Allied For Startups · Blog

Events October 13, 2020 AFS Annual Summit 2020

October 13, 2020, Brussels Startup organisations from over 20 countries and 5 continents joined our AFS Annual Summit to discuss our 2020 activities as well as to debate and vote on our priorities for 2021. Startup communities came together under one voice to support innovation and entrepreneurship. We were very happy to see high engagement despite the …

Data Latest News Open Letter October 8, 2020 Open Letter: Commit to Data Flows & Back it up with Action

Dear President of the European Council, Dear Mr. Michel, Dear President of the European Commission, Dear Ms. von der Leyen, Startup communities across Europe urge policy makers to enable data flows across markets. Committing to free data flows necessitates an updated data adequacy agreement with the United States and revamping of the Standard Contractual Clauses …

DSA 4 Startups Policy September 29, 2020 Our take on the European Parliament’s Initiative Reports on the Digital Services Act 

 At the end of this year, the European Commission will present its legislative proposal on the Digital Services Act. In the last week three European Parliament’s committees on the Internal Market, (IMCO) Legal Affairs (JURI) and Civil Liberties (LIBE) adopted their positions on the Digital Services Act. The DSA will affect over 10,000 platforms in …

DTX Startups September 24, 2020 State of the Union address: 3 takeaways for digital health

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen held her State of the Union address last week, presenting the priorities for the coming year. Von der Leyen called for building a stronger European Health Union, with a robust EU4Health programme, and ignited the debate on increasing the EU’s health competence. She also emphasised …

Data Latest News Policy September 22, 2020 Why data localisation is not an ingredient for economic growth

The European Union should not undercut its initiatives to ignite startup-fueled post-COVID-19 economic growth with costly and ineffective data localisation measures. When Commissioner Breton argues that “European data should be stored and processed in Europe”, this could pose significant damage to startup ecosystems and undermine much of the positive impact of recent free flow of …

DTX Latest News Startups September 17, 2020 Telemedicine in Europe: Opportunities and Challenges

The telemedicine sector has experienced a major shift in the last months. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have caused a sharp increase in demand for online consultations and telehealth solutions. However, multiple barriers need to be addressed to support sustainable adoption of this sector across Europe. Lack of legal frameworks providing clear rules and …

Covid 19 Latest News Startup Nations Standard September 11, 2020 Landmark post-COVID-19 Digital Policies: The EU Startup Nations Standard

On Wednesday, our Director EU policy, Benedikt Blomeyer moderated a panel at the Virtual Ideas Festival about the Startup Nations Standard (SNS). Pēteris Zilgalvis, Head of Unit at DG Connect, Dominic Jacquesson Vice-President Talent at Index Ventures and Liz McCarthy CEO from Scale Ireland joined us to do discuss the potential of the SNS for …

Policy Uncategorized September 3, 2020 What is the EU Startup Nation Standard and how can it boost economic growth?

In March of 2020, as part of the EU’s new industrial strategy for a globally competitive, green and digital Europe, the European Commission announced the EU Startup Nation Standard. At Allied for Startups we are thrilled that the Commission had listened to startup communities calls to make startups central to EU policy making.  While we …

platforms September 1, 2020 The potential of gig workers for the economic recovery

COVID-19’s accelerating impact on the digital transition provides an opportunity to assess the potential and direction of gig workers for the economic recovery.   The COVID-19 pandemic is having a stimulating impact on the platform economy. It has challenged the way we work and live. Some sectors, such as edtech and the so-called gig economy, grew …

Startups August 21, 2020 Celebrating entrepreneurs: innovation powers our societies 

Happy World Entrepreneurs Day! Every 21st of August the world celebrates innovation and the empowerment of entrepreneurs across the world as well as the advancements they have brought to our societies. At Allied for Startups we also want to celebrate this important day by shedding light into to the important work and value that entrepreneurship …