Programme - Annual Research Conference 2025

(GASP, floor 2 and live streaming) - Recording

Maarten Verwey, Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

Bernard Magenhann, Director-General at the Joint Research Centre, European Commission

(GASP, floor 2 and live streaming) - Recording

Philippe Aghion, Innovation, growth and AI - INSEAD, Special Committee on AI, Nobel prize winner in economics 2025

Q&A

Session 1 – Data/information as a factor shaping the economy 

(MANS, floor 0 and live streaming) - Recording

This session will examine the characteristics of data as a production factor, which is particularly significant for the advancement of AI-based services. Data being non-rivalrous, value can be derived from data by parties other than those who initially created or collected it. However, the rapid expansion of digital data has prompted policymakers to implement data-market regulations that are not always consistent across jurisdictions. 

Key issues to cover in this session are therefore the anticipated economic impacts of utilising data as an economic factor and designing rules that optimise the efficient use of data. 

Speakers:

• Irene Bertschek, Unleashing Productivity Growth in the Age of Digitalisation; evidence from German SMEs - Professor, Justus Liebig University Giessen
• Max Schaefer, When should we expect non-decreasing returns to scale in prediction tasks? - Associate Professor, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School
• Rosa Ferrer, Targeting Viewer’s Heterogenous Ad Aversion; evidence from a two-Sided Market - Associate Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
• Reinhilde Veugelers, EU Digital Innovation and Adoption at the current juncture - Professor, KU Leuven and Bruegel

Moderated by: Nestor Duch Brown, Team Leader, JRC. T1, European Commission

Session 2 – Policy for innovation 

(JENK, floor 0 and live streaming) - Recording

In recent years, the scope of innovation policy has widened to include a more explicitly directional and regulatory focus. The EU is facing well documented innovation challenges, for example lags in the development and adoption of AI. Given AI's role as both an innovation driver and a transformative tool for other sectors, this gap jeopardises the EU's ability to meet its broader innovation objectives. 

Key issues to cover in this session include designing support for AI innovation ecosystems, upscaling and diffusion, and AI’s interaction with social and environmental policy goals. 

Speakers:

• Georges Cavalier, Towards a European Framework for “Innovation Tax Incentives”; Fostering AI development through conceptual coordination- Associate Professor, University of Lyon
• Jennifer Hunt, Is distance from innovation a barrier to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence? - Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University and CEPR
• Lars Hornuf, Regulatory Competition in the Age of AI - Professor, Dresden University of Technology
• Pia Andres, Direct Technological Change and General Purpose Technologies: Can AI Accelerate Clean Energy Innovation? - Assistant Professor, Durham University and London School of Economics

Moderated by: Lukas Vogel, Deputy Head of unit, ECFIN.B2, European Commission

Session 3 – Understanding the productivity impact of digitalisation and AI 

(GASP, floor 2 and live streaming) - Recording

Will AI, as a new general-purpose technology, introduce a new wave of technological revolution? There is still considerable disagreement among economists about the potential productivity impact of AI, reflecting different views about the scope of its application as well as measurement issues related to intangible inputs. The growth and impact of AI will also depend on the availability of digital skills, software, big data and advanced IT hardware. 

Key issues for this session include evidence of productivity gains due to AI, its impact on large vs small firms, on firms at the technological frontier and firms lagging behind, innovation diffusion and technology adoption.

Speakers: 

• Flavio Calvino, AI and productivity; The role of human and technological capital - Senior Economist, OECD
• Dirk Czarnitzki, The productivity effects of generative AI: a first look -  Full professor, KU Leuven
• Fabrizio Dell’Acqua, The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI and Teamwork - Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard Business School
• Cecilia Jona Lasinio,  AI as an Innovation in the Method of Innovation: Implications for Productivity Growth in the US and Europe - Professor, Luiss Business School

Moderated by: Lara Vivian, Economic Analyst, ECFIN.B2, European Commission

Session 4 – The impact of digital technologies on the labour market 

(JENK, floor 0 and live streaming) - Recording

This session will examine the complex ways in which digital technologies influence the labour market. Beyond skills-based technological change, this session will discuss recent trends such as digital monitoring and algorithmic management. A central focus will be the interplay between technological advancements and traditional labour market structures, particularly in the context of preserving the EU’s social model while enhancing digital competitiveness.

Key questions include the interplay between digital transformation, inequality and worker protections, the implications of digital monitoring and algorithmic management, and balancing flexibility and security in the context of platform work and beyond. 

Speakers:

• Andrew Watt, Impact of Digital Technologies on the Labour Market – better with workers’ voice - Director-General, European Trade Union Institute
• Uma Rani, Human cogs in the AI machine: Experiences of data annotation and content moderation workers in the BPO sector in India and Kenya - Senior Economist, International Labour Office
• Laura Nurski, Measuring AI exposure: are we doing it right? - Professor, KU Leuven and Head of Programme, CEPS
• Alessandra Bonfiglioli, Data, Power and Emissions: The Environmental Cost of AI - Professor, University of Bergamo

Moderated by: Emilia Gómez, Team Leader JRC.T3, European Commission