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AmCham EU views on Building the European Data Economy
On 10 January 2017, the European Commission published a Communication on measures for “Building a European Data Economy.” AmCham EU’s members share the Commission’s goal of a European digital single market of the next generation, where connected machines and objects enable huge benefits for the economy and society.
The shift towards a European “data-driven economy” is critical in every sector represented by AmCham EU, including consumer services, financial services, energy, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, logistics transport information technology and more.
The “shift to data”, and reaping its benefits, will not happen by chance, however. Building the European Data Economy requires significant and sustained private and public sector investment and innovation.
In order to incentivise investment and innovation, the European Commission should remove existing barriers to free flow of non-personal data by adopting a legislative proposal establishing the principle of free flow of data.
Furthermore, care should be taken to not introduce unnecessary regulatory burden on the development of data-driven technologies. The European Commission raises important questions about the functioning of the data economy. However, our sense is that there is a high degree of innovation and competition. Going forward, premature and overly-prescriptive intervention may chill, rather than encourage, innovation.
In considering data economy policies, the European Commission should remain sensitive to the need to preserve companies’ ability to use different business models.
Read AmCham EU’s full position on ‘Building the European Data Economy’ here.