Featuring:
Laura Koetzle, VP, Group Director
Show Notes:
The EU has long focused its regulatory eye on data privacy, including passing GDPR in 2016. But in 2021, says VP and Group Director Laura Koetzle, policymakers will shelve their long-delayed e-privacy regulation and turn their attention toward AI.
Does this mean business as usual in the data world? Not a chance. It’s widely expected that when the UK leaves the EU on December 31, 2020, it will not be granted GDPR-adequate status. Meaning, if you’re transferring European resident data to the UK without controls, that has to stop by January 1.
2021 will bring a draft regulatory framework for AI. European consumers are increasingly concerned about how unchecked AI may negatively affect their lives. For example, the UK’s A-levels grading AI engine led to widespread discrimination against students from disadvantaged backgrounds. European companies, including Rolls-Royce and Bosch, have already created proprietary AI frameworks. EU policymakers believe that it’s time to step in.
Finally, the pandemic has opened the eyes of European companies and policymakers to the benefits of remote work. Policymakers have long sought to spread out economic opportunity more evenly rather than keeping it concentrated in major urban areas. So they will promote remote work as long as it isn’t done for labor cost arbitrage. After the pandemic ends, one-third of European white-collar workers will remain remote full-time. Listen to the full episode to learn what this will mean for employers.
