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Do you produce content on social media platforms? Does your company use the services of these platforms? Are you confused by the terms and conditions of the services, which are full of strange jargon? Do you know how the new rules for platforms will change the use of services?
The rules for digital services are changing in the EU as new regulations are gradually become applicable. Sitra wants to help Finnish digital service users and businesses to better understand the sometimes complex EU data regulation, so that they can boost their expertise in operating in the data economy and find new business and innovation potential in the changing digital environment.
Digital services include online marketplaces, search engines, social media platforms, gaming apps and cloud services.
The EU’s wide-ranging data regulation package aims to improve the opportunities for enterprises of different sizes to operate in the market, and it will curb the power of digital giants. The new Basics of EU data economy regulation – fair rules for online platforms course will help you get to grips with the intricacies of regulation and the changes underway.
“We hope that the course will help dispel some of the concerns about the new regulations. For service users, the course provides information on their rights when using digital services, among other things. Regulation, on the other hand, opens up opportunities for companies that should be seized early before others,” says Meeri Toivanen, specialist at Sitra.
“Companies able to adapt quickly to the new regulatory environment will have an advantage.”
The course developed at Sitra is available in the digital eOppiva learning environment. The materials are open to everyone and do not require registration.
Fair rules give SMEs a competitive edge in the data economy
The course introduces you to different digital services and their special features with examples, the new rules for digital services and restrictions on the activities of digital giants.
The course materials contains inspiring stories, reflection questions and interviews that have been designed to be as accessible and informative as possible to anyone interested in the subject.
The first part of the course focuses on the EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, covering topics such as:
- how online platform services of all sizes should be fairer and more transparent towards their users
- how SMEs benefit from more equal access to markets in relation to digital giants;
- what new information resources on the practices of online platform services are available to authorities, users and researchers
- how targeted advertising can be used in line with fair ground rules;
- how users can apply the new information they learn about their rights in the online environment;
- how different actors can effectively tackle illegal content and abuse online.
Regulation is being rapidly overhauled, businesses are struggling to keep up
The EU is determined to build the foundations and ground rules for a fairer data-driven society and economy of the future. The development of the data-driven economy will be accelerated by regulation but also by substantial funding.
The five key data legislative proposals of the regulatory package aim to create more equal opportunities for different companies to operate in the market, limit the power of digital giants, hasten the twin digital and green transitions and bolster the competitiveness of the European single market. The new EU rules will benefit small and medium-sized enterprises, such as those using or offering different digital services.
The aim is also to strengthen the rights of us as individuals using digital services and of SMEs that provide them to benefit from data. The emerging fair data economy will affect companies and people in all sectors and in all roles.
However, the new regulatory package has been seen as complex and difficult. In a Sitra survey, SMEs from four EU countries identified the complexity of legislation as the single biggest obstacle to the development of data economy business. The national data economy roadmap work led by Sitra has identified that different actors in Finland lack an overall understanding of the EU’s evolving data legislation and the opportunities it offers.
Sitra will develop an advanced course on the EU’s Data Act and the Data Governance Act Regulation during the autumn.
The course has been prepared as part of Sitra’s Roadmap for a Fair Data Economy project, which helps different parties to identify opportunities in the data-based economy of the future.
The article has been updated on 6.9.2023 to remove the mention of the test phase of the course. Sitra collected feedback on the course in summer 2023 and made minor changes to the material in early September, based on the feedback received.
