VISION EUROPE DIALOGUE in Helsinki

The Vision Europe Dialogue 2019 took place in Helsinki, Finland, on 1–2 April 2019. The meeting gathered over 50 data practitioners and theorists from various EU states and was devoted to data economy in Europe.

As the general theme of VED 2019 was “Making Europe a pioneer of the fair data economy”, dialogues that took place during the meeting encompassed a vast range topics relevant for building a fair digital Europe. They included such issues as: policy options for the EU digital economy; training and educating data professionals and digital visionaries; the role and functions of social protection in data economy; an idea of “philanthropic” data economy; and, last but not least, the realities of living a digital life.

Two keynote addresses – delivered by Alexander Stubb, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, and Pekka Ala-Pietilä, chair of the EU’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence – provided some initial insights to the dialogue.

In order to provide inputs for the following meeting dialogues each of the Vision Europe consortium think tanks – which are Bertelsmann Stiftung (Gütersloh, Germany), Bruegel (Brussels, Belgium), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal), Chatham House (London, UK), Compagnia di San Paolo (Turin, Italy), Notre Europe Jacques Delors Institute (Paris, France), CASE and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra (Helsinki, Finland) – prepared thought pieces on the chosen fair data economy-related issues. The one authored by Agnieszka Kulesa, CASE Economist, entitled “Data professionals and digital visionaries for the human-driven data economy” can be accessed here.

VED2019 results were summarized during the closing panel discussion participated by the Vision Europe consortium high representatives, including Izabela Styczyńska, CASE Vice-President.

A brief summary of VED2019 can be accessed on SITRA’s webpage.