H.E. Urs Bucher, Ambassador of Switzerland to the EU, cordially invites you to share a typical #SwissBreakfast and join the discussion on "Our Common Digital Future: Clash of Titans or Cooperative Interdependence?" on Friday 11th October 2019 from 9.00 am to 10.30 am at the Mission of Switzerland to the EU, Place du Luxembourg 1, 1050 Brussels.
Programme:
Welcome speech by H.E. Urs Bucher, Head of the Mission of Switzerland to the EU.
Followed by a discussion between
Thomas Schneider, Ambassador and Director of International Affairs, Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM)
Pawel Swieboda, Deputy Head, European Political Strategy Centre, European Commission
Moderated by
Sebastian Ramspeck (TBC), Correspondent SRF in Brussels
Not long ago we dreamt the “Flower Power” dream of peaceful, democratic and borderless human communication enabled by the Internet. In our day, an ever-escalating arms race of two models dominates the digital landscape. Surveillance capitalism is the Titan on one side, with the interests of large data-sucking platforms at its core. The Kraken of a hybrid public-private state surveillance machinery stands on the other side. Whilst conflict grows, we still have not suffered any wide-ranging cyber catastrophes. But the risk of a digital cold war grows strong behind the horizon and the probability of reaching a point of no return raises continuously. Europe is a main battlefield in this fight.
In July 2018, the UN Secretary General, increasingly aware of these challenges, established the High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation. The Panel delivered its report in June 2019, calling against all odds for an inclusive and interdependent digital world, with a fit-for-purpose new governance architecture. This call is in danger of being silenced as the two camps of Giants show little appetite for heeding the Panel’s recommendations. Switzerland supports global digital cooperation arrangements that are human-centred, inclusive and embrace human rights. Such fundamental values are a prerequisite for more digital trust, stability and sustainability.
What should be Europe’s role in this game? What position should Switzerland and the European Union take, particularly also in view of the two digital Giants USA and China, and what digital regulation should they promote? What can we learn from the Swiss model of democratic, bottom-up cooperation?
Registration:
To register please reply to swissbreakfast@eda.admin.ch
by Wednesday 9th October 2019. For security reasons please present your ID document at the registration desk
Please be advised that photos will be taken at this event. By participating, you allow the Mission of Switzerland to the EU and the event's cooperation partners photographing using your likeness in the press, on websites, in social media and other publications.
