Digital Watch Observatory - Digital Governance in 50+ issues, 500+ actors, 5+ processes
Rapid AI development amid geopolitical tensions has raised AI governance concerns, calling for coordinated global approaches to ensure safe use.
Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, is urging households to strengthen payment preparedness amid rising risks tied to geopolitics and high digitalisation. It recommends keeping about SEK 1,000 in cash per adult, holding cards from at least two networks, and maintaining access to mobile payments like Swish, while advising users to keep physical cards and PINs ready in case of outages.
US AI data-centre expansion is being constrained by shortages of power-delivery equipment such as transformers, switchgear and batteries, Bloomberg reports. Despite Big Tech planning over $650bn in AI spending in 2026, nearly half of US data-centre projects may be delayed or cancelled due to grid and component bottlenecks. With domestic supply insufficient, developers are turning to imports, including from China, exposing projects to supply-chain and geopolitical risks.
Microsoft’s Copilot Terms of Use state that the AI is 'for entertainment purposes only' and not for important advice, despite its promotion for productivity and its integration into products like Windows 11. The article notes similar industry disclaimers and argues that automation bias can lead to real-world problems, while companies use such caveats to limit liability even as they market AI as an efficiency boost.
The article argues that a novel’s value extends beyond prose to include premise, plot and character, and notes that authorship has long involved collaboration, citing James Patterson’s high-volume model. It suggests AI will accelerate industrial-scale fiction production, raising transparency concerns over authorship, while also offering tools that could help creators realise a personal vision rather than maximise output.
EUIPO will support Digital Services Act work on counterfeit goods, pirated content, and online intellectual property infringements.
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WSIS+20 Process
The year 2025 marks 20 years since the finalisation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), and a review process looking at 20 years of WSIS outcomes implementation will conclude with a high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), in December. This page keeps track of the process leading to the UNGA meeting in December 2025. It also provides background information about WSIS and related activities and processes since 1998.
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Digital Technologies
From internet applications to quantum computing, we focus on advanced and emerging digital technologies which are increasingly reshaping our economies and societies.
Clusters of Policy topics
We unpack digital policy by exploring over 50 topics – from access and sustainable development to network security and the future of work – classified in 7 clusters.
Processes
Follow some of the most important digital policy processes, from the EU's work on the Digital Services Act/Digital Markets Act to the UN Cybercrime Ad Hoc Committee.