Dove into the @EU_Commission leaked document on "Europe fit for the digital age".
It went something like 💎💻👏🏼🤷🏼♀️🇪🇺 🧩...🤦🏼♀️ Some Q&D thoughts below.
euractiv.com/wp-content/upl…? 1/11
It went something like 💎💻👏🏼🤷🏼♀️🇪🇺 🧩...🤦🏼♀️ Some Q&D thoughts below.
euractiv.com/wp-content/upl…? 1/11
🎶P L O N K S N A P 🎶
That is the sounds of yet another policy paper falling into the "Fourth Revolution Trap" by repeating the flawed idea that technological progress is somehow inevitable or that #tech development is linear rather than a deliberate social process. 2/11
That is the sounds of yet another policy paper falling into the "Fourth Revolution Trap" by repeating the flawed idea that technological progress is somehow inevitable or that #tech development is linear rather than a deliberate social process. 2/11
..Like I don't know, the process happening in one o/t most important #European political Institutions: its Commission?
It's painful to see the Commission repeating this narrative.
Painful as in watching-Musk-say-his-bodged-cybertruck-demo-is-somehow-not-his-fault painful. 3/11
It's painful to see the Commission repeating this narrative.
Painful as in watching-Musk-say-his-bodged-cybertruck-demo-is-somehow-not-his-fault painful. 3/11
Then this happens, which has me... puzzled? 5/11 
Throughout the paper - the authors stress the notion of technology needing to be "human-centric".
Ok, fair but..
What does that mean? Show me a technology that is not human-centric, i.e. its all developed, deployed and used by humans. 6
Ok, fair but..
What does that mean? Show me a technology that is not human-centric, i.e. its all developed, deployed and used by humans. 6
Human-centric is entirely too vague a concept to center policy around, from a legal, normative, and economic vantage point because it can mean everything and nothing.
Surprising given the EU has a distinct set of alternatives it could have used, like human rights or dignity.7/
Surprising given the EU has a distinct set of alternatives it could have used, like human rights or dignity.7/
This document is, of course, only part of the legislative package that will come from the European Union, but it is good to keep an eye out for the (problematic) narratives that drive the process.
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On which note, a linguistic gripe disguised as a footnote below. 8/11
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On which note, a linguistic gripe disguised as a footnote below. 8/11
Footnote:
There are some sentences in the document that combine techno-nationalism w abusive use of the English language:
"Bad things will have to be
fought and good things to be worked for." 9/11
There are some sentences in the document that combine techno-nationalism w abusive use of the English language:
"Bad things will have to be
fought and good things to be worked for." 9/11
It continues:
"Being at the forefront of technological and regulatory development, Europe will also be able
to ensure its technological sovereignty"
""European companies need digitally savvy employees to thrive in the global race for
technological supremacy"
10/11
"Being at the forefront of technological and regulatory development, Europe will also be able
to ensure its technological sovereignty"
""European companies need digitally savvy employees to thrive in the global race for
technological supremacy"
10/11
This language is cringy as much as it is counter-intuitive to the aim of having an Internet "for the many, not the few" - which implies preventing fragmentation. Again, camp 1 and camp 2 seem not to have resolved their differences when it comes to global connectivity vs EU tech.
