The report published today was commissioned by German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung in cooperation with University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, the Centre for European Policy Studies and Stiftung Mercator.
What is in it? According to the EuroStack report, the underlying technologies to be developed are AI, cloud computing, connectivity, electronic identification, data access, the Internet of Things and digital currencies, as well as “energy-efficient public computing capacity” and chips to support AI development. Rare earths and critical raw materials also get mentions. It sees potential applications for healthcare, manufacturing and other industries.
How to do it? The report proposes creating a chief EuroStack officer role to oversee the process. A steering committee made up of EU institutions, member countries, industry, academia and civil society, will appoint the CEO. The committee will meet quarterly. An “advisory board of independent experts will provide guidance on technical, ethical, and policy matters” to the CEO, the report said.
DC CALLING: EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen was told to set up a briefing on the Digital Services Act with U.S. lawmakers by 4 p.m. on Thursday. Who set that deadline? The chair of the U.S. Congress Judiciary Committee, Republican Jim Jordan, in a late-January letter, expressing concerns about how the DSA affects free speech across the Atlantic. As of Wednesday afternoon, Virkkunen had not responded to Jordan’s letter, but she will “in due course” Commission spokesperson Thomas Reigner told Morning Tech.
ALARM BELLS FOR BERLIN: Russia-backed campaigns to discredit Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union ruling party and the Greens, have broken into the mainstream, says research by non-profit think tank CeMAS, CORRECTIV, Newsguard and Gnida Project to be published today and shared with Morning Tech. The campaign by a group known as Storm 1516 is spreading allegations that the CDU and Greens are sexually abusing minors. Some videos on TikTok have been seen hundreds of thousands of times, whereas one has 1.7 million views. The content has also been spreading widely on Facebook, X and Telegram.
SPAIN TAKES THE HELM: Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) will be chairing the European Media Services Board, which came to life on Saturday. The director of Spain’s CNMC, Carlos Aguilar, will be the president, and Amma Asante of the Dutch media authority, will be the vice-president. The board oversees the implementation of the European Media Freedom Act.