On 28 and 29 May 2019, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Posselt, director of the Fraunhofer IMW, Dr. Riad Bourayou, research manager at the Fraunhofer IMW, and Dr. Sebastian Haugk, research fellow in the Data Mining and Value Creation project, were guests at the World Bank in Vienna. The title of the workshop was “Europe 4.0: Sharing the New Economy”.
The aim was to work together with representatives of scientific organizations, companies and institutions such as the European Investment Bank to develop an understanding of the opportunities and risks of the data economy in Europe, and to derive recommendations for action for the European Commission.
In their lecture “Characterizing the New Data Economy: Big Shifts and Their Impact on Europe and the Wider Global Economy”, the three Fraunhofer scientists dealt with the changes and effects of the data economy. They gave an overview of the current state of the data economy, especially in Europe, and identified the need for further research. They also pointed out ways of assessing the value of data. Specific features and examples of the platform economy were also part of the report. Subsequently, they answered the questions of the participants in a group discussion.
Sebastian Haugk draws a positive conclusion from the event: “It was very exciting to get to know the various perspectives of renowned scientists and World Bank staff on data economics. What Europe's future may look like in this area is not an easy debate, but a very important one. We were very pleased to be able to contribute our part to this.”