The underuse of personal data and of the related data-driven technologies represents a serious problem, namely, that which economists dub as their opportunity costs, the costs human societies pay for not using personal data and data-driven technologies, or using them far below their full potential. Whereas, in 2020, the European Parliament denounced such underuse as a major threat, several initiatives of the Commission, e.g. the Data Governance Act, intend to tackle the phenomenon, by providing a regulatory framework for novel data intermediaries, data-sharing infrastructures and by encouraging the sharing of data for commercial and altruistic purposes. The aim of the panel is to shed light on these initiatives and how they relate to principles and provisions of the GDPR.
• What triggers the underuse of personal data and of the related data-driven technologies?
• What are the fields in which such underuse is more threatening?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of current EU policies against the underuse?
• How could we improve these policies?
