At a meeting with European media in Warsaw on Wednesday 15 January, Poland’s Minister for Digitalisation, Krzysztof Gawkowski, urged the European Commission to have the courage” to “firmly” apply the DSA regulation governing digital platforms.
“The problem is having the courage to apply the DSA rules”, said Mr Gawkowski. Arguing in favour of a close cooperation with the United States, regardless of who is at the helm of the US administration, he said it was necessary to take action against companies in the digital sector that wanted to “subjugate their customers”. “The problem is not Elon Musk, but rather the platforms”, because it is not up to them to regulate democracy, he added.
The Polish minister felt that the right balance also needed to be struck between the need to regulate the digital sector without stifling innovation.
On the same day, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union organised a workshop of entrepreneurs, private investors, researchers and local and regional authorities representing the Polish start-up ecosystem. The participants praised Poland’s ability to reinvent itself over the course of its modern history, believing it necessary to take a new step in order to exist in the digital age. Investors welcomed the excess cash in Poland, which enabled the company to finance the start-up of new activities.
Among the many innovative start-ups on show were NEVOMO, a company using electromagnetic technology to speed up freight and passenger transport by rail, ElevenLabs, a company offering audio solutions based on artificial intelligence, and Nirby, a company offering a soil analysis system used to optimise agricultural yields while reducing the use of chemicals. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)