TikTok or Facebook? Alibaba or Amazon? GDPR or CBPR? GAIA-X or GoogleCloud? Huawei or Ericson? EU citizens should have real choices that serve their own interests rather than those of BigTech or a State. But how do we get there?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set a clear goal for the European Union (EU) and its member states: We must make this ‘Europe’s Digital Decade’. The EU Connectivity strategy and the EU Digital strategy will contribute to this aim, but to move from paper to practice the various dimensions of the digital decade first have to be understood.

China’s Digital Silk Road & EU efforts to improve digital connectivity

The webinar will discuss China’s Digital Silk Road and the efforts the EU has made so far to improve its digital connectivity in four domains: regulation, business, infrastructure and Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Speakers

An excellent panel of speakers will discuss the need for improved digital connectivity in the EU context and beyond.

• Brigitte Dekker (Junior Researcher, the Clingendael Institute) will elaborate upon the Digital Silk Road and the context of great power rivalry, in which the EU has to act
• David Ringrose (Head of International Affairs, European Commission DG Connect) will add the EU’s perspective to this and how steps forward are being made.
• Reinhard Bütikofer (Member of the European Parliament, Greens/EFA) will share his view on digital connectivity in combination with the German EU Presidency.

Maaike Okano Heijmans (Senior Research Fellow, the Clingendael Institute) will be your moderator.

Follow the livestream

The webinar will be streamed live on YouTube. Register for the email alert to receive a reminder in advance.