The bi-annual gathering of DIGITALEUROPE’s National Trade Associations

Over 20 leaders of NTAs affiliated to DIGITALEUROPE, joined by Director-General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, Yann Finger, Milda Basiulyte and Jochen Mistiaen, dedicated a full day of lively discussions reviewing the policy challenges for the digital industry in Brussels and across Europe. The meeting took place in the context of the fourth edition of the IoT Solutions World Congress, the largest event in the world on the innovations of the Industrial Internet, organized by Fira de Barcelona.

On the evening before the meeting, our Spanish partner, AMETIC, organized a friendly dinner with the director of the IoT Solutions World Congress, who highlighted Europe’s developments in the field of IoT devices.

During the morning of the 17^th, Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl and the NTAs leaders discussed in depth:

1. A broad overview of our current files as well as the foreseen 2019 upcoming files
2. The DIGITALEUROPE manifesto, on which we plan to work with our network of trade associations to focus on Europe’s digital strength and priorities
3. Artificial Intelligence
4. Sustainability

Cecilia called on the NTAs’ involvement and support in lobbying the file in Member States.

After the event, the participants to the summit went to visit the Barcelona local ecosystem. We met the Barcelona City Council and discussed their best practices when it comes to attracting digital skills and to foster the development of startups. With over 1,200 startups, Barcelona is one of Europe’s success story when it comes to fostering a local digital ecosystem.

We also visited the showroom from Simon 100, a company leading the transformation toward smart switches, and the Cisco IoE Innovation Centre. We finished the evening by attending the IoT World Solutions Congress Gala dinner and the IoT Awards ceremony.

On behalf of the team in Brussels, we would like to thank all NTAs for their active participation and we wish to pass a special thank you message to our Spanish trade association – AMETIC – who has kindly hosted the meeting and organised the side events.