| NOTAS: | This document has been prepared for the European Commission by VVA and Tech4i2
"Measuring volume and trends of cloud based data flows remains a complex and yet sporadic exercise. To date, only a very limited number of studies, targeted to either a specific sector, a geography or a ‘data flow’ type, have tried to map data flows. None of these studies have succeeded in developing a robust, systematic and replicable data collection methodology to identify, map, and monitor data flows in a holistic and aggregated manner. This study, which is part of the European Commission initiative ‘The European Data Flow Monitoring’, provides an innovative and replicable methodology to estimate and monitor the volume and types of data flows within the EU, EFTA countries and the UK. For the purpose of the study, enterprise data flows to cloud and edge data centres are defined as the movement of data from the end user to the data centre in question. One of the core objectives of the study is to support the evaluation of the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data Regulation at macro-economic level with data related to volume and trends in data flows to assess if barriers to data movement have effectively been removed. The second core objective is to deliver on one of the key actions of the European Strategy for Data by making a first attempt to develop the analytical framework for estimating data flows. The framework provides the tools for a continuous analysis of data flows and the economic development of the EU’s data processing sector. It can be used in future to monitor data flow trends across and within the European Union to provide evidence in support of EU policy, trade and investment decisions." |
