Barcelona’s digital society experts discuss the challenges of digital transformation with European policymakers

April 13, 2023

The European institutions of Barcelona and Mobile World Capital Barcelona organised a visit to Brussels with around twenty representatives of Barcelona’s digital society to discuss the European digital agenda with European policymakers and experts. The sessions were held at the headquarters of the European Commission and the European Parliament and covered topics such as the EU’s objectives for the Digital Decade, the Artificial Intelligence strategy, the European chip law and the training and recruitment of digital talent.

Experts, researchers, disseminators on the subject and representatives of the public administration debated on the priorities of the European Commission’s current mandate, and the aim to recover digital leadership and make a difference in the regulatory framework, with a clear commitment to a transversal regulatory framework for all the challenges presented by digitalisation and which will apply to all agents who wish to operate in Europe, such as the most important regulation to be approved in the digital sphere: the AI Act.

In this context, Barcelona has positioned itself as one of the digital hubs of Southern Europe, the headquarter of global technology development centres, the venue for the MWC, the main event of the connectivity industry, and the city from which to lead the ethical use of new technologies.

The most prominent meetings were with Pilar del Castillo, Member of the European Parliament presenting the proposal for a regulation on harmonised rules for fair access to and use of data; Ibán Garcia del Blanco, Member of the European Parliament dealing with the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence, robotics and related technologies; Alejandro Cainzos, Member of the Cabinet of Margret Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for ‘A Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Competition’; and Thierry Boulange, Deputy Head of the Artificial Intelligence Policy Development and Coordination Unit of the Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technologies.