Digital technology is completely changing the way we live and work and the pace of technological change shows no signs of slowing. What can governments do to create a strong digital economy and ensure Europe is ‘future-proof’?

To answer this, on 11 October, we brought together for the first time over 100 ministers, state secretaries, policy units and elected representatives from 23 countries who are shaping digitalisation strategies across Europe. We held this year’s summit in Berlin, in partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Why this summit?

Amid the buzzwords and hype we do not discuss enough the existing policies that harness what digital technology can do for Europe. Which digital policies benefit entrepreneurs, business and society? How might we design better ones? The Readie Policy Summit provided a unique forum for key decision makers from many countries to come together and address these questions by sharing their experiences, strategies and new approaches.

At Readie, we believe that there are three ways in which digital policies can be done better:

1. Actively thinking about what type of future we want. To understand what the world might look like in 2050, we kicked off the day by hearing from leading futurists, Pat Kane, Angeliki Kapoglou and Cornelia Daheim.
2. Governments can also use digital tools themselves to design policies that are more timely, data-driven, user-focused and inclusive. Explaining their approach to e-government we welcomed former Digital Minister of Taiwan, Jaclyn Tsai and Slovenia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Boris Koprivnikar.
3. Learning, sharing and collaborating is key, not just for the success of Europe’s digital economy, but also for the policies that support it. By showcasing some of the best policy examples out there - such as Estonia’s ride-sharing bill or the UK’s Regulatory Sandbox for FinTech - we learnt about new approaches to fostering digital skills, scaling start-ups and digitising traditional industries.

To catch up on the summit highlights and debates, watch our video:

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Who attended?

Governments and senior policy experts from 23 countries were represented at the Readie Policy Summit. Speakers also included:

• Helge Braun (German Minister of State for the Federal Chancellery)
• Boris Koprivnikar (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration, Slovenia)
• Jaclyn Tsai (Former Digital Minister for Taiwan and Founder, Lee Tsai and Partners Attorneys-at-Law)
• Tasneem Sharafally (Team Leader on Policy and Engagement for the Innovation Hub, Financial Conduct Authority)
• Kalle Palling (Member of the Estonian European Affairs Committee Riigikogu)
• Agata Wejman (Director of EU Public Policy and Government Relations, Uber)
• Adrian Blair (Chief Operating Officer, JustEat)
• Dr Jens Wohltorf (Co-founder & CEO Blacklane)
• Danny Lopez (COO, Blippar)
• Philip Colligan (CEO, Raspberry Pi Foundation)
• Nicklas Lundblad (Director, EMEA Public Policy, Google)
• Nadine Schön (Member of the German Parliament & Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group)
• Damir Filipovic (Policy Director, DIGITALEUROPE)
• Mounir Mahjoubi (President, Conseil Nationale du Numérique)

Photos from the day

You can also enjoy photos from the day via this link here.

Next steps

In the coming months, Readie will be publishing more insights and briefings about 21st century policymaking, visiting governments around Europe and launching new research about public attitudes towards the internet. To get in touch about working together, email [email protected]. In the meantime, you can follow our latest news and updates here: www.readie.eu and on Twitter @ReadieEU.