–Viorel Posa, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization of Romania said underlining the value of cooperation in the region.

Key regulations and investments in technology and human capital
Romanian minister pointed out the need for clear regulatory framework in the digital area. – Regulations must be clear and based on extensive dialogue. We should share our best policy-making practices and be vocal about the digital agenda as a region– this is the way to move forward – he added.
Paweł Lewandowski, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Digitalization, Poland also spoke on the issue of excessive regulatory action. – We can see the potential problem of overregulation. Some of the proposed laws are overlapping, they regulate the same areas in a different way, which may cause a huge problem. This creates a need for further discussions – said Paweł Lewandowski.
Fredrik Erixon, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy pointed to the issue of lacking investments in the AI in the EU. – If we look at the share of investments in AI globally, the US is responsible for around 40% of the total expenditure, same as China. Meanwhile, the EU is only responsible for 7% of the global investments made in AI. However, if we look into the academic record and human potential Europe does well. This shows that we need to be careful with our policies and should create a climate driving the investments in the EU. – We need to give enterprises access to funds, particularly at the beginning of ambitious projects. While Europe is home to great tech experts, it is not doing great in terms of product ownership. The missing link are business connections allowing to sell the product on the corporate level – Marcin Nowacki, President ot the European Enterprise Alliance pointed out.

Countries as digital enterprises
Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine stressed that the government in Kiev is doing everything in its power to join the European Union as soon as possible. Minister Ionan pointed out that in terms of designing sound digital regulations, governments should imitate basic businesses processes, by identifying the problem and refining the solution with each iteration. - Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been struggling with challenges that had to be solved overnight. Today, government’s digital services in Ukraine are used by more than 50% of its citizens - Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine said.