In this new session of the Café Europa series of debates, organized by the Fundació Catalunya Europa and the Horizonte Europa Association, We talk about the geopolitical dimension of ICT and European strategic autonomy in a context of a technological race between the United States and China.
How can Europe compete globally in ICT? How can it strengthen its autonomy vis-à-vis the US and China? Is international cooperation possible instead of competition for resources? What is the regulation to protect the rights and duties of citizens against the market? What is being done from States and cities?
Currently, 15% of mobile connections in Europe are 5G, while the United States and China reach 40% and 74%, respectively. In addition, 90% of Western data is stored in the US, and according to the European Commission, 174 billion euros would be needed to meet the 2030 connectivity targets.
That is why it is urgent to rethink Europe’s role to break the digital divide with China and the US that affects technological competitiveness and European strategic autonomy.
We spoke with two speakers:
- Eduard Martín, IOC of Mobile World Capital Barcelona and coordinator of the National Observatory of 5G promoted jointly with the Ministry of Economy and Enterprise.
- Pilar Conesa, founder and CEO of Anteverti, Commissioner of the Smart City Expo World Congress and member of the Advisory Board of the Fundació Catalunya Europa.
The session is presented by Dolors Camats, director of the Catalunya Europa Foundation, and moderated by Albert Royo, president of the Horizonte Europa Association.
In addition, we have a new literary recommendation from the NoLea bookshop related to the theme of Café Europa. On this occasion, we recommend "The Chip War" by Chris Miller, professor of International History at Tufts University (Boston, USA), published by Ediciones Península this September.
The cycle of online debates Café Europa is held on the last Friday of each month, with an informative character to bring European and international themes to the citizens.
This is the timetable for the next special sessions that we will devote to the Spanish EU Presidency.
- 27 October: "Instruments for solidarity: the European Pact on Migration and Asylum".
- 24 November: "Europe’s role at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference".
- 15 December: "What is the outcome of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council?"
All sessions of the Café Europa cycle are available on the YouTube channel of the Catalunya Europa Foundation and you can also listen to them on the Café Europa podcast of the Ivoox platform.
