ALDE - Reclaiming Liberalism: a liberal response to digitalisation

There follows the current draft of a resolution on Europe and the digital society. I'll be honest, I am not an expert in this field, whereas many of you who read this are. Do me a favour, take a look at it and tell me if there is anything outrageous/stupid/missing. The deadline for amendments is Friday, so if you have any ideas, the sooner the better.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party convening in Budapest, Hungary on 19-21 November 2015:

Having regard to:

• ALDE Party resolution ‘Digital Freedoms’ from 2009 Congress in Barcelona, Spain;
• ALDE Party resolution ‘Global Digital Freedom’ from 2012 Congress in Dublin, Ireland;
• ALDE Party resolution ‘Regulation in the Digital Economy – the shared economy’ from 2014 Congress in Lisbon, Portugal;
• the ALDE Party’s seminar on 5 June 2015 ‘Reclaiming Liberalism: Shaping a modern liberal approach to the digital revolution’;

Maximising the potential of digitalisation

Notes that:

• the digital economy is one of the most important drivers of innovation, competiveness and growth, and is considered to hold huge potential for European entrepreneurs, SMEs, governments and the well-being of citizens;
• this potential is underexploited in Europe, with 41% of enterprises being non-digital and only 2% of European enterprises taking full advantage of new digital opportunities as still too many barriers stand in the way of companies and consumers making the transition to digitalisation;
• as new types of data are generated by digitalisation, big data presents opportunities for data-driven innovation and to transform sectors by making use of information to develop improved products and services ranging from healthcare, transport and energy;
• health care and social services have been taken to a new quality level through digitalisation. With the help of information and communications technologies (ICT), these services in many European countries are becoming personal and preventive which provides important advantages for patients, healthcare practitioners and the health economy;

Calls on:

• the EU and governments to foster the digital transformation of European businesses by helping them to take full advantage of new technologies and through the investment in ICT infrastructures and technologies such as mobile communication, cloud computing, big data analytics and the Internet of Things;
• the EU and governments to ensure that these promising new digital technologies generate growth, create jobs, allow new services to flourish and benefit society by creating the right regulatory conditions, foster research and innovation and at the same time set standards at European level to stimulate cross-border trade;
• the EU and governments to promote a competitively priced, fast and open internet in order to take full advantage of the potential of ICT, promote innovation and economic productivity;
• the EU and governments to support digital entrepreneurship and start-ups through such measures as improving access to finance for new digital entrepreneurs and fostering a business environment that favours the emergence of innovative companies.

Digitalisation of the public sector

Notes that:

• digitising government services and public administration allow governments to become more accessible and accountable, provides more efficiency and savings for citizens, businesses and government, increase transparency and greater participation of citizens in political life;
• public services in Europe have embraced new technologies to varying degrees but more can be done to modernise public administration, achieve cross-border interoperability and facilitate easy interaction with citizens and businesses;

Calls on: 

• governments to embrace electronic identification and trust services such as e-signatures, electronic seals, time stamping and website authentication while making sure that the required guarantees are incorporated regarding identity and reliability to ensure that citizens and businesses have complete confidence in e-government services;
• the Commission to take concrete actions to ensure cross-border digital public services.

Trust and security

Notes that:

• new technologies bring immense opportunities and potential for the European economy, innovation, growth and jobs but they also raise challenging policy issues for governments regarding security, privacy and trust;
• only when citizens and businesses have full confidence that their data is safe online can the digital economy achieve its full potential, which means data protection, cybersecurity and security of electronic communications are paramount in this regard;
• the digital economy must be built on reliable and trustworthy networks and services that safeguard consumers’ fundamental rights to privacy and personal data protection;
• the use of new ICT in international terrorism and serious and organised crime poses unique security challenges to governments. However, in attempting to combat these activities, intelligence agencies have accessed personal data of users of online services which has severely distorted the trust of citizens in such services, and therefore has had adverse effects on businesses investing in the development of new services using big data and new applications such as the Internet of Things;

Calls on:

• the Council and the European Parliament to come to a swift agreement on the Data Protection Regulation in order to ensure that the processing of personal data is governed by uniform and up-to-date rules throughout Europe;
• the Council and the European Parliament to adopt the Network and Information Security Directive with the aim of reaching a satisfactory level of operational cooperation between Member States;
• the EU and its Member States to include cybersecurity in the EU’s foreign affairs top priorities in order to both defend the EU and prevent future attacks;
• governments to strengthen their policies in order to combat cybercrime and breaches of privacy and personal data security;
• ALDE Party member parties to encourage their governments to set proper oversight measures of intelligence services, to evaluate and revise, where necessary, their national legislation and practices governing the activities of intelligence agencies so as to ensure that they are subject to parliamentary and judicial oversight, and that they comply with the rule of law and fundamental rights, in particular as regards to data protection, privacy and the presumption of innocence.

Copyright

Notes that:

• copyright underpins creativity and the cultural industry in Europe. The EU strongly relies on creativity to compete globally and is a world leader in certain copyright-intensive sectors;
• with the digitalisation of copyright works, Europe needs a more harmonised copyright regime which provides incentives to create and invest while allowing transmission and consumption of content across borders building on Europe’s rich cultural diversity;

Calls on:

• the EU to establish a cross-border harmonised EU system of copyright which balances the inherent value and appreciation of creative and artistic content with consumers rights in the digital age.

Digital literacy, skills and inclusion

Notes that:

• nearly 20% of Europeans have never used the internet and around 40% do not possess the adequate digital skills to fill vacancies in the digital sector;
• the demand for digitally skilled employees is growing by around 4% a year; and shortages of ICT professionals in Europe could reach 825,000 unfilled vacancies by 2020 if no decisive action is taken;

Stresses that:

• education for individuals on how to safely make the best use of the internet as well as development of digital skills is crucial to develop trust to adapt to the digital revolution and to bridge the digital divide brought about by the fast development of new ICT;

Calls on:

• the EU and governments to take action to increase the digital skills of their citizens in order to fill the many ICT vacancies currently available in Europe, to ensure that all generations will be ready to adapt to labour market changes and reap the benefits of the digital economy;
• governments to support an inclusive digital economy in which citizens and businesses have the necessary skills and can benefit from e-government services.

Digital Single Market

Notes that:

• achieving a digital single market will give people and businesses the online freedoms to profit fully from the EU’s internal market, make the EU’s single market fit for the digital age and strengthen the international competiveness of the EU;

Calls on:

• the EU institutions and EU Member States to continue its efforts in achieving a digital single market.