04 September 2021
Europe generates a significant mass of data, but is not currently able to exploit all of the potential benefits due to a delay in the competitiveness of its digital business models. The companies which offer digital services are increasingly at the center of the global economy, making greater use of a business model based on platforms and data valorization. Given this evolution, it must be stressed that the “winner-takes-all” approach that characterizes digital platforms also raises competitive problems in terms of consumers, businesses and countries and their economies. These risks are particularly evident for Europe, which is currently the no. 2 region in the world for number of Internet users (728 million, after the 2,525 million in Asia), but it can only count on one of the top 15 global tech companies in terms of capitalization (AMSL, based in the Netherlands and the leading producer in the world of lithography systems for the semiconductor sector). Excessive reliance on high-tech suppliers and platforms run by non-European providers could potentially render the European Union more vulnerable to outside threats (for example, exposure to cybersecurity risks) and subject to a potential loss in investment and development by the European digital industry.