Guest blog post by Alan Davidson, Director of Digital Economy, U.S. Department of Commerce

This week Commerce Secretary Pritzker travels to Brussels, and issues facing the digital economy will be top of mind. As a starting point for that conversation, it’s worth reviewing what is at stake and why the Commerce Department is working to support innovation and investment online -- on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Internet and the digital economy are a critical part of the world’s economic future. They are a source of jobs and growth, an enabler of global trade, a path to economic opportunity, and a platform for speech and civic engagement. The Internet economy already represents over 4.7 percent of U.S. GDP. According to one study, in G-20 developed markets the Internet economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8 percent over the next five years, far outpacing just about every traditional economic sector. For many people, the digital economy will where they find their next job or their next business opportunity.

But we cannot take this success for granted. Businesses need to deal with new technologies and disruptive forces. New barriers to the free and open Internet could undermine the ability to communicate and do business globally. Concerns over security and consumer protection risk eroding trust in e-commerce. And businesses and workers will need new skills and greater access to compete in the global IT landscape and to share in the prosperity it offers.

This is why the Commerce Department has created a Digital Economy Leadership Team to further the Department’s efforts in this area. Its work this year will focus on four key opportunities:

• First, protecting the global free exchange of information. At Commerce, this includes promoting the free flow of data worldwide; transitioning domain name oversight to a new, accountable governance structure; and engaging with efforts like the EU’s Digital Single Market initiative.
• Second, promoting trust and security online – essential for the success of the digital economy. The Department’s priorities include expanding its successful cybersecurity framework; modernizing the rules for government access to data; and supporting legislation to reform our patent system.
• A third initiative is around promoting access and skills. Commerce is working to expand broadband access and adoption, and to equip workers with the skills they need to thrive in the digital economy.
• Finally, Commerce is pursuing opportunities to engage with emerging new technologies early in the development life cycle, to help promote promising new fields and to assess long-term policy concerns.

Europe will be an essential partner in these efforts to promote an open digital economy that offers opportunity and improves lives around the world. For example, the US and EU have a total commercial relationship worth over $5 trillion  – powerful incentive to get the transatlantic digital relationship right in our trade agreements and in areas like the ongoing Privacy Safe Harbor negotiations. And Europe has been a leader in considering the broad issues facing the digital economy, most recently through its Digital Single Market Initiative.

Greater innovation and investment in the digital economy are a pathway to greater growth on both sides of the Atlantic. More broadly, the fruits of our transatlantic partnership will shape what kind of global Internet we have, and whether it will continue to be an engine of opportunity worldwide. There is a lot to work on together.

As Secretary Pritzker spends this week meeting with European businesses and stakeholders, and her government counterparts in Brussels, we will be sharing more thoughts on the Department’s efforts to support a vibrant transatlantic – and global – digital marketplace.