ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee

The ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee promotes dialogue and the exchange of ideas on technology and computing policy issues with the European Commission and other governmental bodies in Europe, and the informatics and computing communities. The Committee engages in policy issues related to the importance of technology in boosting jobs, economic growth, competition, investment, research and development, education, inclusive social development, and innovation.

The Committee promotes sound public policy and public understanding of a broad range of issues at the intersection of technology and policy. Its policy statements reflect the expertise of ACM Europe Council professional members from the public and private sectors experienced in informatics, computer science, and other computing-related subjects.

As the internet is global, the Committee works with other ACM entities on publications, projects, and policies related to emergent cross-border issues, such as e-privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and internet governance.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on High Value Datasets

Europe TPC provided the European Commission with specific suggestions for how best to implement newly adopted legislation regarding High Value Datasets. Its key point was that important components of established “FAIR” principles omitted from that statute be expressly included in the pending implementing legislation, particularly provisions addressing the findability and accessibility of data.

Europe TPC Comments on EC Cyber Resilience Consultation

The Committee responded to a detailed “radio button” questionnaire and supplemented its selections with several key written points, including: endorsing the promotion of secure-by-design and secure-by-default engineering approaches; warning of an increased likelihood of state actors, or their proxies, using cyber-attacks; and urging the development of secure-by-design principles specific to machine learning systems.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on "Data Act"

Europe TPC's Comments endorsed the Commission’s intent to ensure "fairness in the allocation of value from data among actors in the data economy and to foster access to and use of data," while specifically urging that the proposed Data Act: be expanded to encompass metadata; address foreseeable environmental impacts; and minimise data processing's complexity and cost.

ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee

Chair

Michel Beaudouin-Lafon

Executive Committee

Chris Hankin

Manuel Hermenegildo

Paola Inverardi

Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee, Chair

Alejandro Saucedo

Autonomous Systems Subcommittee, Chair

Gerhard Schimpf

Climate Change Subcommittee, Chair

Bran Knowles

Cybersecurity Subcommittee, Chair

Chris Hankin

Data Science Subcommittee, Chair

Andrew McGettrick

Members-at-Large

Manuel Hermenegildo

Paola Inverardi

Enrico Nardelli

Gürkan Solmaz

ACM President, ex officio

Yannis Ioannidis

ACM Europe Council Chair, ex officio

Rosa Badia

Senior Advisor, ex officio

Fabrizio Gagliardi

ACM Technology Policy Council Chair, ex officio

Virginia Dignum

ACM Technology Policy Council Vice Chair, ex officio

Jeanna Matthews

ACM US Technology Policy Committee Chair, ex officio

Larry Medsker

ACM Chief Executive Officer, ex officio

Vicki Hanson

ACM Chief Operating Officer, ex officio

Patricia Ryan

Past Chair

Chris Hankin

ACM Europe TPC Comments on "Chips Act" Semiconductor Ecosystem Framework

Europe TPC’s Comments support the Commission’s goal of enabling Europe to become more self-reliant in semiconductor manufacturing. It notes, however, that the proposed Chips Act fails to take into account the climate impact of such manufacturing in its proposed framework. That represents a missed opportunity to further the European Union’s Green Deal objectives that should be redressed.

ACM Europe TPC in European Commission AI & Product Liability Consultation

As policy makers strive to update established bodies of law for the digital age, the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee provides the European Commission with both general guidance and specific suggestions for addressing product liability issues uniquely raised by the advent of artificial intelligence.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on EC's “Path to the Digital Decade" Decision

ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee's contributions to the European Commission's intermediate-range plans for a productive digital future included encouraging universal digital literacy, advancing neuromorphic computing, and realistically assessing the pros and cons of technologies intended to mitigate climate change.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on Digital Principles

In Comments submitted to the European Commission, ACM's Europe Technology Policy Committee endorses the adoption of Digital Principles to, for example: provide robust and equitable access to the internet; protect user privacy; promote e-government and e-health services; combat climate change; protect and empower children online; foster digital literacy through universal Informatics education; and promote ethical algorithm design.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on Proposed AI Regulations

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee provided Comments to the European Commission on a Proposal by the European Council and Parliament for a new regulation establishing harmonised rules for the use of artificial intelligence. Key Committee recommendations address: protecting public health and safety, assuring personal privacy, and closing the current scientific “skills gap” through informatics education while creating a diverse workforce.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on Digital Health Data Services

In comments filed in the European Commission’s Health Data Space consultation, ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee cautioned that the pervasive deployment of AI algorithms could lead to the de-skilling of healthcare professionals, warning that “permitting a human 'the last word' in such systems is not sufficient to address this issue. What is needed are real human/AI partnerships.”

ACM Europe TPC Statement on Digital Green Certificates

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted a statement to the European Parliament's LIBE Committee on the use of proposed Digital Green Certificates to permit point-of-use access to personal health and other data of certificate holders between and among European Union Member States. Among Europe TPC's recommendations were to work with the World Health Organization to develop an international directory; and to protect EU citizens from “data inference,” or the risk that a verifier could infer secondary health data from an individual’s vaccination status alone.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on Digital Services Act

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee sent comments on the Digital Services Act to the European Commission ahead of a final determination regarding its adoption. It underscored two key points: 1) the success of the DSA will depend upon the ability of platforms and other regulated entities to successfully deploy automated content moderation systems; and 2) functioning of the DSA’s proposed regulatory regime will depend upon non-governmental technical experts for the effective audit of platforms’ and others’ compliance with the Act.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on Green Deal

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted comments to the Directorate General for Climate Action of the European Commission in support of the comprehensive and ambitious sweep of the Commission’s Green Deal. ACM Europe TPC strongly concurs with the Commission’s premise that realizing true energy efficiencies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector will be critical to Europe’s success in meeting the Green Deal’s appropriately aggressive climate targets.

ACM Europe TPC Statement on Contact Tracing

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee issued detailed principles and practices for the development and deployment of contact tracing technology intended to track and arrest the spread of COVID-19. The statement calls on governments that adopt such systems to choose "only those which... respect and protect the rights of all individuals; safeguard personal data and privacy to the highest degree technically possible; and are subject to scrutiny by the scientific community and civil society before, during and after deployment." Read the statement in Italian here and in French here.

ACM Europe TPC Comments on UK National Data Strategy

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee has formally urged the UK government to assure that its National Data Strategy provide for datasets that are open, subject to multidisciplinary expert review, protected by robust risk assessment, and compiled in consultation with marginalized communities to assure their benefit to all sectors of society.

ACM Europe TPC Report on Bias in ADM Systems

Responding to an invitation from the European Parliament, members of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee (TPC) Panagiota Fatourou (Chair, ACM Europe Council), Chris Hankin (Chair, ACM Europe TPC), and Bran Knowles (Member, ACM Europe TPC) wrote an in-depth white paper on Gender Bias in Automated Decision Making (ADM) Systems. The paper discusses how bias resulting from the use of machine-learned ADM systems can impact gender equality, including employment processes such as job recruitment and screening.

Michel Beaudouin-Lafon Named ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee Chair

Michel Beaudouin-Lafon has been named Chair of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee. Beaudouin-Lafon is Professor of Computer Science, Classe Exceptionnelle, at Université Paris-Saclay, senior fellow of Institut Universitaire de France, recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal, and an ACM Fellow. He has served as the Technology Policy Council Vice Chair, and as a member of the TPC TechBriefs Committee, and the Europe Council.

Image of Michel Beaudouin-Lafon, Chair of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee

ACM Europe TPC Comments on AI White Paper

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee submitted comments to the European Commission on "Artificial Intelligence—A European approach to excellence and trust," which addresses the future of AI in Europe. The comments, submitted in questionnaire form, asked the Commission to rate priorities based on their perceived importance, such as skills and training; public/private partnerships; and financing for startups.

Advancing Cybersecurity Research and Education in Europe

A new policy white paper by the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee, "Advancing Cybersecurity Research and Education in Europe: Major Drivers of Growth in the Digital Landscape," explores the important role of cybersecurity research and education in enhancing cybersecurity, and provides an overview of emerging trends and challenges, including new privacy and security concerns.

Europe TPC, IE Recommendations on Automated Decision Making

The white paper "When Computers Decide: European Recommendations on Machine-Learned Automated Decision Making" presents the views of the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee and Informatics Europe (IE) on the challenges posed by the increasing presence of Machine Learning and Automated Decision Making (ADM) systems in almost every aspect of modern human life.

ACM US and European Policy Committees List Seven Principles to Address Algorithmic Bias

Recognizing the ubiquity of algorithms in our daily lives, as well as their far-reaching impact, the ACM US Technology Policy Committee and the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee have issued a statement and a list of seven principles designed to address potential harmful bias. The US ACM committee approved the principles earlier this year, and the European ACM committee approved them on May 25.

ACM US and Europe Tech Policy Committees Issue Statement on IoT Privacy and Security

The ACM US Technology Policy Committee and the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee have released a Statement on Internet of Things Privacy and Security addressing existing and expected privacy and security concerns in the IoT ecosystem. The principles in the statement propose policy and technical approaches to tackle privacy and security challenges while ensuring that the technology continues to move forward.

What Should Europe’s Cybersecurity Policy Focus On?

A new report on cybersecurity policy published by the European Commission’s top scientific advisers cites the ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee’s White Paper on “Advancing Cybersecurity Research and Education in Europe” and the ACM US Technology Policy Committee’s Principles on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability. Among the report’s recommendations, the scientific advisers call for global cybersecurity cooperation.

ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee

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