Commissioner Oettinger in US to meet top tech companies, start-ups and policymakers

Starting today (22 September) in San Francisco, Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Günther Oettinger (pictured) is on a five-day visit to the US where he will meet the top management of tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Apple andeBay. He will also meet a delegation of European entrepreneurs from 'Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley'. After the West Coast, Commissioner Oettinger will head to Washington to meet policy makers and will finally stop in New York to participate in the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development meeting. 

Commissioner Oettinger will stress the opportunities offered by the European Digital Single Market, presented in May, for both European and non-European companies, and the importance of the global digital economy to remain open. By breaking down national barriers and creating common rules in the EU, the European Commission wants to encourage all companies to develop, invest and make the most out of a market of 500 million potential customers. The full agenda of the Commissioner in the USA can be found  below and he can be followed on Twitter via @GoettingerEU. See also his blog post ahead of his visit.

22/09

Commissioner Oettinger in the United States (San Francisco/Silicon Valley): meets with the top management of Facebook and a delegation from 'Start Europe Comes to Silicon Valley – SEC2SV'.

23/09

Commissioner Oettinger in the United States (San Francisco/Silicon Valley): Meets with the top managements of Google, Apple, eBay, Mercedes-Benz North America Research Centre.

24/09

Commissioner Oettinger in the United States (Washington): speaks at the World Congress of Savings and Retail Banks and at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) – 9-10h30; meets with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler and US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

25/09

Commissioner Oettinger in the United States (Washington): meets with Stefan Selig, U.S. Commerce Under Secretary, with Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, with Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment Cathy Novelli.

26/09

Commissioner Oettinger in the US (New-York): participates in the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development meeting.

See also the blog post by Vice-President Ansip: Building tech bridges on both sides of the Atlantic

·         The EU invests €5.5 million in 20 projects to boost secure and efficient online services across Europe

The Commission has announced today the projects that will receive EU support to ensure better electronic identification (eID) services across Europe. The selection follows a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme in the sector of telecommunications. EU funding will help member states with the roll-out of technical infrastructure to create interoperable, pan-European eID services. As a result, there will be fewer burdens on citizens, public administrations and businesses: they will be able to access efficient and secure online services. With eID, many more activities can be done easily online without losing time and money: no endless queues to get a stamp or countless paper forms to fill in. eID also makes e-commerce transactions safer. Boosting trust in e-services and ensuring that different systems can ”talk” to each other across borders are part of the Digital Single Market Strategy presented by the Commission in May. More details – including the list of beneficiaries – can be found here.

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