The European Institute’s Roundtable on Telecommunications, Information Technology and Media Policies provides a transatlantic forum for government and industry principals to address the wide range of critical issues affecting the ever-changing information society and its infrastructure. Global communication demands increased cooperation between the European Union and the United States to develop effective policies that stimulate scientific and technological innovation, promote systemic and regulatory compatibility, enhance competition, build consensus on internet governance, and address privacy concerns.

Through participation in the Roundtable, members are given unique access to leading U.S. and European policymakers and an insight into initiatives before they become policy. Members use the Roundtable to analyze emerging technologies, identify specific areas of common ground and promote creative policy solutions.

Recent Meetings

On August 3, 2015, The European Institute held a breakfast discussion on the European Union’s Digital Single Market Strategy with Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications & Information Policy; Andrea Glorioso, Counselor for the Digital Agenda & ICT at the Delegation of the European Union; and Marie Royce, Vice President Public Affairs at Alcatel-Lucent. Thorough conversations with stakeholders are underway on the 16 initiatives of the strategy, which places digital technologies at the forefront of the EU's push for sustainable and competitive economic growth. While the panelists lauded the strategy overall, differing approaches on a range of issues such as spectrum management, copyright reforms, intermediary liability and data localization were discussed. Dr. Michael Nelson, Public Policy at CloudFlare moderated the discussion.

On December 18, 2014, The European Institute hosted a breakfast discussion on the results and implications of last month’s 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, Korea. The panelists: Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State; Andrea Glorioso, Counselor for the Digital Agenda & ICT at the Delegation of the European Union; Sally Shipman Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy Development at the Internet Society; Marie Royce, Vice President Public Affairs at Alcatel-Lucent; and Leslie Martinkovics, Director of International Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Verizon addressed the outcomes of the ITU Plenipotentiary, the implications for the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance, in which openness, transparency and democratic principles can sustainably prevail in the digital age, and the challenges looking ahead to 2015. Dr. Michael Nelson, Adjunct Professor for Internet Studies in the Communication, Culture, & Technology Program at Georgetown University moderated the discussion.
 

On October 6, 2014, The European Institute and the European Parliament Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress held a live stream viewing of the hearing for European Commission Vice President-Elect Andrus Ansip.  Charged with the portfolio of the Digital Single Market, Mr. Ansip's main objective is to make Europe a world leader in information and communication technology and he has also been asked to oversee, within the first six months of his mandate, the conclusion of negotiations on the reform of Europe’s data protection rules as well as the review of the Safe Harbor agreement with the U.S.  Following the viewing, a panel discussion was held with Stephen Ezell, Senior Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; Bart Forsyth, Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Jim Sensenbrenner; Dr. Michael Nelson, Adjunct Professor for Communication, Culture and Technology at Georgetown University; and Yael Weinman Vice President for Global Privacy Policy & General Counsel at the Information Technology Industry Council to assess European digital competitiveness and ways in which Europe and the United States can continue to work together in the telecommunications sector.

On June 4, 2014, The European Institute hosted a discussion with Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy. Ambassador Sepulveda stressed the importance of maintaining a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance, and the U.S. and Europe’s shared interest in securing a single, interoperable, open and global internet. The discussion was moderated by Jacquelynn Ruff, Vice President of International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Verizon Communications, Inc.  Click here to read Ambassador Sepulveda's remarks.

On March 5, 2013, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy and the Delegation of the European Union, organized a discussion with Dr. Patrick Gallagher, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Giuseppe Abbamonte, Head of the Trust and Security Unit at DG CONNECT of European Commission, on transatlantic cooperation on cybersecurity. Luca Franchetti Pardo, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Italy, offered welcoming remarks and stressed the importance that Italy and the EU attach to cybersecurity. As the EU continues to pursue a Digital Single Market, cyber-threats have become an urgent matter to be addressed. Both Dr. Gallagher and Mr. Abbamonte emphasized the importance of cybersecurity, the measures being taken to enhance it in the U.S. and the EU, and recognized the shared values as imperative for increased European-American cooperation in this field.