EU-Asia digital cooperation: investments for recovery and resilience

The COVID-19 crisis has arguably opened up a “once in a lifetime opportunity to stop hurtling down the path we have been for the last 30 years” and create a cleaner, more sustainable and inclusive future. Those were the opening words of Ashish Kumar Gupta, Corporate Vice-President and Head of Europe and Africa at IT service provider HCL Technologies, which partnered with Friends of Europe to hold an online debate on EU-Asia digital cooperation on 19 November.

In the current economic crisis, digital has become even more of a lifeline for individuals and countries, said moderator Dharmendra Kanani. The dynamics are already changing and in the next 10 years the tech world will be bending towards the South and Asia. Europe has traditionally looked west, but as the EU plans to deepen its investment into digital connectivity as part of its recovery and growth strategy, how can it reset its relationships and start to look east first?

EU and Asia: a new ecosystem?

How do you create an ecology – including emerging players – that fosters a “very different temperament” around the EU-Asia relationship?

• 20:50 – When we say Asia people often think ‘China’… but we’re fully aware Asia is much bigger… 24:58 – “When developing connectivity it is important for us to facilitate fair competition, avoid excessive debts on the part of the recipient countries and ensure transparency and sustainability”. [Stefan Schnorr]
• 1:09 – “For the Asian countries, negotiating as a regional bloc is really important because that’s when we will have economic and regional power. Europe should encourage that instead of continually doing bilateral negotiations.” [Helani Galpaya]
• 1:12 – It’s important to “help the parts of Asia which are completely excluded from the benefits – that is the area where we have to invest in our relationship between the EU and this part of the world”. [Isabelle Durant]

Digitalisation and development

How can increased digital connectivity play a role in overcoming poverty and inequality?

• 44:48 The “wave of digitalisation is also a huge opportunity”. [Helani Galpaya]
• 1:09 – Europe is still not one of the biggest funders in Asian countries – it’s still important in particular sectors but they are not working on the “broad soft infrastructure”; that needs to be a focus of development funding. [Helani Galpaya]
• 14:21 – It’s important to remember that connectivity is still a huge challenge for many parts of Asia, especially in rural areas. [Isabelle Durant]

Rules and regulations: friend or foe?

The EU’s work on regulatory issues such as data protection is widely lauded, but can it also hamper innovation, especially for smaller and medium-sized businesses?

• 45:41 – “This is where Europe can really set the tone”…. but because of its “rigid nature”, it’s hard for small businesses. [Helani Galpaya]
• 50:27 – “Platforms have a much bigger regulatory power on public opinion and speech than any GDPR… this is one of these taboos in Europe – we were right on the value side, but today [GDPR is] acting as a fantastic barrier of entry for all the new players.” [André Loesekrug-Pietri]
• 1:03 – Regulation can help but can also “hinder innovation and cooperation”, so a flexible regulatory framework is needed. [Stefan Schnorr]
• 1:12 – “COVID has shown the vulnerability of our system. We cannot be blind regarding what could happen if we are really trying to have a digital world without rules…” [Isabelle Durant]
• 1:18 – “Regulation is important but you cannot outcompete the world using regulation, you have to outcompete using innovation…” [Ashish Kumar Gupta]

Where are the women?

Women are now re-shaping the world in so many ways, but they’re still being left out of the game in tech.

• 15:23 Women are often forgotten when exploring the link between private sector and policy development processes: “It’s so important to make visible, and really empower, women in this sector. We need a community of women digital entrepreneurs in South/Southeast Asia.” 1:11 – Women are sometimes more pragmatic and could help identify ways to support small platforms. [Isabelle Durant]
• 30:50 – There must be a deliberate effort in terms of gender-positive policies and capacity-building, as well as encouraging more women to train in tech-related sciences. [Kenyan Ambassador to the EU Jacob Thuranira Kaimenyi]
• 1:19 – The ratio of women working in IT in India has increased to up to 40% – getting more women to impact technology needs to start from primary school. [Ashish Kumar Gupta]

Europe needs to grasp the future

As part of a reset, how can Europe improve its competitiveness and standing in the digital sphere?

• 34:48 – Why is there not a big European player like WeChat or WhatsApp? [Yuwen Li-Schrijrer, Erasmus University]
• 37:12 – The problem is not the ownership of the companies, it’s the business model, and the fact that the economic benefits of that system are not well shared. The problem is how Europe, Africa or Asia are also trying to develop platforms on that same model. [Isabelle Durant]
• 52:07 – One of Europe’s collective “failures” is the lack of a digital market… where is the European diplomacy; the “single digital market?”… “What are we waiting for?” [André Loesekrug-Pietri]
• 53:44 – “Europe lacks audacity”… why don’t we ask the big platforms to localise and allow our local players to do much better?… “What we need to make sure of is to invent the next big thing” which is why we focus on creating the tech of tomorrow and not fighting “the battles of today”. [André Loesekrug-Pietri]
• 58:10 – It’s difficult to believe the EU can have an edge in the digital development we’re witnessing because it naturally applies a “conservative, traditional” approach based on “preventing anybody else doing something better”. [Arnaldo Abruzzini]
• 1:05 – Google and Amazon are today’s tech giants – “what will come tomorrow?” [André Loesekrug-Pietri]