On EU digital products and services

At this particular point in time, on this particular rock we call our planet - there are 3 distinct economic superpowers. The US on the North American continent, the EU on the European continent and China in Asia. China is arguably, quite different culturally than the other two. Europe and US have had, for a long time now, a lot in common culturally and shared interests across a large number of issues. As a result, in this relatively recent technological revolution we have been undergoing with the Internet, Europe has moved mainly to US' music. And for good reason - the US made an effort to stifle corruption, force Europe to do the same; the US led with innovative technology, business practices, accountability and a very healthy chunk of investment; the US had (and still has) the resources to be at the cutting edge of research and technological development; the US had the world currency; the US lead in cultural and diplomatic influence.

But let's focus a bit on the digital front...

In this area, maybe more than others, Europe has become a customer to the US. Any companies developing within Europe tend to be quickly scooped away by US venture capitalists or US companies - an issue which is ignored by Europeans, bizarrely. Europeans use American software, on American computers or phones, on networks ran on American/Chinese hardware, using American search engines to browse American websites.

The digital frontier is something Europeans have given up very easily, without much persuasion. In a world where the best product wins, this should not be a problem. But the world is changing, and with it, the products change as well.

In this brand new world, the products and companies now may find themselves having to cater to specific political ideologies or personalities. This spoils the technology and products for anyone not aligned - and also can turn out to be a threat in their lives outside of the digital realm.

The US has spicy politics, with very spicy politicians, that threaten to invade their European customers, or decide to reverse decades long standing policy on many fronts.

These recent events should be a wake up call to the EU. US politics may change, and their current attitude may well be reversed to the one pre-Trump - but the cat is out of the bag. EU dependency on US is not healthy, and we need to do more in Europe for digital sovereignty.

We have the means to do it, we need the politicians to rally to this cause and start, at least at a government level to use EU-made software, hardware and digital resources. Then a push to make the European company and consumer a partner in this.

I love to see initiatives like Zero - and I also love to see websites like the European Alternatives page, but we need more. For all this to happen, these products and services cannot just be a bad copy of their American counterparts. They need to be innovative in their own and serve the needs and taste of the European people.

We need a serious shift to Linux - first at a government level. I'm sure the private markets will start following.

We need to govern our own information rather than outsource it to Microsoft, Amazon or Google.

We need to draw conclusions from what we've learned, and establish healthy foundations for the future.

We should have done this decades ago - but the second best time is now.