Friday, October 23rd, 2026
How can Europe turn its data resources into a competitive advantage while strengthening digital sovereignty, innovation and resilience? This question was at the centre of the session “From data to impact – Data as a strategic asset for AI, competitiveness and strategic autonomy” at Connecting Europe Days 2026, held in Brussels from 28 September to 1 October.
Moderated by Bjoern Juretzki, Head of Unit for Data Policy and Innovation at the European Commission’s DG CNECT, the session brought together representatives from European institutions, industry, academia and technology organisations. The programme included a keynote by Borys Budka, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), followed by contributions from Eurowag, W Social, KU Leuven and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The discussion examined how Europe can move beyond regulatory frameworks towards practical data use, AI adoption and the development of competitive digital solutions.
A central theme was the need to make Europe’s existing data and AI legislation more effective in practice, rather than continuously introducing additional rules.
Prof Dr Anna Zeiter, CEO of W Social and Professor of European Data Law at the University of Bern, highlighted the importance of integrating regulatory compliance into digital services from the beginning. While the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, companies that understand and anticipate legal requirements can develop more agile solutions. Drawing on W Social’s experience with the AT Protocol, she illustrated how open digital ecosystems can support interoperability and user choice. Her message emphasised the need to move from discussing Europe’s digital competitiveness towards developing solutions capable of attracting users and competing internationally. In her view, there needs to be less talking and more building of competitive solutions, including motivating well-known voices to move to European platforms to bring wider audiences with them.
Leona King, Researcher in Data Governance and AI Law at KU Leuven, similarly stressed that the challenge is not necessarily a lack of legislation, but the complexity of implementation. Clearer guidance, stronger institutional capacity and greater transparency are needed to help organisations understand and apply existing requirements. In her view, agile lawmaking means continuously improving existing laws rather than adding new ones, and investment in competent authorities is a precondition for making the framework work in practice. She also highlighted the importance of digital education, enabling citizens and consumers to make informed choices that can support European digital markets. Education (especially for young people) matters because consumer choices ultimately determine where money flows and can prop up European digital markets.
Vassilis Antoniades, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG, emphasised regulatory simplification and the need for consistent implementation across European, national and local levels. He drew attention to the differences in AI adoption between large organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While larger companies often have greater resources to experiment with and deploy AI, many SMEs face challenges related to skills, investment and organisational readiness. The vast majority of SMEs should not be underestimated in terms of what data and AI enablement could mean for them, he noted, and they need to become AI-fluent.
Improving AI literacy and practical capabilities across businesses was identified as an important condition for broader adoption. Early education and targeted support can help organisations understand how to use AI effectively and translate technological opportunities into operational improvements; the earlier AI-fluency education begins, the greater the enablement effect. Antoniades also highlighted the importance of scale. Europe has successful companies and strong innovation capabilities, but greater coordination and the ability to scale solutions are needed to compete internationally. While Europe has successful champions, including in logistics and transport, it has yet to produce global champions, which, in his view, makes consolidation necessary. Making better use of existing instruments and resources could help accelerate this process.
Bringing a transport and logistics perspective, Martin Vohánka, CEO and Founder of Eurowag, argued that Europe’s physical transport infrastructure needs to be complemented by a stronger digital layer. He proposed extending the thinking behind the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) to include digital connectivity and data exchange, enabling infrastructure and transport systems to operate more coherently across borders.
Vohánka also stressed the importance of resilience beyond military mobility. Europe, he argued, takes military infrastructure seriously but has yet to treat civil infrastructure resilience with the same seriousnes. Yet he stressed that in a crisis, it is infrastructure resilience that will determine how adaptable European societies are. In a context of geopolitical uncertainty and increasing disruptions, the ability of civil infrastructure and logistics networks to adapt is essential for Europe’s economic stability and competitiveness. Data, he added, has yet to be connected to the real geopolitical contexts in which Europe now finds itself. He called for greater coherence in digitalisation efforts, avoiding fragmented approaches in which different organisations and sectors advance independently. More effective engagement with relevant stakeholders during the development of policies and programmes was also considered necessary to ensure that initiatives respond to practical operational needs. Vohánka cautioned that Europe is rushing new regulations without asking the right questions of the right audiences, and that the loudest voices are not always the most representative. He closed with a call for boldness in overcoming inertia and working towards the prosperity of Europeans.
The discussion reinforced the importance of interoperability, trust and accessible data as foundations for effective AI deployment. Although Europe has established extensive regulatory frameworks, their impact depends on whether organisations can exchange and use information efficiently and securely. Transport and logistics provide a particularly relevant environment for addressing these challenges. Cross-border operations involve multiple organisations, infrastructure systems and regulatory environments, making reliable data exchange essential for improving visibility, coordination and decision-making. The panel concluded that mobility is a good proving ground precisely because it is inherently cross-border, and that beyond data access itself, the bigger question for AI in Europe is the state of the underlying infrastructure.
These priorities closely align with ALICE’s work on logistics digitalisation, interoperability and the Physical Internet, which aims to support more interconnected and collaborative logistics networks. Better access to trustworthy data can enable AI-supported planning, improve the use of transport capacity and strengthen coordination between stakeholders across supply chains.
The session also highlighted that digital competitiveness requires more than technological development. Organisations need practical guidance, appropriate skills, interoperable infrastructure and the ability to deploy solutions at scale.
Ultimately, turning data into impact requires connecting regulation, digital infrastructure and real operational needs. For European logistics, this means creating the conditions for data and AI to support more efficient, resilient and competitive transport networks while contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy.