Digital innovation and emerging technologies are transforming the foundations of economic development and well-being globally, underscoring the need for societies to adapt to this shift. In this context, policymakers and regulators play a key role in creating frameworks that facilitate full integration in the digital age.
Continuing the series of trends we started in 2023 And 2024we invite you to discover the the 8 main problems for 2025 in the area of public policies related to technology and telecommunications:
1. Competitiveness, sustainability, energy and digital autonomy
2025 will be a key year for testing Europe’s implementation of the policies announced in terms of competitiveness, sustainability and autonomy. In 2024, Letta And Draghi advocate in their reports a new industrial strategy for Europe, highlighting its lag in terms of innovation and competitivenessand showing telecommunications And digital innovation and defense as key areas to improve productivity, resilience and the integration of the single market.
Based on their recommendations, the European Commission 2024-2029 emphasized in his mission letters a roadmap for strengthening Europe’s technological capacity And revitalize your industrywith the single market as a central pillar. To this end, Europe should prioritize the creation of a favorable environment for investment, innovation and the diversification of strategic partners in difficult geopolitics.
In the digital domain, the mandates of Henna Virtues, Therese Ribera And Valdis Dombrovskis will be the key. Their priorities, that the European technology sector welcomes with optimism, in particular the simplification of regulation, the promotion of innovation and investment in very high-speed networks and emerging technologies such as AI and cloud computing, as well as the creation of conditions enabling enable businesses to grow and operate in a secure and resilient digital environment. In this context, mobilize investments for sustainable digital transition could benefit green finance And taxonomy.
In 2025, the EU will engage in a pact which combines competitiveness, sustainability, energy and digital autonomy, guaranteeing resilience, well-being and growth beyond 2030.
2. Towards a balanced connectivity ecosystem
Digital innovation and growing demand for data have transformed connectivity into a connectivity ecosystem. This ecosystem includes a wide range of players, beyond telecoms, and interconnected elements that facilitate communication between devices, fixed and mobile networks, satellitesdata centers, submarine cablesas well as platforms and applications.
Interdependence and cooperation between the different actors are and will be essential. These actors will have to work together to build a common future based on more resilient and advanced digital infrastructures. This gives rise to concept of 3C networks: Connected, Collaborative and IT. Service virtualization and migration to the cloud are at the heart of this transformation, for greater flexibility and efficiency. Open the gateway’s apificationmodel, also illustrates this change.
Operators, as the main investors, will remain essential to achieve the objectives Objectives of the digital decade 2030notably thanks to the development of spectrum policies, including middle bands and the 6 GHz bandwhile ensuring policies that enable investments and enable their economic sustainability. However, the entry of new players has enriched the ecosystem, but has also generated regulatory challenges, particularly in terms of fair competition, interoperability and technological sovereignty, which will have to be addressed.
3. Refocus policies: simplification, consolidation and regulatory certainty
Competitiveness is a key priority for 2025, which will require a profound and strategic overhaul of the regulatory and competitive framework. In Europe, this must materialize in a law on digital networks with a holistic view that, in addition to simplify regulationsled innovation – faced with the paradoxes of regulating the open internet, encourages investmentand addresses artificial imbalances. Regulatory certainty will be key in Latin America, as well as greater regulatory flexibility and efficiency, with examples such as A2P Messaging.
Market structures must be able to adapt to competitive challenges. Even if in Europe, the Commission missed an opportunity in the Fusion Orange/Más Móvilhe now has the possibility of adapt to a new dynamicto develop a competition policy an instrument to promote European competitiveness in a new pact for competitiveness, competition and consumer well-being.
4. The rise of cybersecurity and resilience
Improve cybersecurity and resilience, or continuity of servicewill be essential in 2025 in the face of increasing digitalization, technological sophistication, including the use of AI, and geopolitical tensions. Companies will need to integrate standards, adapt to multiple certifications and protect supply chain security because incidents increasingly transcend company boundaries. Responsibility for cybersecurity already extends to the board level and could have a high financial impact.
Protection of critical infrastructureincluding the 5G network securitywill be central. Reliable telecom operators are key players cybersecuritydue to their infrastructure, capabilities and reach. However, their contribution will depend on ensuring their economic viability.
In 2025, Europe will face a complex regulatory framework, a multitude of acronyms, including NIS2, DORA, CRA, CSA and CER. Europe faces the challenge of simplificationprioritizing international standards, proportionality, consistency, efficiency and coordination between authorities and with businesses. In addition, it will need to strengthen the industrial base through investment, training, cybersecurity culture, specialized talent and strengthened international cooperation against global cybercrime.
Latin America, with less maturity in regulations and business practices, can move forward by following examples such as Chile, which addressed the framework law on cybersecurity in 2024as well as drawing on international best practices.
5. New technologies: towards the era of AI and quantum computing
THE development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its adoption by businesses across all sectors will continue to be the focus of technology and public policy in 2025, when certain regulations, such as the European AI law, begin to be implemented. The challenge will be to combine the promotion of technological innovation with social responsibility and the deployment of a balanced competitive frameworkincluding the development of standards.
Emphasis will be renewed on augmented realityprogress in virtualization, cloudification, andapification, as well as the use of AI to the networks of the futurethe start of the development of 6G and the anticipation of the resilience of networks with quantum secure technologies. And the interest in quantum technologies will increase in 2025.
6. From the digital divide to creating an inclusive digital environment
Digital inclusion is not only a technological challenge, but also a human one. Closing the coverage gap is essential, but just as fundamental is closing the usage gap, in order to take full advantage of the potential of the technologies available to society.
While initiatives such as network sharing in regions such as Latin America have been critical to closing the coverage gap, particularly in rural areas, the digital divide may persist in the form of a usage gap. Mobile from coverage gap to utilization gap It will be necessary to rethink public policies in favor of digital inclusion in order to encourage demand, adoption and use of digital technologies.
This development will require a global approach which combines infrastructure, digital education and inclusive policies, directing the debate towards the promotion of initiatives favoring an inclusive digital environment. In other words, an approach that responds to the digital divide, particularly that of uses, and integrates all players in the digital economy: individuals, businesses of all sizes, public institutions, entrepreneurs and employees.
7. Trust and digital well-being
The growing importance of trust and digital well-being suggests that in 2025, policies will need to be reoriented towards a holistic approach that protects not only users, but also society as a whole in the digital environment.
As technology advances, its impact on key areas of daily life such as education, health or employment increases, increasingly affecting well-being. Therefore, the challenge of achieving safe and reliable digital inclusion will depend on policies that close usage gaps, addressing key issues for well-being such as data protectiondisinformation, cybercrime, the fight against fraud, the development of digital identity, the ethical use of emerging technologies such as AI or protection of minors.
Last, investing in connectivity means investing in well-beingbecause the deployment of very high-speed networks, as a basis for social and economic development, facilitates digital inclusion and the digitization of services, including public services, as well as new technologies that improve the quality of services or create new innovative use cases across industries. for the benefit of society.
8. Digital governance in a complex geopolitical environment
2024 was an election year, with significant changes that will affect 2025, the start of which will coincide with the start of a new political cycle in the EU and the United States, in a complex geopolitical environment. THE transatlantic relationship and new agreements like the EU-Mercosur will be key to addressing global challenges such as digitalization and sustainability, promoting shared values as well as technological leadership and diversification.
In 2024, international forums like the OECD Global Technology Forum and the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly stressed the importance of common standards for technological development without fragmentation. For its part, the United Nations Summit on the Future, through the integration of Global digital compact in the Future Pact, commits to strengthening multilateralism and advocating for an inclusive and sustainable digital future. Likewise, events such as WSIS+20THE IGF and the B20 highlighted the importance of bridging divides and building a more connected, equitable and collaborative global future.
The development of new technologies such as AI and the issue of resilience pose challenges in the development of ethical global governance and balanced and interoperable regulations.