MINDS & TRUST
As we look at the campaign for the US elections, an alarming trend is clear: the infantilisation of voters. Instead of meaningful discussions, we see debates reduced to catchy slogans and personal stories designed to trigger emotions rather than encourage evaluation and thinking. In Europe, we see a similar pattern with the far right making gains. Short, out-of-context videos are being used to personally attack candidates rather than to engage with their ideas, and we are inundated with news about violence designed only to generate anxiety and unjustified fear. Is this really what we [...]
AI in the EU
‘’The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race’’ – Stephen Hawking This opening quote does not exactly instill a positive outlook, but it’s a perfect setting for exploring why this argument exists. AI is the buzzword of the moment, and while we may all be using it, do we have a good understanding of it? And what stance is the European Union taking? In a world where we are still struggling to convince people that media literacy is important, is AI facing a similar battle? Firstly, lets acknowledge that [...]
The Future of Work in Europe
‘’Human want’s and human needs are infinite, and so there will always be new industries, there will always be new professions’’ – Milton Friedman This is an ambiguous title, because this is an ambiguous question that is growing in relevance. What IS clear is that our world is changing. Economic and technical changes are restructuring the working environment with new sectors growing and some becoming more obsolete. Work is increasingly being carried out on online platforms and across time zones, robotics, AI and digitalization raise many questions and machines are replacing the human taskforce and [...]
ICTs supremacy to save the environment
Have you ever heard people saying “the European Union is too focused on the market and economic returns of different policies”? People tend to think it’s all black and white when they utter these kinds of words, being worried about the market when it comes to jobs and unemployment, while neglecting it when it comes to social or environmental policies, for example. Have eurosceptics ever thought that the EU has to focus on each different policy? Let’s look at the environment: whenever a new policy comes into force in this field, the European Union makes [...]
Brought into the future: ageing well thanks to robots
We are watching a futurist movie, representing Europe in 2060. Everyone wonders how the situation in our countries is going to be in the future, if we own cars able to fly, if we can go on holidays on the moon, whether we have discovered the potion of eternal youth or not. Unfortunately, if we keep our feet on the ground and we look at statistics and reports, we find out that we desperately need to discover the magic potion: by 2060 1 in 3 Europeans will be over 65 and the number of inactive people [...]
Guaranteeing justice online: the role of e-evidence
Nowadays, protecting privacy and online data is undoubtedly a top-priority for the European Union and the single digital market, but if there is law enforcement on one side, there should also be corresponding rules on the other side providing for the sourcing and use of data as evidence. Using data for judicial purposes in criminal proceedings is still a contentious issue within the European Union, since discussions and debates about the topic have lasted 2 years, ending in the drafting of a regulation by the European Commission permitting electronic evidence in criminal matters. But why [...]
Europe’s eye on Earth
Usually when people think about environmental policy, they see before their eyes nature or trees and, all of a sudden, the thought goes straight to climate change and pollution. This idea of environment and, consequently, of environmental policies is surely right, but we should be able to see beyond this and conceive environmental protection, sustainability and the fight against natural disasters in a new light. New technologies are said to be in most cases environmentally friendly: let’s think, for example, to the amount of paper we save daily in home or office administration, advertising, etc. [...]
How European education keeps up nowadays: e-learning and e-education
JUST SOME FACTS: According to the Eurobarometer and European statistics: only 20-25% of students in European schools are taught by teachers who are confident with technology use; 43% of Europeans lack basic digital skills; 71 million students attending schools in Europe need to develop their skills for the digital society. European education needs to keep up with technology advancements and the EU is trying to do this through technology itself. The target of EU initiatives is both students and teachers, since no one should be left behind, without forgetting about adults in general, since lifelong [...]
The path towards handy European e-services
Euroscepticism is, among other things, based on the idea that European Union is a far-away gigantic master which dictates rules about everything regardless of its citizens’ sake. Actually, European Union has been trying to reduce the gap between its citizens and institutions through several initiatives and platforms, but despite the efforts, not everybody keeps track of these advancements. How is European Union going to succeed in doing that? The Digital Single Market Strategy is one of the core scenarios enabling European Union and the single Member States to assure a balanced growth of the digital [...]
How the EU tackles illegal content online
How the EU tackles illegal content online Security has been set as one of the main priorities of the EU Commission. Here, Juncker’s toolkit aims to protect European citizens from illegal content online such as terroristic propaganda, hate speech and fake news. COUNTER TERRORISM: • Detecting and removing, as quickly as possible, terroristic propaganda and content from the web and encouraging internet companies to do the same. • Using heavy sanctions to condemn any kind of incitement, promotion or glorification of terrorism online (see the EU Legislation on combatting terrorism). • The launch of [...]
