In a world where digital increasingly comes first, tech superpowers are those everyone will be listening to, and the EU is now being put to the test of whether it could and would stand amongst them, Cristian Gherasim writes.
The world we live in is getting more complex by the minute, and the image of a global superpower is no longer synonymous with swarms of soldiers armed to the teeth or conquered swaths of land or peoples under one’s control.
More than ever, power is about handling data, communications, exchanging information, and becoming more connected.
Modern wars are fought as much online as they are on the battlefield.
More so, what used to be resources such as oil or minerals pitting nations against each other is now more about tech infrastructures, the know-how in accruing and managing information, and innovation.
Take, for instance, Taiwan, the small island nation at the heart of the US and China’s locking of horns. It is by no means a resource-rich country.
In fact, it is where most of the chips and semiconductors are manufactured — and that could be enough to make it the new centre of the world.
Nations that will have a say in tomorrow’s world — or rather, the ones that matter — now must keep tech, telecom, and data infrastructure at the top of the list of priorities to constantly nurture and develop.
The fact of the matter is that Brussels is lagging behind
In a US vs China-dominated world, technology will make or break nations and alliances, and the European Union is in no flattering position, even when it comes to the most basic infrastructure.
For instance, back in January 2022, the European Court of Auditors said EU members should step up efforts to deploy 5G, given how the next big leap in mobile networking has been lagging in some member states.
Source: Euronews