The European Institute’s Roundtable on Telecommunications, Information Technology and Media Policies provides a transatlantic forum for government and industry principals to address the wide range of critical issues affecting the ever-changing information society and its infrastructure. Global communication demands increased cooperation between the European Union and the United States to develop effective policies that stimulate scientific and technological innovation, promote systemic and regulatory compatibility, enhance competition, build consensus on internet governance, and address privacy concerns.

Through participation in the Roundtable, members are given unique access to leading U.S. and European policymakers and an insight into initiatives before they become policy. Members use the Roundtable to analyze emerging technologies, identify specific areas of common ground and promote creative policy solutions.

Recent Meetings

On November 2, 2011, The European Institute hosted a luncheon discussion with Chris Fonteijn, Chairman of Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).  Mr. Fonteijn presented the regulatory challenges that both BEREC and Member States must tackle in order to achieve the Digital Single Market, as well as his perspective on BEREC's 2012 work program and the prospects for transatlantic cooperation on the Digital Agenda.   Chris Boam, Director, International Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy at Verizon Communications moderated the discussion.

On October 20, 2011, S. Decker Anstrom, Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference, which will be held early next year in Geneva stressed that the greatest priority for the U.S. and the conference as a whole would be spectrum allocation, which both the US and Europe consider key to stimulating sustainable economic growth. Mr. Anstrom also detailed additional U.S. priorities, while emphasizing the importance of transatlantic cooperation and the significant presence of shared interests between the U.S. and the EU.

On March 8, 2011, The European Institute held a meeting of its Transatlantic Roundtable on Telecommunications and Information Technology with Pierre Louette, Executive Vice President and Group General Secretary and Eric Debroeck, Senior Vice President for Regulatory Affairs from France Telecom – Orange. Mr. Louette and Mr. Debroeck offered their perspectives on the telecommunications regulatory environment in the transatlantic community and assessed the current debate over net neutrality and broadband deployment, both in the United States and in Europe.

On September 23, 2010, The European Institute hosted a luncheon meeting with Ambassador Philip Verveer, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State. With the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Plenipotentiary Meeting only weeks in the offing, Ambassador Verveer addressed prospects for a new international telecommunications regulatory regime and emphasized the importance of limiting governmental controls. Additional areas of particular priority for the United States were internet governance and cyber security, and he stressed the importance of U.S.-EU cooperation in the setting of international telecommunications standards.  Ambassador Verveer expressed his support for the European Union’s ambitious new digital agenda, and spoke of the productive discussions he has had with officials from the European Commission’s Information Society and Media Directorate. A key mutual interest is the potential of cloud computing, which would make computing infrastructure and services available on a utility-like basis.

On September 23, 2010, The European Institute held a seminar with European and American experts to discuss Bridging the Global Digital Divide: Prospects and Challenges for the Expansion of Satellite Broadband.  Organized in cooperation with the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO), the meeting focused on the vital role that broadband technology can play in effectively spanning the digital divide and assessed the myriad challenges to refurbishing and building the civilian space infrastructure necessary to meet rapidly expanding global digital needs.

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