31 Mar In Support of Free Flowing Data
Creating a Digital Single Market in Europe will help unlock opportunities for businesses, jobs, growth and consumers that could contribute €415 billion per year to Europe’s economy. Ensuring data can flow freely across Europe’s borders is a key prerequisite for unlocking this potential.
In February the European Cloud Alliance hosted an expert briefing call to provide our members with detailed insights into the European Commission’s Communication on Building a European Data Economy. As an agreed action of this call we committed to writing to Vice-President Ansip to express our members’ support for action that would remove unjustified restrictions on the location of non-personal data in Member States.
This week we sent our letter to Vice-President Ansip urging him to put in place a more ambitious plan to support the growth of cloud technologies in Europe. In the letter, ECA Executive Director Kim Gagné, writes:
“Currently, there are a number of Member State measures in place that restrict, or are perceived to restrict, flows of data out of the jurisdiction and, as a result, impede the use of cloud services unless data is stored locally. A clear policy prohibiting such measures – rather than a piecemeal approach – would be highly beneficial for Europe.”
“Measures that impede the free flow of data within the Union serve only to fragment markets along national borders and undermine the ability to achieve a true Digital Single Market.”
We encourage others who support this approach to also express their views to the Commission.
To read the full letter to Vice-President Ansip, click here