Lintilä attends ministerial meeting in Stockholm – agenda includes free movement of data and the platform economy

Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will be in Stockholm on 18 October 2017 for a meeting of ministers of the ‘Digital 9+’ (D9+) group of countries. On the agenda of the meeting, convened by Sweden, are the challenges of the digital economy and the EU’s Digital Single Market Strategy. The focus will be particularly on issues concerning the free movement of data and effective use of the platform economy.

The D9+ countries are Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and on this occasion Poland and the Czech Republic have also been invited. The Digital 9 was set up in 2016 by Sweden as an unofficial group for the purpose of finding solutions to digital challenges. The group has met four times.

The ministerial meeting will seek to establish a shared view on the Commission’s proposal concerning free movement of data and will discuss the current state and future of regulation on the platform economy. The rapid development of new technologies highlights the need to strengthen the EU’s common agenda on digitalisation in order to create jobs and growth.

“Finland is well placed to be a frontrunner in the use of new technologies. We need to step forward and grasp the opportunities in both the public and the private sector. The transformation of work and the spread of artificial intelligence and robotisation brought by digitalisation are key issues on which we aim to find common solutions at the EU level,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Lintilä.

The meeting will discuss a McKinsey study carried out for Google that examines the impact of new technologies like artificial intelligence and robots on industry and the way work is performed.

The key objectives of the Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy are better access to online goods and services, the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish, and enabling growth in Europe’s digital economy. The Digital Single Market Strategy is part of the Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe 2020.

Inquiries:
Akseli Koskela, Special Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs, tel. + 358 46 923 2584