In the Wall Street Journal today there is an interesting piece on the ‘buzz’ in the European Technology Industry. From conferences to award ceremonies to boot camps, tech companies are having their day in Europe.
And in this age of economic uncertainty, technology companies in Europe do have a lot to be excited about. The Irish and British governments have put forth plans to lessen the tax burden on small to medium businesses, increase visas for entrepreneurs and update intellectual property laws, among many other proposals. The UK Government has even opened up data in the hopes that new ideas and businesses arise out of its use.
Over the last week we have had good news from both the EU and UK on the Open Internet as well. The European Commission adopted a light touch attitude on Internet regulation and supported the ideas of competition and transparency for businesses in this area. The EC will let national regulators decide if and when to use the 2009 Telecoms Directive and the EU Framework for Electronic Communications for imposing fines and regulations on Internet Service Providers. This means that in the UK, OFCOM will decide when and if to impose regulation. And as we heard in Ed Vaizey’s speech on Wednesday, “The Government is no fan of regulation and we should only intervene when it is clearly necessary to deliver important benefits for customers.”
Of course the government can go further in supporting entrepreneurship and job creation – even in the UK. By shrinking the state and shifting more of its business processes to private industry we would see job creation and new business models happen. Why should the government be the sole tax collector or street cleaner? But for now, while other industries may be in decline the technology industry is “... shaking off the recession and stepping boldly forward. The excitement is palpable.”In the Wall Street Journal today there is an interesting piece on the ‘buzz’ in the European Technology Industry. From conferences to award ceremonies to boot camps, tech companies are having their day in Europe.
And in this age of economic uncertainty, technology companies in Europe do have a lot to be excited about. The Irish and British governments have put forth plans to lessen the tax burden on small to medium businesses, increase visas for entrepreneurs and update intellectual property laws, among many other proposals. The UK Government has even opened up data in the hopes that new ideas and businesses arise out of its use.
Over the last week we have had good news from both the EU and UK on the Open Internet as well. The European Commission adopted a light touch attitude on Internet regulation and supported the ideas of competition and transparency for businesses in this area. The EC will let national regulators decide if and when to use the 2009 Telecoms Directive and the EU Framework for Electronic Communications for imposing fines and regulations on Internet Service Providers. This means that in the UK, OFCOM will decide when and if to impose regulation. And as we heard in Ed Vaizey’s speech on Wednesday, “The Government is no fan of regulation and we should only intervene when it is clearly necessary to deliver important benefits for customers.”
Of course the government can go further in supporting entrepreneurship and job creation – even in the UK. By shrinking the state and shifting more of its business processes to private industry we would see job creation and new business models happen. Why should the government be the sole tax collector or street cleaner? But for now, while other industries may be in decline the technology industry is “... shaking off the recession and stepping boldly forward. The excitement is palpable.”
And in this age of economic uncertainty, technology companies in Europe do have a lot to be excited about. The Irish and British governments have put forth plans to lessen the tax burden on small to medium businesses, increase visas for entrepreneurs and update intellectual property laws, among many other proposals. The UK Government has even opened up data in the hopes that new ideas and businesses arise out of its use.
Over the last week we have had good news from both the EU and UK on the Open Internet as well. The European Commission adopted a light touch attitude on Internet regulation and supported the ideas of competition and transparency for businesses in this area. The EC will let national regulators decide if and when to use the 2009 Telecoms Directive and the EU Framework for Electronic Communications for imposing fines and regulations on Internet Service Providers. This means that in the UK, OFCOM will decide when and if to impose regulation. And as we heard in Ed Vaizey’s speech on Wednesday, “The Government is no fan of regulation and we should only intervene when it is clearly necessary to deliver important benefits for customers.”
Of course the government can go further in supporting entrepreneurship and job creation – even in the UK. By shrinking the state and shifting more of its business processes to private industry we would see job creation and new business models happen. Why should the government be the sole tax collector or street cleaner? But for now, while other industries may be in decline the technology industry is “... shaking off the recession and stepping boldly forward. The excitement is palpable.”In the Wall Street Journal today there is an interesting piece on the ‘buzz’ in the European Technology Industry. From conferences to award ceremonies to boot camps, tech companies are having their day in Europe.
And in this age of economic uncertainty, technology companies in Europe do have a lot to be excited about. The Irish and British governments have put forth plans to lessen the tax burden on small to medium businesses, increase visas for entrepreneurs and update intellectual property laws, among many other proposals. The UK Government has even opened up data in the hopes that new ideas and businesses arise out of its use.
Over the last week we have had good news from both the EU and UK on the Open Internet as well. The European Commission adopted a light touch attitude on Internet regulation and supported the ideas of competition and transparency for businesses in this area. The EC will let national regulators decide if and when to use the 2009 Telecoms Directive and the EU Framework for Electronic Communications for imposing fines and regulations on Internet Service Providers. This means that in the UK, OFCOM will decide when and if to impose regulation. And as we heard in Ed Vaizey’s speech on Wednesday, “The Government is no fan of regulation and we should only intervene when it is clearly necessary to deliver important benefits for customers.”
Of course the government can go further in supporting entrepreneurship and job creation – even in the UK. By shrinking the state and shifting more of its business processes to private industry we would see job creation and new business models happen. Why should the government be the sole tax collector or street cleaner? But for now, while other industries may be in decline the technology industry is “... shaking off the recession and stepping boldly forward. The excitement is palpable.”