EU Digital and Data Strategy Shifting into High Gear – Ecosystems Watch Out

News from Europe suggests the EU is moving closer to a framework that will significantly reshape how digital and data ecosystems will operate.

See European Lawmakers Reach Deal on Sweeping New Digital-Competition Law. In the article, you can learn more about some of the implications that might soon become law in Europe. Not unlike with GDPR, where the EU goes on such things the rest of the world takes notes – and in some cases follows to varying degrees.

At the heart of the move is the challenge to control very large vendors to the platforms many people use every day. 

I blogged recently about the Apple-Fortnight battle (see Keep an Eye on the Apple v Epic Battle) that focuses on the Apple Store.

This EU effort talks to the same issue; how can large vendors be prevented from monopolistic-like behaviour. The word monopolistic is not used in the wider messaging. However, the word gatekeeper is.

The idea is that certain practices and rules put in place by large platform vendors limits how partners in their ecosystem can interact with you, the customer.

From Smart Phone to Smart Business Platform

While much of the press is firmly on the platforms that control access to us via our smartphones, the wider issue and potential is clear. The same large cloud service providers (CSPs) are building out software services ecosystems on their cloud infrastructures for businesses. 

The same kind of “lock-in” and control might be expected. If this new EU law were to take shape an independent software vendor (ISV) might commercially work with you. That ISV, working on the CSP’s cloud platform, might work more directly with you. The ISV might not be so limited by its CSP in its commercial and contractual obligations to you.

In a nutshell, this is why studying cloud, and also data and analytics ecosystems, is so much fun. There are so many moving parts and stakeholders. It's a wicked problem. We will share our latest thinking at our upcoming Data and Analytics conference season that kicks off soon in London.