Major European ICT and media companies including British Telecom, Tele2 and Vivendi Universal have moved in behind the European Commission's i2010 strategy, backing efforts to create a unified regional regulatory framework and pledging to work together to maximise the opportunities of new technology for the community. Following a meeting with the EC this week to discuss how to give a spur to Europe's emerging digital economy, ten industry leaders said that they would support the basic principals of i2010, which calls for "completion of the internal market for electronic communications and media services, for a more modern and flexible legal framework for audiovisual content, for efficient and interoperable digital rights management and for strengthening investment in ICT." The strategy, unveiled by EC information society commissioner Viviane Reding last month, sets a roadmap for ensuring European Union citizens receive the full benefits of new technologies such as 3G, digital television, online music, VoIP and interactive internet services.
When enterprises begin treating AI budget as the line item they protect last when cutting elsewhere, the market has crossed a threshold that analysts rarely name explicitly. That is precisely where Europe now stands. A new forecast from IDC projects European AI spending will reach nearly $470 billion by 2030, expanding at a 35 percent CAGR over the next five years. European enterprises are allocating capital toward AI because the operational returns on cost efficiency, risk mitigation, and resilience are now demonstrable enough to justify sustained budget commitment. The strategic implication is significant: AI has moved from the innovation portfolio into core operational infrastructure. European AI Market Development Generative AI solutions, already embedded across enterprise deployments, are expected to account for more than 55 percent of the total market by the end of the forecast period. Software is both the largest technology segment, at 54.9 percent of total spending in 2026...