Inline Insights

As Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) comes under increased scrutiny by European policymakers, Inline has created a guide to key developments on monitoring, research, infrastructure, and standards impacting the industry.

Innovation in the tech sector is moving at a rapid pace, and the companies driving these innovations are increasingly facing political and regulatory hurdles. A public affairs agency can help companies monitor trends in politics and regulation that may affect their business.

Policy and regulation can have a significant impact on companies in the tech sector, in terms of both their operations and their growth prospects. Keeping abreast of political and regulatory trends will help companies to spot potential threats or opportunities early on.

Jeremy Wright MP has big shoes to fill, succeeding an unquestionably pro-technology Secretary of State for Digital, but might his lack of previous interest in the sector actually be a good thing for the tech industry?

Breaking up big tech has become the argument of choice by those concerned about the concentration of power and the practices of large multinationals dominating the digital sphere. But does it make sense?

MEPs ask thousands of questions to the European Commission each year and during the 2009-2014 term of the European Parliament, over 10,000 questions were tabled. At Inline, our job is to cut through the noise, so here are the five most important questions for the tech sector in 2018.

The world’s youngest leader, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, will take the helm of the Council of the EU in July and the headlines will be dominated by his plans to toughen EU immigration policy. Behind the scenes Austria’s Digital Minister, Margarete Schramböck, will be pushing ahead towards agreement on the Commission’s package of proposals in the digital sector.

As Mark Zuckerberg takes his seat to answer questions for the first time in the European Parliament, it is a good time to take stock of the EU's Digital Single Market Strategy, assess its successes, and consider the new regulations and policy proposals coming from the European Commission.

In a modern world that is churning out technological innovations in sectors that did not even exist 20 years ago, many people will have common conceptions of what constitutes ‘disruptive technology’: the rise of robots, smart cities and self-driving cars. And yet, equally disruptive are the technologies that are developing within sectors that have prospered for centuries.

Another day, another report on artificial intelligence? Not quite. 

Published today, the 180-page volume by the House of Lords’ Select Committee is more than just the latest contribution to the emerging debate about the opportunities and challenges of AI. Led by experienced lawyers such as Baron Clement-Jones and renowned scholars like Lord Anthony Giddens, former director of the London School of Economics, it might well prove influential both in the UK and beyond.

Are large online businesses paying their fair share of tax? This was the question debated on Tuesday 27 March by MPs in Westminster Hall, the small debating chamber in Parliament. 

Prime Minister Theresa May put data protection at the heart of the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU when she delivered her latest set piece Brexit speech on 2 March.

The London Assembly’s Transport Committee has today published ‘Future transport - How is London responding to technological innovation?’

The UK Government has published its long-awaited response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech yesterday to the World Economic Forum in Davos saw her repeat calls for international action to regulate aspects of the tech sector that are disrupting the established economic players and norms.