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Why Europe needs to take the lead in Secure Multiparty Computing

 

 

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Last week, I had an engaging conversation with Pedro Matthynssens about the importance of AI and the dependency on the availability of good data. I shared with him how, during my time at NGDATA roughly a decade ago, we didn’t have access to Belgian or European datasets to train AI models. Instead, we relied on American datasets, often provided by platforms like Kaggle.com. Even back then, it was clear that there was value in platforms like that – Google bought Kaggle in 2017.  Unfortunately, not that much has changed. Pedro referred to a column he wrote for Trends earlier this year about the PhD thesis of a close friend. That thesis was made based yet again on US data, and that PhD friend will work for a US company. This issue is seriously holding back innovation and causing brain drain. 

 

Taking control 

This issue goes far beyond Pedro’s or my personal experience. It touches on the core of how we deal with data in Europe. The AI leaders, the United States and China, dominate the AI race with big data lakes, often ignoring privacy concerns. Our strict privacy regulations protect citizens but can also hinder decision-making, collaboration, and innovation. We used to say: US innovates, China imitates, and Europe regulates. Unfortunately, while China realized they had to change strategy and is innovating at an incredible pace, Europe has not significantly changed its policy.  

  • Foto blog 3 Frank

    Adequate access to data is essential for enabling innovative AI applications.

At the same time, European organizations sometimes need to rely on platforms from non-European tech giants because they lack the technology and computing power while staying innovative. This way, our data can end up in foreign hands – or, in other words, ‘data is colonized’. 

 

Europe is at a crossroads. Will we continue to depend on external platforms – like Kaggle – and risk further data colonization, or will we take ‘control’? By investing in technologies that allow us to use, analyze, and learn from data from different sources without transferring ownership, we can combat data colonization and ensure that Europe is not just part of the game but is setting the rules. This is where Secure Multiparty Computing (SMPC) and Federated Learning come in. 

 

A Unique Opportunity for Innovation   

While the LLM market is already heavily dominated, the SMPC market remains far less crowded and presents greater opportunities. 

 

Because other regions currently have less need for SMPC and Federated Learning technologies, Europe has the chance to gain an advantage and build unique competencies in this field.  

 

SMPC and Federated Learning enable organizations to collaborate using data without ever sharing or transferring that data between parties. With SMPC technology, data remains with its original owner, but encrypted pieces of it can be used collectively to perform calculations or analyses. Each party only sees the result, not the other parties’ data. Federated Learning, in turn, allows AI models to be trained locally across multiple organizations. Only the learnings (not the raw data) are shared to improve the overall model. 

 

Both technologies prioritize data privacy and ownership, reducing risks while enabling innovation through collaboration.  

 

Europe as a pioneer 

Flanders Technology & Innovation is building a European community of Forward Thinkers that will provide datasets and/or will have access to a platform that uses SMPC and Federated Learning technologies to securely unlock, share, and valorize data. A European Kaggle, so to speak.  

 

We even want to go beyond that. In addition to providing a secure environment, we aim to build expertise and competencies and support innovative companies active in this field. It is a young and complex domain and investing in SMPC and Federated Learning is therefore a long-term endeavor, but the potential impact is enormous. By investing today, we are building a future where Europe is not dependent but leading.

  

Don’t you think it’s high time Europe got back in the driver’s seat of its own future? Not by following, but by pioneering.   

 

Are you convinced? Then check out our community of Forward Thinkers, and help build a strong European data future where we can truly make a difference.