John Steinbeck reportedly borrowed this title from a verse authored by Robert Burns: « The best laid schemes o’mice an’ men often go awry ». Arguably, times of crisis hold out as many opportunities as risks: in order to be fleet-footed enough to catch the former and ensure that they prevail over the latter, we need to [...]

Having been solicited last year by Commissioner Michel Barnier, Antonio Vitorino has just decided to don the full gear of mediator in the thorny issue of private copying and reprography levies. His announcement back in November 2011 had originally raised hope mainly based on the calibre of this shrewd politician, a former deputy Prime Minister [...]

A thought piece on modernising time honoured traditions regarding content creation in the digital age. Cultural diversity has a long history of departing from the established order, be it through immunity to international trade rules – otherwise known as cultural exception – or private copy levies whose claimed purpose of compensating right holders has gradually [...]

From the very outset of his first mandate at the helm of the European Commission, President José Manuel Barroso has focused on identifying and treading avenues for growth in Europe.  Even more importantly, as a true believer in a borderless Union, President Barroso is a visionary. He has for quite some time pointed to digital [...]

A Response to the Letter from David Cameron and Eleven EU Leaders for a Growth Plan in Europe By Patrice Chazerand, Director Digital Economy and Trade Groups, DIGITALEUROPE. On 18 January 2012, David Cameron and Mario Monti issued a joint call on the upcoming European Council scheduled on 30 January to unleash the growth potential [...]

In today’s digital world some ‘lucky’ children are practically born with touch-key knowledge. As a digital native, it is easy to imagine how over 200 billion people use the internet worldwide and millions more come online each year. But what about those people who have not been so lucky? According to data from Eurostat released [...]

To help Europe’s youth seize the best job opportunities generated through digital technology, the European Commission will deliver an awareness raising campaign from 26-30 March 2012. The European e-Skills Week seeks to address how we can reduce youth unemployment – which has peaked at over 40% in some member states and is generally at around [...]

In a bid to help Europe – and most especially Europe’s youth – seize the best opportunities for jobs generated through digital technologies, DIGITALEUROPE and European Schoolnet have joined forces with the European Commission – DG Enterprise and Industry – to organise a European e-Skills Week in 2012 on 26-30 March 2012. Youth unemployment, has [...]

Ulf Wahlberg, DIGITALEUROPE Executive Board Member, (Ericsson) talks about the importance of the Digital Single Market and Spectrum as a critical priorities in delivering a pan European approach to the digital age.

The launch of the Digital Agenda by Commissioner Kroes in May this year marked an important milestone Europe’s evolution towards a fully functiong digital economy of the 21st Century. John Higgins, DIGITALEUROPE Board Member (IntellectUK), explains the importance of using trade associations to present key messages of the Digital Agenda across member states to ensure [...]