Over the past decade, the European Union has taken fundamental steps toward developing a human-focused single data market. This initiative creates opportunities to introduce additional mechanisms and incentives to build consumer-driven data markets, unleashing widespread innovation and competition in the European digital economy. It also aims to rebalance existing power asymmetries between citizens and digital service providers.
This session proposes practical steps to introduce digital expert advisors who can provide expert advice to consumers, enabling them to better control and make informed decisions about how data concerning them is used, shared, and monetized in the digital ecosystem. We explore how existing technologies can be leveraged to implement our proposals in the European context.
During this session, we will introduce the concept of digital expert advisors and discuss in depth the technical components of the proposed ecosystem, including the obligation to authenticate and host personal data in trusted repositories, as well as the requirement to encode negotiated terms of use and consumer preferences in machine-readable code. We will also explain that introducing digital expert advisors into the European ecosystem does not mandate the implementation of a specific technology; rather, it promotes full interoperability and encourages the development of industry standards to enhance competition and innovation.
Finally, we will discuss how the role of digital expert advisors can drive the next stage of a human-centered digital ecosystem, fostering high levels of competition, innovation, and economic growth. We will also explain how start-ups, SMEs, and other successful industries can benefit from increased transparency and reduced fraud when citizens can meaningfully control data about themselves and share the rewards of data-driven economic activity.
The proposed framework aligns with and strengthens existing European legislation, including the GDPR, DMA, DSA, DGA, DA, and the AI Act. It aims to enforce these regulations effectively by providing practical market mechanisms and promoting an efficient data ecosystem.
