This panel will look at how Europe can move beyond the phase of rule‑making to focus on building the foundations of global competitiveness and tech sovereignty.

It will explore how simplification can serve as a catalyst for scaling European innovation, creating market conditions that support the development of a sovereign technology stack.

With global competition intensifying and European technologies still facing barriers to scale, the discussion will consider how to turn a simplified regulatory environment into a springboard for sustainable growth, resilience, and leadership.

The Data Act entered into force on 12 September 2025 but its implications for SMEs in the aftermarket remain complex. This panel brings together leading voices from industry, policymakers, and academia to examine how the legislation will shape data access rights, competition dynamics, and innovation opportunities for small businesses.

The Data Act gives SMEs the ability to port data to third parties, shields them from unfair contractual terms, and ensures that data sharing happens on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The Act also requires cloud providers to eliminate lock-in practices and enable switching through open standards.  This is an important step toward levelling the playing field and enabling innovation across sectors for companies of all sizes, and particularly SMEs.

Strong enforcement is essential. National authorities must be properly resourced and empowered to oversee compliance and take action when needed. SMEs require legal certainty and practical guidance to assert their rights effectively. Coming on the heels of the Data Union Strategy, the discussion will explore practical implementation challenges and real-world opportunities for SMEs seeking to compete in data-driven markets.

In the context of a fragile geopolitical landscape worldwide, cybersecurity has become a fundamental asset to preserve the innovative capacity of digital solutions.

Relevant EU digital laws in the area of cyber, such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), introduce requirements for manufacturers placing on the market products with digital elements. However, SMEs face unique challenges in meeting cybersecurity obligations due to limited resources, expertise, and capacity.

This panel will discuss how public authorities can better support SMEs through targeted funding, accessible training programs, and practical implementation guides, while also  incorporating SME feedback. The discussion will explore harmonization efforts under the Digital Omnibus, the development of SME-tailored guidance for secure digital products, and the role of standards in enhancing cyber resilience, facilitated via ad hoc initiatives such as Cyberstand and through the use of SME-specific resources, such as the open-source OCCTET toolkit.

The panel will examine practical pathways for European SMEs to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and contribute to a more resilient digital ecosystem.

Europe’s ambition to build a sovereign tech stack depends on empowering its homegrown innovators to scale. This panel examines the critical policy levers needed to transform promising European start-ups and SMEs into global tech leaders.

Europe’s ambition to build a sovereign tech stack depends on empowering its homegrown innovators to scale. This panel examines the critical policy levers needed to transform promising European start-ups and SMEs into global tech leaders. Against the backdrop of the European Commission’s Startup and Scale-up Strategy, speakers will tackle persistent challenges around access to finance, regulatory fragmentation, and the barriers that prevent European innovators from competing on equal footing with international giants.

Blending policy vision with on-the-ground entrepreneurial experience, the discussion will explore how to unlock growth capital, streamline cross-border expansion, and create an ecosystem where European tech companies can thrive at home before conquering global markets. This is a conversation about turning Europe’s innovative potential into market reality—building the infrastructure, funding mechanisms, and policy frameworks that allow our start-ups and SMEs to become the backbone of a truly European tech stack.

Standards are a cornerstone of Europe’s competitiveness, particularly in the digital and ICT sectors. For SMEs in particular, standards act as a bridge to new opportunities, helping them innovate, scale, and compete internationally. Yet when standards arrive too late, are difficult to access, or shaped without SME input, they risk becoming barriers instead of enablers. Competitiveness is therefore not only about developing new technologies quickly, but also about participating in the frameworks that govern them.

The ongoing review of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 presents an important opportunity for the European Union to enhance the flexibility, inclusiveness, and transparency of its standardisation system. Hence, SBS ICT Forum will explore how these goals can be best achieved in practice, ensuring that digital SMEs are better represented and able to fully contribute. By seizing this moment, Europe can strengthen its global role as a standard-setter for the most innovative technologies while supporting the competitiveness and innovation potential of its smaller enterprises.

The panel aims to explore practical ways to enhance competitiveness, foster digital innovation, and ensure that European ICT SMEs can fully benefit from a system that supports their growth and global engagement.

Public procurement accounts for over 14% of the EU’s GDP, representing one of the most powerful levers to influence market demand. Yet, Europe’s procurement frameworks often struggle to translate this potential into opportunities for homegrown digital innovation. SMEs frequently face barriers to participation and most public authorities, including EU institutions, continue to rely excessively on a handful of technology providers. In the digital sector, the public sector has the potential to act as an anchor customer for the domestic tech industry.

This panel will examine how the upcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives can create better market access for innovative European solutions. It will explore what the current rules lack, how innovative procurement approaches can help European technologies scale, and how local, national, and EU-level buyers can work together to strengthen the demand side of Europe’s tech ecosystem.

The discussion will consider what practical steps—ranging from Buy European clauses to streamlining procedures—can turn procurement into a driver of Europe’s digital competitiveness and sovereignty.

Europe’s ambition to emerge as a full-fledged Tech Continent hinges on more than robust regulation. With the landmark AI Act already in force, and the voluntary General-Purpose AI (GPAI) Code of Practice finalised, Europe has laid a strong normative foundation with global influence.

The AI Continent Action Plan shifts attention from rulemaking to building capacity and scale through five strategic pillars. It builds on ambitious investment frameworks such as InvestAI and new capacity-building proposals like the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act.

Despite these efforts, Europe remains behind leading AI hubs. This panel will interrogate whether current investment, compute, talent, and innovation support measures are sufficient to close the gap with U.S. and Chinese rivals; how EU-wide infrastructure and data labs can accelerate development; and how Europe’s trustworthy regulatory framework can become a competitive advantage.

The discussion will also explore how demand-side measures can drive scale and reinforce a sovereign technological stack. Speakers will finally unpack how growing networks of SMEs and professional providers can operationalise these policies to secure Europe’s position in the global AI race.