I would be less worried about inaction if there were at least observable attempts at fixing the problem, or even a clear recognition that it exists. But all we're getting is cute doggies and Directors congratulating themselves on achieving symbolic results with zero impact. bsky.app/profile/robi...
Android stopping sideloading (for security) feels like going backwards (although I haven't looked if that happens in the EU or not yet)
It definitely does!
happens in the EU or feels like going backwards? security absolutely matters but it shouldn't only matter when it aligns with corporate interests and it's getting really hard to apply Hanlon (modified for resources vs incompetence) *at the corporate scale* even when it's r-Hanlon individually
The latter!
Why the inaction? There's demand for leadership from all sectors of society. It looks like a political slam dunk that's not happening because no one involved knows what needs to be done. Here's a short overview: www.politico.eu/article/digi...
Action will have to be dramatic to be effective. The Commission freezes at the prospect of Trump tariffs in response to action. On trade it defers to the key member states. Add populist domestic voters hostile to digital regulation, and the Commission is facing complex politics.
I think the politics can be sorted if they have even just a bit of vision. This has support from industry and CSOs and unions and academia and many citizens — and even some sovereignists. But they'll never get traction by waffling.
Agree the problem is part a lack of vision. On that score Eurostack plans help, but is barebones and missing much. It does not take account of two major drivers of US digital power. Network effects/ economies of scale, capital markets and how they create an ecosystem. 1/
Eurostack talks about federation and open source a lot. Yes. It can play a role in parts of the stack (particularly back end). But centralised propriety European champions would most probably have to be part of the mix, also for capital markets to do their part. 2/
Both innovation and capital markets tend to cluster in specific geographies. But European member states jealously guard what they have and fight any such clustering elsewhere. Fragmentation is the perennial European problem. Part of the problem is then choosing to be European first. Very hard 3/
Are you referring to a specific Eurostack report? One of them is very focused on open source but the others are more about infrastructure. But either way I don't think that those reports should be detailed. The details should come from verticals, primarily.
Agree plans should not be too detailed. But certain things must be addressed that are not at present, even in a basic form. First and foremost is political union, and the things that absolutely depend on that: enforceable regulation and capital markets.
> Fragmentation is the perennial European problem But this is also why a solution would be worthwhile news. We need rent-extracting European bigtech monopolies as much as we need the US or Chinese variants.
I also think that fragmentation is overstated as an issue. It's certainly true that greater integration would help a lot with some things, but when I talk to the people building digital infra in India, they have to deal with a fragmented space too and it hasn't stopped them.
Not sure I agree. The Indian state is largely centralised. It does not care where software development takes place or where it is financed. So India’s economy is heavily clustered, with distinct city-regions specialising by sector. It does not have legally distinct codes for bankruptcy etc. (cont)
That matters because financial instruments don't mean the same thing across the EU. It matters in other ways. European industry would benefit from moving towards and into Spain, and North because of solar and wind costs. Germany will be dead set against that. It matters to EU banks too. Etc.
Didn't this guy @mmasnick.bsky.social say "protocols, not platforms" 🤓. While probably not equally applicable to all parts of the stack, its a powerful idea for overcoming the limitations of what is actually a desirable aspect of the European landscape (strength in diversity etc.)
He is wrong on that IMHO.
When I look into the EU proposals here I always bounce off the part where the process seems to have been captured by SAP as the default example of “we have a technology industry at home”
And basically all of the tech industrial strategy out of the EC is "let's make another SAP!"
And here's a longer, if incomplete, take: berjon.com/digital-sove.... Not to mention the suite of Eurostack reports. As well as an *excellent* own-initiative report from ITRE specifically for the Commission to read. So… can we get this tech sovereignty thing finally started?