The European Union is reportedly looking to bolster technological development in the region with a planned $177 billion investment war chest.<\/p>\n
According to Bloomberg, EU officials plan to fund direct investments in areas like blockchain, data infrastructure, 5G, and quantum computing, among others.<\/p>\n
The planned $177 billion investment fund is about 20% of the 750 billion euros ($887 billion) stimulus package agreed upon by EU leaders back in July 2020 to kickstart economic recovery amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stressed the importance of investing in digital technology for the entire region.<\/p>\n
Indeed, part of the investment fund will go towards the manufacture of low-power processors as EU officials seek to prevent a recurrence of the semiconductor shortage that affected several industries worldwide.<\/p>\n
While the EU has revealed its focus areas for the $177 billion technology investment fund, there is no information on the amount to be invested in each sector.<\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>Survey finds Europeans want home countries to regulate crypto, not EU<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Earlier in September, the Iota Foundation, along with six other companies, was chosen to support the early-stage development of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure \u2014 an EU-wide distributed ledger technology project.<\/p>\n Back in April 2019, the EU launched the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications, which is tasked with supporting and promoting DLT adoption in the region.<\/p>\n Indeed, blockchain has been identified as one of the more important emerging technologies that could shape Europe\u2019s future. Because of this, EU officials are pushing for region-wide legal standards to prevent regulatory fragmentation.<\/p>\n However, a recent survey has indicated that a majority of Europeans prefer national regulations for crypto and blockchain rather than a European regulatory standard for the emerging industry.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the EU and the United States may soon begin to collaborate in the area of drafting standards for crypto and blockchain regulation.<\/p>\n