IIC UK Chapter Workshop: A new regulatory regime to promote competition and innovation in digital markets
Chapter event
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The UK is establishing a new regulatory regime for the most powerful digital firms. The goal is to promote greater competition and innovation in digital markets. The framework will be overseen by the Digital Markets Unit, which has already been established in the CMA. The UK government has recently consulted on the detailed design of the framework, and legislation is expected to follow. The detail matters if the ambition is to be realised, so we planned a workshop on this topic. We explored what features the framework should adopt if it is to be effective in opening digital markets to greater competition, adaptable to the different business models of different digital platforms, and not so prescriptive as to constrain innovation.
The event was hosted by Frontier Economics, to whom we are very grateful. This was the first face-to-face event that we have organised since the pandemic started, and we looked forward to having the type of interactive discussion that is difficult to have virtually.
Dr Stephen Unger was until recently a Board member of Ofcom, the UK regulator responsible for digital communications. He had various responsibilities, including setting regulatory strategy for the UK, representing the UK internationally, and leading Ofcom’s technology programme. For a period he was Acting Chief Executive.
Before becoming a regulator Dr Unger spent several years in the private sector. He worked for a variety of high-tech start-ups who were developing and exploiting new wireless technologies.
Dr Unger’s current focus, working as a non-executive board member, consultant, and academic, is on the practical implications of disruptive technology change. He is a member of the IIC Board.
For more background see www.linkedin.com/in/ungersteve. Dr Unger can be contacted at swunger@swunger.com
David Foster is a Director in the competition practice at Frontier Economics, and has worked with Frontier since 2005. He has a wide range of experience advising clients in merger, market investigation and litigation work in front of the EU, UK and other national regulatory authorities. He has particular expertise in Telecoms, Media and Technology, in FMCG and retail, and in public markets and the healthcare sector.
Mr Foster is listed in Who’s Who Legal for competition economics, and has published in the Competition Law Journal. He sits on the Editorial Board of the LexisNexis CompetitionPSL publication, for which he has authored a number of articles on the application of EU Competition Law.
Bio coming soon …….
Bio coming soon ……..
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