{"id":15369,"date":"2024-07-23T15:34:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T15:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1408707"},"modified":"2024-07-23T15:34:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T15:34:04","slug":"the-global-it-outage-exposed-europes-dangerous-dependence-on-us-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=15369","title":{"rendered":"The global IT outage exposed Europe\u2019s dangerous dependence on US tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a taunt that\u2019s reiterated to the point of clich\u00e9<\/span>: Europe is a good place to start a tech business, but a bad place to scale one up.<\/span><\/p>\n

The causes are contentious<\/a><\/span> but their impact is undeniable. None of the 10 most valuable tech firms<\/a> in the world are in Europe. The US, by contrast, is home to eight of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inevitably, that creates a dependence on digital services from across the Atlantic. Our businesses, our public services, and our critical infrastructure all depend on big tech companies.<\/p>\n

We are all at the mercy of their whims, their weaknesses, and their rulers. When just one of them stumbles, the fall can shake a continent.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

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As we wrapped up our incredible 2024 edition, we’re pleased to announce our return to Amsterdam NDSM in 2025. Registration now!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Last week\u2019s historic IT outage provided a painful example. The global chaos stemmed from a simple software update by Texas security vendor CrowdStrike. It instantly crashed millions of machines running Microsoft Windows. <\/span><\/p>\n

The meltdown soon scorched Europe. Flights were grounded, payments frozen, and operations cancelled. Market trading halted, TV stations went off-air, and government systems flatlined.<\/p>\n

The mayhem was a reminder of big tech\u2019s boundless power. It also exposed the need for European challengers.<\/span><\/p>\n

China\u2019s response to the outage strengthens the case.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The geopolitics of an IT outage<\/h2>\n

As Europe stared into the blue screen of death<\/a>, China largely avoided the torment. The reason? CrowdStrike software hasn\u2019t been widely adopted in the Middle Kingdom. The country instead relies on <\/span>homegrown alternatives<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Russia also largely avoided the disruption. Sanctions have forced the country to develop domestic replacements for US software.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, Europe<\/a> hasn\u2019t come under the same geopolitical pressure as China and Russia. But the continent can still learn from their self-sufficiency. <\/span><\/p>\n

We may not share their enmity with the US, but we\u2019re still engulfed in the tensions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our companies are already ensnared in the hostilities. The most valuable tech firm we have \u2014 Dutch chip giant ASML \u2014 has been blocked<\/a> from selling equipment to China. Europe has also felt the force of tariffs from the White House.<\/p>\n

With another dose of America First protectionism brewing, the need for tech<\/a> sovereignty is growing. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the IT outage showed, our digital infrastructure is already fragile enough. Political developments can turn the cracks into ruins.<\/p>\n

Aron Brand, CTO of data security startup CTERA, described the outage as a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for national security.<\/p>\n

It evidently roused EU politicians. Alex Agius Saliba, an MEP from the Maltese Labour Party, said<\/span> the fallout showed an \u201curgent\u201d need for stronger digital infrastructure. Alexandra Geese, an MEP from the German Greens, called for Europe to build a new IT environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe global Microsoft outage shows how vulnerable a world depending on a handful of tech players is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To escape from that world, Europe will need its own tech giants. <\/span>Building them will require big change in policy, culture, and investing. But the talent<\/a> is already there. The <\/span>innovations <\/span>are emerging<\/span><\/a>. The market is big enough. And the need has never been greater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a taunt that\u2019s reiterated to the point of clich\u00e9: Europe is a good place to start a tech business, but a bad place to scale one up. The causes are contentious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}