Europe needs a data revolution

EU’s data economy is projected to double from €500 billion to €1 trillion between 2023 and 2030. Data is a critical driver of growth and competitiveness because it enables novel business models and evidence-based decision-making. It fuels disruptive research and innovation, including AI development, which is dependent on the most valuable raw material – data.

President Ursula von der Leyen has clearly understood this great growth potential as she stated in her political guidelines for the new European Commission:

“To support the development of AI and other frontier technologies, Europe needs to exploit the untapped potential of data […] Europe needs a data revolution.”

To make the data revolution happen, it must be embedded in the Competitiveness Compass as well as other key initiatives of the new Commission, such as the Data Union Strategy and Union of Skills. Europe must strategically identify and develop the critical infrastructures and skills that it needs for creating value with data, and keep their ownership in Europe.

To support the development of AI and other frontier technologies, Europe needs to exploit the untapped potential of data […] Europe needs a data revolution.

Ursula von der Leyen, President, European Commission

Next-level infrastructures for next-level data economy

When discussing EU policy measures needed to boost the data economy, we seem to often get stuck in questions like whether to regulate or not and will regulation kill our European businesses and innovations. By asking these questions we’re not really getting any further because regulation is mostly about reacting to external developments. We need more strategic thinking on how Europe creates its own capabilities for growth and resilience.

Right now, Europe has a unique opportunity to create a level playing field for European companies, research actors and governments through a value-based approach. Today’s most disruptive innovations emerge from combining vast amounts of data from various sources. Data has become an asset that can be used for various purposes, so the ownership and control of data matters.

Today’s most disruptive innovations emerge from combining vast amounts of data from various sources.

For these purposes, the EU has already taken critical steps, such as investing in high-performance computing (HPC), AI and, data capabilities through the EuroHPC initiative and Common European Data Spaces. Abundant data is indeed useless without tools for managing and analysing it. Europe must continue its investments in state-of-the art infrastructures, pooling resources to achieve synergies and scale.

The impact of such investment is profound – every 1€ invested in HPC brings 25-37 € direct economic benefit back to society, according to a recent study on the social return on investment (SROI) of CSC’s HPC services. These infrastructures shouldn’t be seen as purely technological but as instruments for developing new skills within society. This is one of the indirect returns of investment that is hard to measure but even more critical for Europe.

The missing critical data infrastructure component

What more needs to be done in the infrastructure field? The question is, do we actually get access to all available data out there on the internet, in order to create value with it? Currently this data is exploited only by non-European giants, which means the search engines we use are biased, untransparent and based on non-European language models – in other words we cannot know which values they reflect.

It’s high time for Europe to build its own web index, that allows data to be used also for the benefit of European businesses, research, governments and citizens. The ongoing EU-funded project Open Web Search is quite unique, as it’s developing the web index based on European languages, which is a beautiful example of how the European value-based approach can help building a more secure and sustainable world. Now it’s important to ensure sustainable funding for this, as a part of the overall European data infrastructure ecosystem.

Let’s not forget the people!

No matter how much data is available, it won’t be of any use without skilled developers and users. Technology as such doesn’t create impact and value – people do! That’s why the Competitiveness Compass, Data Union Strategy and Union of Skills must work together to ensure that researchers, companies, public administrations and citizens have the skills and competences needed for data-intensive research, innovation and business.

No matter how much data is available, it won’t be of any use without skilled developers and users.

These skills must also be embedded in our educational systems, including how our teachers are trained. This new understanding doesn’t come overnight – in many fields it requires a paradigm shift, because data transforms research methodologies, business models and governance structures in a profound way. How to understand this isn’t simple, so intentional strategies are needed, and also the European Commission needs to work together across organisational boundaries.

Authors:

Irina Kupiainen, Director of Public Affairs, CSC
Satu Tuomikorpi, Senior Policy Specialist, CSC

Turning data into European value

European companies, researchers and public administrations can multiply the value they create with data.

Data must be kept in European ownership.

Investments in infrastructures, competences and horizontal cooperation are needed.

These actions will increase competitiveness while also reducing our dependencies and boosting European autonomy and security.