CIPIL Evening Seminar: 'Understanding Digital Platform Regulation in the EU and Implications for National Implementation'

Speaker: Dr John Dooley

Abstract: The rise of the digital economy is one of the defining features of the 21st century. Over the last twenty years, the digital economy, driven primarily through the large digital platforms, that have been largely unregulated to date, has brought enormous economic and societal benefits. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this trend by making digital platforms central to the global economy and society and highlighting further opportunities, but importantly too, risks and threats. Digital platforms, representing the increasingly important and maturing online platform economy, are now being described as critical infrastructure and even utilities. Digital platform policy and particularly the future regulation of the large far reaching dominant platforms is a major focus of the EU as part of the response to the Covid-19 crisis.   The literature on platform regulation highlights that two major themes emerge concerning digital platform regulation, and that consequently are the focus for their future regulation: competition and online content. I provide a significant contribution to the nascent but growing academic and professional literature in these areas through a critical analysis of and reflection on emerging digital platform regulatory practices being proposed under the groundbreaking EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act package. This includes assessing implications for national implementation, regulatory enforcement, and governance. A particular emphasis is put on the Digital Services Act where there is less literature, knowledge, and experience on how to best regulate online content. In this context, I provide insights into how Ireland, where many of the large platforms are established and so is the de facto regulator, is dealing with regulatory implementation issues driven by the EU.    

Biography: Dr John Dooley is an experienced public policy advisor and practitioner, with particular expertise in enterprise and economic policy, regulation and governance at national, EU, OECD, and international levels. He has a senior leadership career in both the public and private sectors, including at the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy where he was Head of UKRI Strategy and Organisation Design.  He led the highly successful Irish negotiations on the ground-breaking EU Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts, through establishing and chairing a new cross government inter departmental group to optimise outcomes as well as developing and influencing key relationships with the European Commission and likeminded Member States at EU level and the tech sector. He led Regulatory Impact Assessments for the Acts leading to Government backing for the establishment of the new Digital Services Coordinator Regulator. His Doctorate research work in the area was a key contributor to this success.  Following degrees in natural sciences at Trinity College Dublin, John had a successful senior leadership private sector career in research, development and technical management at multinational companies including BP, Henkel Loctite, and Intel Corporation. His public policy roles have been in research and innovation policy, digital economy policy, single market policy, and economic resilience policy.

Followed by drinks in G24.

Please note this event is in-person only and will not be recorded.