Offline? How Europe can catch up with US technology

The EU is right to make the digital economy a central plank of its economic growth strategy. But it is wrong to fret about digital jobs or dominant firms. Günther Oettinger, the digital economy commissioner, says that Europe is too “dependent on a few non-EU players”. Digital companies are, however, not huge employers: Google has 50,000 employees, while the Volkswagen group has 570,000. The impact of digital technology on broader economic performance is what matters, and the EU needs a strategy for the diffusion of digital technology across the services sector.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: A Digital Single Market for Europe: Commission sets out 16 initiatives to make it happen http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-a-digital-single-market-for-europe-commission-sets-out-16-initiatives-to-make-it-happen/

ESO: Background information: Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Google on comparison shopping service; opens separate formal investigation on Android http://www.europeansources.info/record/antitrust-commission-sends-statement-of-objections-to-google-on-comparison-shopping-service-opens-separate-formal-investigation-on-android/

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