DLD conference
EU Commission wants open platforms for technology
Wolfgang Ischinger (r.), President of the Board of Trustees of the Munich Security Conference Foundation (MSC), speaks alongside Roberto Viola, Head of the EU Directorate-General CONNECT, at the “Digital Life Design” (DLD) conference. photo
© Lennart Preiss/dpa
Cars and building technology are increasingly networked. Which platform is used for communication? The EU Commission relies on open systems instead of leaving it to the “Big Tech” companies from the USA.
The EU Commission insists on enforcing open platforms for promising technologies such as networked cars and buildings. It is not in Europe’s interest if “big-tech” companies could build closed ecosystems in the car business, emphasized the head of the EU Directorate-General CONNECT, Roberto Viola, on Thursday.
At the same time, it is necessary to find a middle ground when dealing with technology between the US model with little public control and European politics, which some see as too restrictive, said Viola at the DLD innovation conference in Munich.
“Europe is a superpower,” emphasized Viola, with a view to European responses to the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Jeffrey Rosen of the investment bank Lazard warned that European companies could fall behind the USA and China in terms of technological change. Technology development is being massively supported in both countries, while European companies are sometimes caught between the fronts in the battle between the USA and China for power and influence. The former head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, emphasized that there is not enough coordination between the US and Europe on how to deal with China.
The DLD (Digital Life Design) conference wants to build a bridge between entrepreneurship, innovation, culture and science. It is organized by the Burda media group.