"We need to make it easy for companies to use technology"

Interview with Anna Wikland, Head of Sweden, Google.

The pace of digital development is fast and in several areas the EU has struggled to keep up with the countries and regions leading the way globally. What do you think is most important to strengthen the EU's digital competitiveness? 

- We live in such exciting times - I've had the privilege of being the head of Sweden at Google for eight years and the technological leaps AI development has taken are not only exciting but also very important. Important because with the help of AI, we can solve the challenges we face in areas such as climate, environment and health. With the help of generative AI, we can all now improve and enhance our abilities - which will mean a major productivity gain that can boost Europe's GDP by 8 percent and for Sweden by 9 percent! This would not only be a welcome boost to the economy, but also strengthen our competitiveness. So the best thing the EU can do is to ensure that we embrace technology. To make this possible, we see that the EU needs to do the following: 

A common criticism of digitalization policies in the EU is that the regulatory burden has increased significantly in recent years. Do you share this view and how does it affect your business?  

- From our perspective, it is important that we have a clear regulatory framework in place that drives innovation forward, we need to make it easy for companies to use technology and do the right thing. At Google, we are focused on ensuring that we make the changes to our products and processes required to comply with regulations such as the Digital Single Market (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the AI Act, the EU Cloud Certification Scheme (EUCS) and others. 

- This work is in its infancy and it is important to learn lessons from, for example, the implementation of the GDPR where a study by the US Federal Trade Commission showed that EU companies reduced their use of data and that the use of data became 20% more expensive. Going forward, we therefore need to ensure that the implementation of the regulatory framework is done in a way that favors the use of digital solutions and strengthens the EU's innovation capacity and competitiveness. 

Sweden will soon elect 21 MEPs. What are your messages to the candidates?

- Sweden's voice in the EU is important and MEPs have a unique opportunity to influence issues that drive development forward! One idea could be to identify the remaining obstacles to achieving a digitalized single market and work to remove them by ensuring regulatory harmonization, removing barriers and reducing costs for cross-border activity.