Q2/2019 - EuroDIG

Den Haag, 18. - 20 Juni 2019

Das 12. Europäische Internet Governance Forum EuroDIG fand vom 18. bis 20. Juni 2019 in Den Haag statt. Für die Konferenz hatten sich zunächst 800 Teilnehmer aus mehr als 50 Ländern registriert. Gastgeber war das Wirtschaftsministerium der niederländischen Regierung. Die Hauptrede hielt die für die Informationsgesellschaft und Digitale Wirtschaft zuständige EU-Kommissarin Marija Gabriel. Gabriel folgte in ihrer Rede dem Narrativ, dass Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron beim 13. IGF in Paris (November 2018) und Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel beim Weltwirtschaftsforum in Davos (Januar 2019) vorgegeben hatten und plädierte für einer auf Rechtsstaatlichkeit basierten neuen Herangehensweise an die Frage der Regulierung des Internet. Sie unterstützte das Multistakeholder-Modell, lobte EuroDIG als eine hervorragende Diskussionsplattform und sprach sich für eine aktive Beteiligung Europas an der Diskussion des UN-Berichts zur Digitalen Kooperation aus[1].

In der Diskussion kamen alle relevanten Internet-Themen zur Sprache. Schwerpunkte waren Cybersicherheit, Digitalwirtschaft, Menschenrechte und neue technische Entwicklungen wie DoH/DoT. Die Innovation von EuroDIG, die Diskussion zu einzelnen Themen aus den Plenarsitzungen in den Workshops und Flash-Sitzungen fortsetzen, hat sich bewährt, riskiert allerdings die Bildung von Silos und eine Verminderung der interdisziplinären Diskussion.

EuroDIG profitierte von dem eine Woche zuvor veröffentlichen Bericht des UN High-Level Panels on Digital Cooperation. Der Bericht wirkte stimulierend auf die Diskussion. EuroDIG hat zu dem UN-Bericht jetzt eine strukturierte Diskussionsplattform aufgebaut, die die europäische Reaktion bis zum 14. IGF im November 2019 in Berlin einfangen soll[2]. Das 13. Europäische Internet Governance Forum (EuroDIG) findet im Juni 2020 im italienischen Triest statt.

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EuroDIGQ2/2019
  1. [1] Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, EURODIG, Den Haag 17. Juni 2019. „We must focus on technology governance. Cutting edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence or blockchain will not only change the way the Internet works. They will bring the digital transformation to another dimension. They will shape our economies, our societies, and individuals themselves. This comes from a simple fact, technology is not value-free or value neutral. On the contrary, it is permeated by the values. Its developers incorporate or fail to incorporate in the design of technologies, interfaces or software. And all of these questions are central for our future and I think that we can agree, they are highly political. Indeed, this is about choosing the type of society we want to live in. Do we want a society that is at the service of people or a society where people are manipulated by digital actors with the help of artificial intelligence and big data? Do we want a society that protects children or a society that overwhelms them and addicts them? Do we want a society where companies is competition or a society where businesses operate on a level playing field? These are critical questions for our common future and Europe's approach to answer them is different from some other approaches. And I think that we can be proud of Europe, because we are certainly the first to raise these issues, and to put forward a comprehensive approach with an attempt to ensure that innovation is driven by an ethical, sustainable and human centric Internet. The European Union has not shied away from its responsibility, and we did not hesitate to regulate digital technologies and services, whether our values, such as privacy, security, openness, or fairness were at stake. And make no mistake, the development of Internet regulation is only at its beginning. The events of the last few years, be they attacks by malware, the legal use of the personal data of user of social networks, the increase of legal content and the violence online, or the dissemination and the spread of false information remind us that self-regulation of the Internet has clear limits. Of course, we should look forward not backwards and bring innovation into our policy making. Emerging technologies roll normative approaches to policy and regulation. To this end, we support the experimentation of new, more holistic ways of doing policies in the Internet era. In particular, by better articulating different policy instruments, from innovation policy and co-regulation and regulation. New approaches can be tested in particular at the local level, with the help of regulatory sandboxes. We also think that policies can be made effective and innovation friendly without losing legal certainty. But beyond regulation, we have established soft governance mechanism in the form of multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder expert groups, which will provide guidance for us as policymakers. In this way we have two examples. On the one side, this kind of group already have a great result. It's about the ethics guidelines on artificial intelligence and the other one, it was the launch of the international association for trusted blockchain. We consider the multi-stakeholder expert groups as pioneers of this innovative approach which could be replicated on the global Internet Governance scene bringing experts from many different fields to the table, together with governments, online providers and civil society. So multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary policy formulation are needed to address the wide range of societal challenges raised by digital technologies. And to Europe, we will continue to work to develop international partnerships with like-minded countries, covering innovation actions, regulatory alignment, for example in the field of data protection and Internet governance. This is why we as a European Union, we already had -- we already put in place several dialogues with third countries, because the aim is very clear, to enhance our cooperation on digital matters and to see how we can really shape this digital transformation together. We already have some important common initiatives with the Mediterranean regions and Sub-Saharan African and yesterday I participated in the European development days and that was a great occasion to popularize the reports of the digital task force. I'm one of the cochairs, but another important region for me is Western Balkans. We already have a very good cooperation with them, especially in the framework of the southeast. And we work on Internet Governance. We have really to continue to promote this regional cooperation. And this, naturally takes me to the third response. We need to look for words and build on Europe's leadership. I'm deeply convinced that Europe has a fundamental role to play in the coming years, leading the way towards a new approach for Internet Governance, based on inclusiveness, effectiveness and relevance. An approach that promotes our fundamental values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. There is a clear opportunity ahead of us. The next European Commission will be in a position to take a clear and strong position in the face of the significant challenges that exist in this field of Internet Governance. Concretely, this could be the basis for a meaningful European contribution in response to the important issues raised by the UN Secretary General's high-level panel on digital cooperation. This is where I also see a fundamental role for EuroDIG and its community.“ Siehe: https://eurodigwiki.org/wiki/Keynote_01_2019#Transcript
  2. [2] Siehe: https://comment.eurodig.org/digital-cooperation-report/