Press Release: “The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, on the European Data Act, proposed by the Commission in February 2022. Today, the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution fuels exponential growth with projected data volume set to skyrocket in the coming years. A significant amount of industrial data remains unused and brimming with unrealised possibilities. The Data Act aims to boost the EU’s data economy by unlocking industrial data, optimising its accessibility and use, and fostering a competitive and reliable European cloud market. It seeks to ensure that... (More >)
International Data Governance – Pathways to Progress
Press Release: “In May 2023, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination endorsed International Data Governance – Pathways to Progress, developed through the High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) which approved the paper at its 45th session in March 2023. International Data Governance – Pathways to Progress and its addenda were developed by the HLCP Working Group on International Data Governance... (More >)
DMA: rules for digital gatekeepers to ensure open markets start to apply
Press Release: “The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) applies from today. Now that the DMA applies, potential gatekeepers that meet the quantitative thresholds established have until 3 July to notify their core platform services to the Commission. .. The DMA aims to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. It defines gatekeepers as those large online platforms that provide an important gateway between business users and consumers, whose position can grant them the power to act as a private rule maker, and thus create a bottleneck in the digital economy. To address these issues, the DMA defines... (More >)
AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think
Pew Research Center survey: “… finds crosscurrents in the public’s opinions as they look at the possible uses of AI in workplaces. Americans are wary and sometimes worried. For instance, they oppose AI use in making final hiring decisions by a 71%-7% margin, and a majority also opposes AI analysis being used in making firing decisions. Pluralities oppose AI use in reviewing job applications and in determining whether a worker should be promoted. Beyond that, majorities do not support the idea of AI systems being used to track workers’ movements while they are at work or keeping track of... (More >)
The Citizens’ Panel proposes 23 recommendations for fair and human-centric virtual worlds in the EU
European Commission: “From 21 to 23 April, the Commission hosted the closing session of the European Citizens’ Panel on Virtual Months in Brussels, which allowed citizens to make recommendations on values and actions to create attractive and fair European virtual worlds. These recommendations will support the Commission’s work on virtual worlds and the future of the Internet. After three weekends of deliberations, the panel, composed of around 150 citizens randomly chosen to represent the diversity of the European population, made 23 recommendations on citizens’ expectations for the future, principles and actions to ensure that virtual worlds in the EU... (More >)
Advancing Technology for Democracy
The White House: “The first wave of the digital revolution promised that new technologies would support democracy and human rights. The second saw an authoritarian counterrevolution. Now, the United States and other democracies are working together to ensure that the third wave of the digital revolution leads to a technological ecosystem characterized by resilience, integrity, openness, trust and security, and that reinforces democratic principles and human rights. Together, we are organizing and mobilizing to ensure that technologies work for, not against, democratic principles, institutions, and societies. In so doing, we will continue to engage the private sector, including by... (More >)
European Citizens’ Virtual Worlds Panel
Press Release: “Many people believe that virtual worlds, also referred to as metaverses, might be a change comparable to the appearance of the internet and will transform the way we work and engage with each other in the future. In the last couple of years – and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic – numerous public and private actors have been investing massively in these so-called “extended and augmented realities”, speeding up changes in our workplaces and habits. Despite this increased attention, such a transformation will not happen suddenly. Virtual Worlds will take many years to develop into a high-quality,... (More >)
Code of Practice on Disinformation: New Transparency Centre provides insights and data on online disinformation for the first time
Press Release: “Today, the signatories of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation, including all major online platforms (Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Twitter), launched the novel Transparency Centre and published for the first time the baseline reports on how they turn the commitments from the Code into practice. The new TransparencyCentre will ensure visibility and accountability of signatories’ efforts to fight disinformation and the implementation of commitments taken under the Code by having a single repository where EU citizens, researchers and NGOs can access and download online information. For the first time with these baseline reports, platforms are providing... (More >)
Americans Don’t Understand What Companies Can Do With Their Personal Data — and That’s a Problem
Press Release by the Annenberg School for Communications: “Have you ever had the experience of browsing for an item online, only to then see ads for it everywhere? Or watching a TV program, and suddenly your phone shows you an ad related to the topic? Marketers clearly know a lot about us, but the extent of what they know, how they know it, and what they’re legally allowed to know can feel awfully murky. In a new report, “Americans Can’t Consent to Companies’ Use of Their Data,” researchers asked a nationally representative group of more than 2,000 Americans to... (More >)
2023 Edelman Trust Barometer
Press Release: “The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that business is now viewed as the only global institution to be both competent and ethical. Business now holds a staggering 53-point lead over government in competence and is 30 points ahead on ethics. Its treatment of workers during the pandemic and return to work, along with the swift and decisive action of over 1,000 businesses to exit Russia after its invasion of Ukraine helped fuel a 20-point jump on ethics over the past three years. Business (62 percent) remains the most and only trusted institution globally. … Other key findings... (More >)
