Industrial data: 80% still asleep. Can Europe wake up in time?
As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economic balance, Europe risks being left on the sidelines. 80% of the industrial data* collected on its territory is never used. Why? Because the European Union is still struggling to establish a clear, effective and attractive framework for promoting its own digital resources. A dangerous paradox at a time when strategic autonomy has become the new nerve of economic warfare. Against this backdrop, the European Commission is preparing a strategic turning point: the Data Union Strategy. An initiative welcomed by industry professionals, but still far from the mark according to Numeum, the French digital trade union.
” If Europe wants to become a world leader, it needs a clear, legible and innovation-oriented course.” – Numeum, in its response to the Commission’s public consultation.
A Europe that collects, but doesn’t use
The conclusion is clear:
. 80% of industrial data collected in the EU is never used.
. Only 25% of European SMEs are actively using AI or data analysis, compared with almost 40% in the U.S. (source: McKinsey).
. The EU accounts for just 10% of the world’s data processing capacity. What about the United States? 53 %.
” There is a Europe that regulates, but not yet a Europe that innovates with data.” – Industry analysis cited by Numeum.
Despite seminal texts such as the Data Act and the Data Governance Act (DGA), companies – especially SMEs – are struggling to make headway. The terrain is minefielded: fragmented rules, vague definitions, limited access to high-quality multilingual data…
Regulatory maze discourages innovation
It’s often the smaller players who get lost in the shuffle:
. What exactly does the notion of “personal data” cover under the RGPD?
. How can we distinguish between usage data from an industrial sensor and commercial data?
. Why doesn’t a French company have the same access to certain public data as a German company?
The current framework does not provide a clear answer to these questions. It hinders cross-border cooperation, discourages sharing, and fosters fears of intellectual property theft or cybersecurity breaches.
Numeum: less complexity, more opportunities for all
To break this deadlock, Numeum, a group of digital professionals, is calling for a break with the past. The union is proposing to simplify the legal framework, harmonize definitions, merge overlapping texts and create unified governance of data on a European scale.
In its official response to the Commission, Numeum proposes an action plan:
– Develop privacy protection technologies (PETs) that enable artificial intelligence to be trained without exposing sensitive data.
– Harmonize and simplify data regulations :
Unify definitions of personal and non-personal data at European level.
Merge certain regulatory texts or principles, such as e-Privacy, with the RGPD, in order to strengthen legal consistency (currently, several European texts redundantly cover the same subjects).
– Revise the Data Act, in particular on:
Data portability in the cloud
The protection of industrial secrets, which may not be sufficiently guaranteed at this stage.
– Support the implementation of recent legislation (in particular the Data Act), which has great potential, but whose provisions have yet to be clarified.
– Massively support the production of synthetic data:
Synthetic data are data artificially generated using algorithms, often artificial intelligence, to reproduce the statistical characteristics of real data. They enable models to be trained or tests to be carried out, while limiting the risks associated with the use of real personal data (respect for privacy, RGPD compliance, etc.). They are particularly useful in sensitive sectors (health, finance, security) or when real data is not readily available.
Encourage the use of cross-border data, while ensuring a sufficient level of confidence in data protection.
– Strengthening AI and data governance:
Clarify roles between different national authorities: CNIL (data protection), competition authorities, cybersecurity agencies, AI supervisory authorities. At present, competences are fragmented and overlapping, which hampers efficiency.
Numeum believes that strategic autonomy should be an issue for all companies, including SMEs, which are at the heart of the European economic fabric. Too often sidelined from major industrial developments, they bear the full brunt of regulatory complexity.
Europe has taken major steps towards establishing a framework based on transparency and trust. It is now essential to ensure that this framework is applied in the field, in a realistic and operational way.
Download Numeum’s full contribution to the public consultation on the Data Union Strategy.
*Industrial data is information generated by machines, sensors, infrastructure or software in production processes. It represents an immense strategic resource. Non-personal, but highly sensitive, it is key to innovation, competitiveness and, above all, to Europe’s ability to determine its own technological trajectories.
