On Nov 16th and 17th, 2016, PICASSO was invited to join as experts to the DISCOVERY project’s   Transatlantic ICT Forum Workshop in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop brought together senior policy analysts, policy influencers keen on facilitating transatlantic ICT collaboration, and high-level experts in data-driven innovation, data privacy, IP, cybersecurity, IoT (Internet of Things) and smart cities, and international cooperation in research and innovation.

Svetlana Klessova (inno TSD), Coordinator of the PICASSO project, made a presentation of the project targeting ICT policy and research and innovation for a smart society, with focus on key enabling technologies related to societal challenges: 5G Networks, Big Data, Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems.

Maarten Botterman (GNKS Consult) and Chair of the PICASSO ICT Policy Expert Group was one of the 4 panelists of the Panel Session 1 (“Digital Economy Trends, Capital Market Financing and IPR) and contributed with a focus on Privacy and Data Protection in EU/US collaboration. He shared the conclusions of the PICASSO work on this:

  • 5G networks:
    Sensors and tracking will become even more ubiquitous than it is today, as networks will be designed with a focus on data collection and exchange. As such, EU/US policies do not seem to directly affect the ability to collaborate in 5G networks ICT research and innovation.
  • Big Data:
    Challenges go two ways: <1> personal data may not be shared unless it is set up to be shared by explicit intent and consent; <2> through use of algorithms and big data, data could become related to private individuals that were never intended to be “personal”. Here, a clear link to intent/consent will need to be respected in order to ensure big data services to operate in a legal way.
  • Cyber Physical Systems and IoT:
    CPS do not aim to sense/track an individual, yet a relationship may be incurred. It will be very important to determine which data are privacy sensitive, and how they relate to intent and consent – as IoT as such is a big data generator

Solutions need to be found to allow services that are needed/wanted can get deployed, while respecting the (European and US) privacy and data protection frameworks. Respecting the fundamental right requires living up to the principles of purpose limitation, data minimization and explicit consent. This also means that algorithms for collection and combining of data are to be built up “in a law-abiding way” – i.e. not combining data in ways that affect the privacy of individuals. A taxonomy on privacy sensitivity in ICT development would be a useful step forward, as some services are more privacy sensitive than others, and in this way, there is no unnecessary hindrance from data sharing considerations in non-privacy sensitive environments.

Collaboration opportunities with DISCOVERY, but also the BILAT USA 4.0 project, working on bilateral collaboration with the USA, emerged during the event.

A summary on the event can be found here.