Too much regulation inhibits innovation improvement – thunder experts at CEE Digital Summit. And it's hard to disagree with them

Central and east Europe must have a greater impact on EU digitisation policy

Accelerating the transformation of the digital economy and society in the region of Central and east Europe – this is the main nonsubjective of CEE Digital Coalition, which brings together the digital manufacture from the countries of Trimorz. As of 2020, the coalition has been building 18 organizations from 11 countries in Central and east Europe. During the last summit, the first Ukrainian organization joined the coalition. – When the war is over, Ukraine will gotta rebuild in many areas. Today, all sector of the economy contains a component of fresh technologies. Digitalisation will undoubtedly be the driving force for rebuilding the country– said Tetiana Ilieva, the typical of the IT Ukraine Association.

In addition to organisations from the countries of Central and east Europe, the Warsaw summit was besides attended by representatives of the Polish, Ukrainian and Romanian government, as well as the Czech, Estonian and Romanian embassies.

A lot was discussed on the occasion of the CEE Digital Trident award, which was awarded this year by Mark Boris Andrijanič, associate of the Governing Board of the EIT, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, erstwhile Minister of Digitization of Slovenia. As the laudation states, "the promoter of digital transformation in the spirit of entrepreneurship and respect for human rights".

Michał Kanownik, CEE Digital Summit

Regulatory challenges and insufficient investment in barriers to development

The function of Central and east Europe in improving competitiveness and achieving economical growth was 1 of the themes raised during the Digital Summit of the 3 Seas. – Cooperation on digital policies is 1 of the main challenges for Europe today. The digital era must improve the surviving conditions of society. Establishing the same principles and objectives will avoid the transformation of respective speeds – said Marius–Viorel Posa, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitisation of Romania, stressing the importance of cooperation in the region.

The Romanian minister besides pointed out the request for clear regulation in the field of digitisation. – Clear regulations are crucial. We gotta sit together at the table, share experiences, work out the best solutions and share them – this is the best way to go forward – He said.

Paweł Lewandowski, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Digital Affairs besides spoke about problems related to regulations. – In the European Union we see the problem of overregulation. What is the biggest obstacle to improvement is to regulate the same areas that treat this issue in a variety of ways, which is simply a immense problem. This makes it essential to clarify what prolongs the lawmaking process – said the typical of the Polish government.

Fredrik Erixon of the European Centre for global Political Economy, in turn, highlighted the problem of investment in artificial intelligence in the European Union. – If we just look at the level of investment in artificial intelligence on a global scale, present the United States is liable for about 40% of them, China is besides around 40% and Europe is only 7%. And if we look at technological achievements and human capital, Europe is doing well. We must be careful erstwhile creating fresh regulations to encourage investors, not deter them – Says the expert.

– We request to give businesses access to funds, especially at an early stage. We have excellent specialists providing excellent products and services. Unfortunately, these are not European brands. We request to be able to make and sale our EU products – Marcin Nowacki, president of the European Enterprise Alliance, stressed.

The discussion was besides attended by Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. In her opinion, European governments should act as digital companies, not as state administrations. She pointed out that in the area of government of the Central and east European State should focus on identifying the problem and uncovering a solution. She besides added that since the beginning of the war Ukraine has faced digital challenges that had to be solved overnight. Today, more than 50% of citizens usage government digital services in Ukraine.

Digital education and human resources shortages among the main problems of Central and east Europe

Central and east Europe must focus on digital education and investment in ICT human resources training, as assessed by the digital industry. In their opinion, countries in our region will face this challenge more rapidly and easy if they work together in this area.

Corina Vasile, executive manager at the Romanian ANIS spoke about the request for cooperation in the field of digital policies in Central and east Europe. – The affirmative thing is that as a region, we have transatlantic experience, due to the fact that we have technological American investment and from another key Western countries. We so know how to work together in this area. On digital issues, we should work more closely within the Central and east Europe region and jointly present products and services from the countries of the Tri-Sea Initiative – This is Corina Vasile.

Jacek Stryczyński, manager of Innovative Projects at PKO Bank Polski besides encouraged cooperation. He pointed out that business cannot wait for framework regulation and must take action. – We should take account of the specificity of the region and look at the advancement we have already achieved. The rate of digitalisation in different countries is very different. The banking sector is an example of a sector where we are a fewer steps ahead of Western Europe and the United States – stated manager Stryczyński.

– We see the issue of migration of talents and work with business and educational institutions. We must besides begin to participate as partners and find ways to exploit talent. If we can't cope with these challenges, we'll proceed to send profits abroad alternatively of keeping them where they are. – This is Andrey Bacharov from Digital National Alliance in Bulgaria, stressing the importance of talent management. As Balazs Vinnai stressed, the president of an organization representing the ICT manufacture in Hungary (IVSZ) low labour costs have been an asset of the region for any time. – It's over. We request to find ways to increase added value. We request to unite and work together better – This is Balazs Vinnai.

Zydrune Vitaite of Lithuanian Women Go Tech raised the problem of women's participation in the technology sector. – The best countries have a share of women in the ICT sector of 25%, which means that we do not accomplish half the potential. However, the impact of education will be visible in decades, and we request to see the effects now in order to stay competitive and make the digital economy.

Jaromir Hansal, manager of the Czech AAVIT, spoke about the request to share good practices within the region, both in business and regulatory matters. He besides pointed out that "we should not focus on the improvement of professions which are now, but focus on what they will be in a fewer years".

Overregulation of the threat to the improvement of the digital manufacture in Central and east Europe

The improvement of digital technologies and legislative challenges resulting from fast advancement were discussed during the conference, which is part of the Digital Initiative of Trimorz in Warsaw. manufacture leaders discussed how to guarantee that regulators, educators and society as a full keep up with the fast-coming technological changes.

The introduction to the panel was given by Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, manager General of Digital Europe. It believes that reducing regulation by 25% and expanding cross-border trade in the EU can be key factors that should increase EU competitiveness. But how can we do this?

CEE Digital Summit – experts

Milly Doolan of HUP, a Croatian organization representing, among others, the digital sector, proposed to make a single set of regulations alternatively of 27 and that to look for the right balance between innovation and regulation. However, in order to do so, as Michal Ciz, the programming manager of SAPI from Slovakia, it is essential to cooperate between business and legislators on digital issues. – government should not be created in a way where it is presented to business and simply expects it to operate in accordance with the created regulations – Michael Ciz.

As a key issue that will require adequate regulation at EU and national level, artificial intelligence has been identified. – AI is besides crucial not to regulate it, but besides crucial to regulate it improperly. We request risk-based regulation and applications-focused – said Levente Juhasz, Government Affairs & Public Policy manager CEE in Google. He besides added that 16 innovators consider transferring their investigation outside the EU for fear of overregulation.

Gheorghe Sarbu, Advisor to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers of Romania and Minister of Development, Innovation and Digitization pointed out that present many innovations are being created in start-ups. – What we are dealing with sometimes is simply a government telling us that a concrete solution proposed by start-ups will never be able to be applied or the task will should be discussed by a group of lawyers, which kills specified a young company.

Vlaho Hrdalo, Partner at Hrdalo & Krnic in Croatia added that he besides felt it essential to affect more young people who realize technology in the legislative process.

The CEE Digital Summit conference in Warsaw was organized by CEE Digital Coalition, a coalition of the organization of the digital manufacture from the countries of Central and east Europe. In Poland it belongs to the Digital Union of Poland. The partners of the event were Google, Samsung and Meta.