IGF Poland

Session description

During the round table discussions, we would like to talk about:

• what intermediaries already do to ensure the trust and security of users by preventing the dissemination of illegal content and inappropriate on-line market activities.
• a regulatory framework for all stakeholders; obligations and rights of both the platforms and their users.
• technological tools used to fulfil these duties (content filtering).
• soft tools used for platform regulation (cooperation with authorities, collecting societies, educating users, etc.).
• the issue of transparency of platforms’ activities in the context of activities related to the removal of content published by users.
• the responsibility of the platforms for moderating content and how this activity should be controlled by public institutions.

The issue will be presented from a legal, technological, economic and social perspective.

The session is organised by the Centrum Cyfrowe Foundation and OLX.

Session description

Main questions and scope of the session:

1. How should the Internet be treated — as a medium or something completely different? If we treat the Internet as a medium, we can apply the current law to the Internet, and if it is something completely different, should we create new legislation just for the Internet?
2. When does censorship begin and who can be a censor? States, entrepreneurs and users — each of these groups would like certain content to be hidden or removed. How to ensure freedom of speech in such a situation and who should do it?
3. Threats to free speech. Fake news, monopolies, security and public peace.

The session is organised by Fundacja Republikańska.

The workshop will be devoted to the issue of competitiveness of European digital enterprises (platforms) in national markets, as well as in the European market and in the global space. During the workshop, the participants will talk about the specific nature of challenges and barriers standing in the way of improving competitiveness by European start-ups, scale-ups and — more broadly — local technology companies. The discussion will focus on how their opportunities for growth and competition in an increasingly globalised digital market compare to international companies operating on a global or pan-European scale.

After the first part of the debate, when the general situation of European technology companies in comparison with international players is covered, we will switch the focus on the subject of European regulations, such as the Digital Services Tax and P2B (platforms-to-business). Building on these specific examples of legislation introduced in Brussels, the participants will take a closer look at the challenges faced by the legislators, from the perspective of the European players affected by the enacted legislation, in order to shape the European digital services market in the most efficient and equitable way, where all actors have equal rights, obligations and.... opportunities. The good intentions of legislators do not always translate into good legislation — quite to the contrary, in fact, since it is not uncommon for European technology companies, which were supposed to be protected by the law in their competition with international on0line giants, to de facto fall victim of the new regulations During the workshop, the participants will debate the various ways of supporting local companies, instead of creating additional barriers on their road to development and success.

As a result, a set of recommendations on how to ensure equal opportunities for all technology companies in national markets and in the digital European market will be worked out. The session is organised by Allegro.pl European Tech Alliance and EURACTIV.pl.

Session description

The panel is to talk about the listed problem areas.

• Artificial intelligence as an element of sustainable economic and social growth.
• How to create policies and regulatory environment so that the benefits of artificial intelligence solutions reach the widest possible audience?
• How to identify and respond to threats connected with artificial intelligence in order to effectively minimise the impact of such threats?
• JHow to support and model the impact of AI on the labour market — what is needed for the balance of benefits and risks to be in the black?
• How to address AI challenges in the area of education and skills needed in the labour market?

The session is organised by Microsoft Poland, Digital Poland and Digital Centre Foundation.

The European copyright reform arouses much controversy and stirs up emotional responses among the experts, and rightfully so — its outcome will affect not only users' access to content and culture, but also some of the functioning business models, the liability of Internet intermediaries, the rights of press publishers and the development of text and data mining technologies. During the round table debate, the invited participants will face the question of whether the current shape of the reform corresponds to the challenges posed by the development of the Internet and new technologies. We are also counting on hearing many voices from the audience.

The Digital Centre Foundation has been dealing with the subject of the reform from its very beginning — we note that this topic has strong political connotations in the discourse, which is why we decided to invite representatives of various circles — who often have opinions that differ from ours — to the IGF. We want this IGF round table debate to be an opportunity for presenting a comprehensive, as well as global — in terms of competitiveness and innovation opportunities — perspective on the reform of European copyright law.

The issue of reform will be presented from different perspectives, including legal, technological, economic and social. The round table debate will be attended by representatives of business, creative industry, technology industry, science and non-governmental organisations.

The session is organised by the Centrum Cyfrowe Foundation.

The main objective of the debate will be to analyse Polish interests in the Baltic Sea region and international cooperation in the field of digitisation in the region.

During the debate, the participants:

• Will talk about what Poland can gain from digital cooperation and how to contribute to it,
• will debate opportunities and challenges
• Will suggest ideas for new projects involving entities from the Baltic Sea region
• Will establish new contacts between stakeholders and extended cooperation networks.

The discussion will be inspired by the following initiatives carried out in the Baltic Sea Region:

• Top of Digital Europe Think Tank, www.topofdigital.eu — on the potential of digital cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region, in particular the State of the Digital Region publication 2015-2017.
• The DIGINNO Project, www.diginnobsr.eu, in which 24 partners (mainly ministries and industry associations) from nine Baltic States jointly analysed approaches to SME digitisation, cross-border digital solutions and digitisation policies The Polish partner of the projects is KIGEIT.

The session is organised by: Aalborg University in Copenhagen (DIGINNO), Microsoft, Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Policy Area Innovation).

Modern technologies and the use of the Internet via digital platforms are both of great importance for the development of cities — we want this statement to be the motto of the panel and its overarching thought. We will start the debate by defining what ride-sharing services are and how they influence the development of urban mobility. Then, we will touch upon the subject of the future of employees in the age of the Internet. Greater freedom and flexibility of work, the egalitarian employment opportunities for persons with disabilities and the possibility of combining work with other activities — these are the key phenomena concerning the future of the labour market in the era of technological development. The participants will also talk about legal and regulatory issues, while pondering about adapting the law to keep up with technological development and support the development of innovation in the field of urban mobility.

The session will be organised by CEC Government Relations, Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Taxify.

The panel will be devoted to the presentation of the idea for the development of the National Educational Network as an opportunity for a civilisational leap in the education process.

The session is organised by NASK.

1. The giants of the digital market earn money on content creation, regardless of its quality. Often the more controversial and unlikely the news, the better it “sells” time and engagement in social media.
2. In connection with the above, the fact of the existence of media funded by selling advertisements based on time spent on the websites results in the production of fake news.
3. Governments are considering various restrictions and regulations on content distributors to prevent the excessive creation and spread of fake news.
4. The question that the debate will also help to tackle is how to create a mechanism to fight fake news, who should deal with this issue?

The session is organised by ESCOLA S.A.

The session will be devoted to the growing phenomenon of censorship of users’ statements and posts in social media. The debate will outline the insights about the current functioning of social networks and the use of algorithms to monitor and remove content. During the session, Polish legal regulations — derived from the Civil Code and the Code of Petty Offences — aimed at combating censorship applied by the administrators of social networking sites will also be presented. In the final part, apart from the de lege lata and del lege ferenda postulates, a debate will be started on the threats to freedom of speech, which may result from the regulations planned by the European Commission, aimed at “combating disinformation” on the Internet.

The session is organised by Ordo Iuris, Kancelaria Adwokacka Adw. Tomasz Piotr Chudzinski.

While research on algorithms used on social networking websites and their impact on societies is present in the public debate, the analysis of algorithms used to support the decision-making process in the context of the relationship between the state and its citizens is a relatively new phenomenon. Research conducted by the ePaństwo Foundation shows that the governments of Central and Eastern European countries have not undertaken any systemic action to develop standards for including algorithms in decision-making processes. This does not mean that public institutions do not use automated processes to regulate the legal and factual situation of citizens of Central and Eastern Europe, Poland notwithstanding. The aim of the debate will be to outline the solutions implemented or postulated in Western Europe and the United States. The workshop will result in the development of specific proposals pertaining to the subject of securing the rights and freedoms of citizens and ensuring that the algorithms created will be accountable and transparent, in cooperation with the participants.

The session is organised by the ePaństwo Foundation.

Technologies and new solutions in 5G networks, the Internet of Things or machine learning are blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. They will transform communication, the economy, industry and society in general, bringing risks, as well as opening up new opportunities — new products and services, new types of work and new business models. As a result of these changes, both business leaders and governments will face the challenge of fully exploiting the potential of the new technology age for the benefit of both economies and societies.

The panel will be devoted to both the existing and planned activities related to building digital competences in response to challenges posed by development of technology. The aim of the debate will be not only to diagnose the current state of the discourse and work, but also to raise awareness of the competence gap problem. The participants of the meeting will also tackle the question of the actions and strategies that will be able to effectively solve this problem, and what they should look like.

The session is organised by the Office of Electronic Communications

During the workshop, the participants will debate the future of Web 3.0.

This new web is supposed to be created as a result of the constant evolution of the Internet. Web 1.0 featured mainly one-sided, passive distribution of content from one party to another. Web 2.0 is the web as we know it today, which has become a much more interesting place thanks to social media, easy data sharing and services based on the sharing economy. Users actively create content, but usually tend to use intermediaries, many of which are giant companies.

Web 3.0 is shaping up before our eyes. It is supposed to be a distributed network in which users, applications and devices interact — not only to communicate, but also interact economically — in a way that does not require the involvement of others. The data is under the full control of its owners and at the same time can be easily shared. Web 3.0 is supposed to be very secure, since its critical locations will not depend solely on individual entities.

Web 3.0 will consist of various elements, many of which can be created using blockchain and other technologies based on the paradigm of decentralisation. These include services that are currently centralised or hard to develop without the involvement of central entities, such as payment systems, digital identity systems or domain name systems. There are many indications that blockchain and similar technologies can become the cornerstone of Web 3.0. Open platforms such as Ethereum could become a distributed, shared infrastructure for the new, decentralised Internet. Although we do not know yet which solutions will eventually turn out to be the most popular, it can be assumed that at least some of them will be based on blockchain technology. The aim of the workshop is to talk about the opportunities and threats of Web 3.0, from the perspective of users, service providers, and the public sector.

The session is organised by the Coalition for Polish Innovation.

In the financial markets, more than 80% of transactions are carried out by algorithms based on artificial intelligence. Most of the digital content reaching us, even if we are not aware of it, is tailored to our preferences, based on data describing our behaviour, processed by AI algorithms. On the one hand, AI is the foundation of the strategy of gaining a competitive edge by companies with the largest capitalisation in the world, and, on the other hand, it is the leading direction of capital allocation in start-ups by VC funds. The value of the global market for AI solutions in 2018 is estimated at PLN 4.5 trillion, which represents a 70% increase compared to 2017. In 2022, the value of the AI market will exceed PLN 15 trillion (CAGR 33% y/y). The European Union, the USA and China all develop institutional solutions aimed at stimulating innovation by supporting initiatives in the area of AI.

For several years we have been observing the first results and effects of the revolution — a qualitative change that began several years ago in the area of development and application of AI methods to support a broad range of processes, including in service, industry, security and defence, as well as in everyday life. This revolution went unnoticed by a broader audience for many years, but these days its effects are becoming more and more difficult to disregard. AI is beginning to shape the technological, economic and social landscape of the modern world. Will the Polish economy be an observer, participant, or maybe a conscious creator of this process?

1. Which directions of AI development are the most prospective from the technological and economic point of view?
2. Can the Polish economy specialise in the development of AI methods? In which areas and niches?
3. Are local conditions (human resources, education, data, IT technologies, experience, know-how) conducive to this process, or do they rather make it difficult?
4. What conditions would have to be met in order for Poland to become a local, or perhaps global centre for the development and implementation of AI methods?

The session is organised by the Warsaw School of Economics.

The future of Europe holds an inevitable digital transition. Digital innovation hubs are one of the tools for building a strong and competitive economy on our continent, the establishment of which is stimulated by the European Commission. What is the role of such hubs in Poland's innovative ecosystem? Will we effectively develop our economy with the solutions achieved thanks to the 4.0 revolution? Will European companies be able to compete effectively against their American and Asian counterparts? How will Polish companies perform against this background?

The session is organised by the Polish Business and Innovation Centers Association in Poland, Toruń Technology Park.

Reflection of experts on the long way of Poland in the last 100 years, with particular focus on the last quarter of that century — 25 years of NASK.

A reminder of civilisational changes that took place in Poland after regaining independence in 1918, as seen from the perspective of challenges related to the technological progress of the 21st century.

Is it possible to look for starting points for the future in the past — and if so, is it constructive?

Does Poland have a chance to experience civilisational changes at a similar scale as those that occurred in the 1920s? What are the obstacles faced by Poland and Poles? What are our strengths and, consequently, our opportunities?

Intellectual confrontation with the problem of the 21st century antinomy — a contradiction between the Internet as the embodiment of ideals of freedom and the need to maintain on-line security, or in other words, limiting said freedom.

An attempt to outline a vision of modern Poland on the scale of the XXII century.

The session is organised by NASK.