The launch of a new tool, Kid Wallet, which will help parents protect their children from the potential dangers of technology and AI, announced by Mr. Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance in the framework of the 10th Delphi Economic Forum held in Delphi April 9-12.
Specifically, the responsible minister, who was placed before the panel began that the new data on technology has raised issues for the protection of minors -sometimes adults.
In this context, he announced the new initiative, the “Kid Wallet”, which will help children adapt to the new reality and will be a parental control tool to limit the minors’ exposure to the screen.
This “wallet”, at the same time, will be the official tool on the one hand to certify age, on the other to control electronic markets in tobacco, betting products and more. At the same time, he referred to the European Regulation DSA, which is coming to solve the problems in the misinformation and fraud, and made special mention in Fact checking, describing as “tragic the requirement for its abolition”.
On the issue of open data, he made it clear that we must make brave decisions, although the new regulation “is coming to put things in the right dimension”. However, as he pointed out, even more work is needed.
For his part, Mr. Tasos Gaitanis, Secretary General of Research and Innovation, hastened to remind the government’s measures to boost innovation, clarifying that research and development costs have increased by 18%.
In addition, he said that we have drawn up specific plans, we created a new institutional framework for the spin -offs, provided aid for private sector -universities, established Elevate Greece while introducing a new framework for the Golden Visa.
According to this, a third -country citizen can invest 250,000 euros in a start up and in return for a 5 -year visa. It also did not fail to focus on the tax incentives, which aim to increase private participation. Currently 50% of expenditure for research and innovation comes from the state and the remaining 50% from the private sector. Mr Tasos Gaitanis made it clear that he wants to raise the proportion of individuals to 65%, such as the European average.
Elsewhere in his intervention, he noted that the same regulatory framework could either encourage or discourage innovation, depending on the industry applied. For support, he brought two different examples. As he explained, in Europe it is difficult to find quality and quantitative open data, as the existing regulatory framework poses obstacles.
This discourages innovation. On the other hand, however, the regulatory framework proves to be quite useful in other cases, such as copyright, patents, brands and more. ‘We need to achieve a balance […] We also need the regulatory framework and innovation, but the problem begins when we prioritize the first and not the second. “
Mr. Javier Lopez-Gonzalez, head of the Digital Trade Unit, OECD, called upon to comment on the regulatory framework, argued that we are trying to find a balance that will help innovation and growth, but at the same time create a protection wall. In addition, he argued that fragmentation is not moving in the right direction, as it is estimated to have a 10% cost of trade flows.
At the same time, he clarified that no regulation is the optimal solution. “It can reduce some costs, but at the same time it will lose some benefits,” he commented, characteristically. The golden intersection, he added, is to balance all of the above, as this can improve trade flows by 3%. “We need to find the way we protect with the least possible intervention,” he reiterated, giving importance to the concept of interoperability, which can limit the impact of the regulations.
At the same time, Mr Christopher Butler, executive director, Tholos Foundation, was in favor of a combination of innovation and regulation, provided that the latter would not prevent or limit the former. As he noticed, there is currently a difference between start-ups in the US and start-ups in Europe. The difference is not in the phase of creation, but in the success rate, which is smaller in Europe.
“When companies arrive at the critical threshold, there are more regulations,” he said. For this reason, he called on the state to take a step back. In addition, it struck the fact that some regulatory frameworks focus exclusively on large players, mainly US -based companies. But this, as he estimates, actually creates problems for smaller companies.
“There is a sense that there must be greater regulatory pressure on those companies based in the US. But this has created major problems for start -ups. They do not take the opportunities to grow and innovate, ”he said, among other things. “If you focus on the big, strangeness you will create problems for small, start -ups,” he concluded.
Finally, Ms. Lucine Ovumyan, senior vice -president, Corporate Affairs and Communications in JTI, yes, he was in favor of the regulations, but they did not “freeze” innovation. Citing the tobacco industry, he pointed out that all “players” are investing billions of euros in the development of alternative, less dangerous tobacco products. “It is important for the regulations to support this development,” he said.
In fact, he cited Brazil as an example, which a few years ago banned all electronic cigarettes. “And what happened? In fact the black market was developed by 600%. Everything went into illegality, “he said, concluding that the regulation should adapt to the need for consumers, as it otherwise brings the opposite effect. He did not fail to focus on the importance of the constant adjustment of the regulatory framework, as “it should not be a moving wall”.