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<span style="font-size:9pt">2</span>
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<p class="header" style="margin-right:18.000000pt" awml:style="header">
European Regional Bureau Newsletter: 20 January 2017 – 26 January 2018
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<a name="_Hlk478029639">
<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Internet Access</span>
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Feedback from negotiations on the European Electronic Communications Code</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 23, the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee heard feedback from the ongoing negotiations on the European Electronic Communications Code.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Pilar Del Castillo Vera (EPP, ES), rapporteur of the European Electronic Communications Code, said the first trilogue meeting between the co-legislators under the Bulgarian Presidency would take place on 1 February.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The discussion is now focused on spectrum-related issues, on which agreements may be reached on all issues with the exception of the peer review system, and license length and renewal. They co-legislators will then focus their attention on access and services.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">MEP Del Castillo Vera said the aim was to reach an agreement on the file by April 2018.</span> <p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Trust</span>
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">UK: Information Commissioner talks data protection after Brexit</span>
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<span class="list_paragraph" style="background:#ffffff"></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">While addressing the British Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee, on January 23, Elizabeth Denham, UK Information Commissioner,</span> <a href="http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/7d9ade3b-136f-4857-8ba6-dc2608d5db46"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">said</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> the country should maintain close ties with the EU after Brexit.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">“Europe will have the largest number of data protection authorities anywhere in the world,” she said, adding the EU will have “a lot of power to determine what big companies will do with people’s data.”</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The statement comes months ahead of the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), set to enter into force on 25 May. The UK Parliament is currently discussing the Data Protection Bill which will bring EU rules into UK law</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Regarding the GDPR, in a recent statement, Matt Hancock, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said figures showed many British businesses “need to act to make sure the personal data they hold is secure.” He then invited them to seek help from Information Commissioner’s Office and the National Cyber Security Centre in order to improve their cybersecurity and data privacy capabilities</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">.</span> <p class="list_paragraph" style="text-align:justify;margin-left:46.350000pt" awml:style="List Paragraph">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Commission releases new guidance on the GDPR</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 24, the European Commission</span> <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-386_en.htm"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">published</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> a</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-eu-data-protection-rules_en"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">guidance</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> document to facilitate a “direct and smooth application of the new data protection rules as of 25 May,” when the General Data Protection Regulation will start applying in the EU.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Commission</span> <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4405dd4e-0104-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">called</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on EU governments and data protection authorities to be ready to provide support to businesses and the civil society.</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">It added that, as of today, only two EU countries have already completed the transposition of the GDPR into national legislation</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">To help bring the preparation to a successful completion, the Commission has also launched a new online tool, which targets in particular small and medium enterprises</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Digital Commissioner Gabriel on the Cybersecurity Act</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 23, the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) held an exchange of views with Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, on the “</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/com-2017-477_en"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Cybersecurity Act</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">”, which updates the mandate of the European agency ENISA and introduces a European certification framework for cybersecurity.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Commissioner Gabriel emphasized the important role ENISA has played since its establishment in 2005 in boosting the EU’s resilience in cybersecurity, stimulating cooperation, providing support and sharing its know-how with the Member States.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On the proposed EU certification framework, she said the Agency would play an important role in preparing certification schemes, allowing citizens to have access to more information on security services, encourage operators to purchase certified products and make available a certificate that is valid across the EU.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">She added that</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">the proposed framework does not create any regulatory obligations for service providers, instead it will be a voluntary system so as to avoid imposing unnecessary costs on industry. “The framework is not a one-size fits all approach for everybody,” she specified.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: WEF launches new Global Centre for Cybersecurity</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 24, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched a new</span> <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2018"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global Centre for Cybersecurity</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> to help build a safe and secure global cyberspace.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the centre will be headed by Alois Zwinggi (Managing Director at the WEF) and will function as an autonomous organization under the WEF’s auspices. Interpol will be a crucial partner for the centre.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In a recent</span> <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2018"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">publication</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">, the World Economic Forum has recognized cybersecurity as one of the world’s most critical risks. In response, the new cybersecurity centre will draw on the WEF’s government and industry support to work for a more secure cyberspace through a multi-stakeholder approach</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">UK: Theresa May’s tech-focussed Davos speech</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 25, British Prime Minister Theresa May took the floor at the World Economic Forum annual meeting, highlighting the importance of the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber skills for the country’s future.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">May</span> <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42815600"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">urged</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> investors to make a difference “by ensuring trust and safety issues are being properly considered,"</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">and called on social networks to stop providing a platform for terror, extremism and child abuse.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Furthermore, she stressed the urgency of reducing the skills deficit and invited organisations to invest in transferable higher-level skills, more suitable for the digital era.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">PM May also used her keynote to</span> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-announces-20-million-institute-of-coding"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">announce</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> the creation of the UK’s first Institute of Coding (IoC). This will bring together a world-class consortium of over 60 universities, professional bodies and tech companies.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On the same day, the UK Government published its</span> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-charter/digital-charter"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Digital Charter</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">, a “rolling program of work to agree norms and rules for the online world and put them into practice” AI, liability of online platforms and cybersecurity are amongst the priorities.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">UK: NHS patient data confidentiality rules to be loosened</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The British government plans to loosen these confidentiality rules in order to better track illegal immigrants and criminals. Currently patient confidentiality should only be breached in the case of “serious offences”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The plans have attracted concern from patient advocacy groups and bio-ethicists, who among other things say that such a change in the rules could deter vulnerable patients such as migrant workers from going to the doctor even if they</span> <a name="_GoBack">
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<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> have a serious condition.</span> <p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Qualcomm fined €997m for paying Apple to exclusively use its chips</span>
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<span class="list_paragraph" style="background:#ffffff"></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The European Commission</span> <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-421_en.htm"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">fined</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> the US chipmaker Qualcomm €997m for paying Apple to use only its chips in the iPhone, illegally locking out rivals.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The decision follows an investigation launched in 2015,</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">covering the period between 2011 and 2016, investigating Qualcomm’s dominance in the market for modems and chips required to connect handsets to 4G mobile phone networks.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The company’s Executive Vice-President, Don Rosenberg, said they are confident this agreement “did not violate EU competition rules or adversely affect market competition or European consumers.” Qualcomm will seek judicial review.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: WP on Telecommunications and Information Society meeting</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society</span> <a href="http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/CM-1260-2018-INIT/en/pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">meets</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on January 30 to examine the latest Presidency</span> <a href="http://mmail.dods.co.uk/wf/click?upn=pyBPr3ODec9edJBLOTR3tuyY4k-2FGk-2BlI3WCasNCFHL-2F7fJqcCI6duC7iMrz0V3VtDo2l-2FUopNF7YaJr6EWjuy-2BViiRUNiay68NR80d5nlVM-3D_HM2xLN2tM-2FYF1ZWutwuBpRAdFSQbUrSs7NyboXLLFm80c-2FJOSn-2FJozKwTYoG0PjcMgebgydDVqjCXt95Xn4iLlrZhd2UQfpAA6VrKdfF-2FUbyhUmLZeyV8x39TrXcKgFZomoNpAsC7AnuGhnI6GmUSVvC-2Fwl2Np13Vc2Q9mrXF2iaJcP8V6LOzx-2BfBA8aS6f0C-2B1vk0C0FgJMUR-2Bu7Q2TKfz8bqrYRS0cZDncE9-2B-2BUO0-3D"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">discussion paper</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on the proposal for a Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation).</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The document focuses on options on Articles 12 to 16 of the ePR which deal with restriction of calling and connected line identification and direct marketing calls.</span> <p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: World Economic Forum takes action towards an “IT reskilling revolution”</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On January 22, the World Economic Forum released a new report</span> <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/towards-a-reskilling-revolution"><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">. According to the document, the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, threatens to outdate workers’ skillsets and affect labour markets globally. Reskilling is thus deemed necessary.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The report introduces a new practical approach to identifying reskilling pathways and job transition opportunities for workers facing decreasing job prospects, using big data analysis of online job postings. WEF aims to “move the debate on the future of work to new — and practical — territory,” helping individuals, companies and governments to prioritize their actions and investments</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The following day, on January 23, WEF launched the “first ever IT industry initiative to bring competitive training content together on one platform.” The aim is to reach 1 million people by January 2021 for training and resource opportunities to meet the global skills gap challenge via the WEF’s</span> <a href="http://www.theskillset.org/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">SkillSET</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> portal.</span> <p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
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