Elizabeth Crossick, Head of Government Affairs, Brussels sent the following letter to the European Commission in response to the communication Towards a thriving data-driven economy.
Communication: Towards a thriving data-driven economy
"As Reed Elsevier has been actively involved in the recent discussions on the importance of driving a data-driven economy and has been invited to participate in various Commission fora to discuss what this might look like, we thought it appropriate to offer a few short comments on the recently adopted Communication. We are happy to discuss any of these points should you be interested in further exploration.
For context, Reed Elsevier is a world leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across multiple sectors and is Europe’s largest digital paid content provider. As a leader in Big Data technology, we deploy our open source high performance cluster (HPCC) systems to combine content, technology and analytics within all our businesses. Additionally, Reed Elsevier Ventures, the venture capital arm of Reed Elsevier founded in 2000, has invested widely in technology, internet and media companies including three in the UK and Germany.
1. We fully support the Commission's call for action in this area. The digital economy is intrinsic to the future economic growth of the EU.
2. A multifaceted action plan to support the development of a data-driven economy is a sensible approach, particularly as the EU works in tandem with H2020 funds.
3. Support for the development of an ecosystem that encompasses big companies, small start-ups and multinationals, as well as researchers and the broader community, is vital; our experience in this sector, in particular through our start-up company Mendeley and our funding of early stage big data and analytics companies, would support this idea of a community as noted in the consultation.
4. The Communication notes that Europe has been slow to embrace the data revolution and considers this is due to (i) lack of funding, (ii) shortage of data experts, (iii) the complexity of the legal environment and (iv) the lack of access to data sets. We would certainly concur that, in particular, access to venture capital and other funding is key and confirm that there is a shortage of skilled data scientists, data engineers and domain architects.
5. We agree that there needs to be a balanced approach to data protection in order to take advantage of the significant opportunities that data processing/Big Data offers. Therefore we believe that the current system should facilitate secure re-use of data and not be made overly complex and burdensome.
6. We strongly support the consultation’s message of encouraging collaboration; the extraction of value from Big Data is still a nascent field and collaboration and cooperation between developers is crucial for its development.
7. Finally, we agree that the adoption by all stakeholders of voluntary guidelines on Big Data issues is a constructive approach and believe that regulation should be a last resort; the market needs to develop first. The success of Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv as Big Data hubs was in significant part due to the ease of access to capital, a highly trained workforce, mobility and minimal external regulation. For Europe, the right approach to this issue should result in significant highly skilled job opportunities and growth prospects.
We support and encourage the Commission to facilitate and encourage collaboration, cooperation, and experimentation, to help smooth and accelerate the transition towards a digital data-driven economy.
We very much look forward to being part of the on-going discussions."
- ENDS -
Enquiries
Elizabeth Crossick
Head of Government Affairs, Brussels
[email protected]
+44 (0) 7766 426 565
Magda McHugh
Media Relations Manager
[email protected]
+44 (0) 20 7166 5708
About Reed Elsevier Group plc
Reed Elsevier Group plc is a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The group employs more than 28,000 people, including almost 14,000 in North America. Reed Elsevier Group plc is owned equally by two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV; the combined market capitalisation of the two parent companies is approximately £20bn/€25bn. Their shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.