The European DIGITAL SME Alliance (DIGITAL SME), Canada’s Digital Governance Council (DGC), and the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) plan to collaborate to ensure that the new European Union (EU)–Canada technological alliance results in concrete commercial opportunities for both sides.
“Canada and Europe have strong ties,” said Keith Jansa, DGC’s chief executive officer, in a joint news release. “The opportunity now is to turn that foundation into deeper commercial cooperation.”
“CCI and our members are determined to turn the renewed EU–Canada partnership into real opportunities for innovators on both sides of the Atlantic,” added Patrick Searle, CCI CEO.
Words from European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, raised the possibility of making Canada the EU’s first associate member during her recent State of the Union address, attended by Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister.
During her speech in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen described the EU–Canada innovation alliance as encompassing artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, cybersecurity, and intelligent manufacturing.
According to von der Leyen, the new alliance seeks to help Canadian and European technology companies venture into new markets, gain customers and partners, and scale the Atlantic through better business relationships and policy conditions.
DIGITAL SME, DGC, CCI’s response
At “ALL IN 2026,” a recent Canadian AI conference, DIGITAL SME, DGC, and CCI attended on behalf of technology companies in Canada and Europe.
In the joint news release, the three organizations emphasized the importance of interoperability, federation, orchestration, open interfaces, and common standards for the strength of the new EU–Canada technological alliance.
According to DIGITAL SME, DGC, and CCI, employing such measures will help ensure a resilient technological base, decreased dependence on any one provider or jurisdiction, and a broader distribution of economic value.
“Together with DIGITAL SME and CCI, we are advancing standards interoperability, stronger business connections and clearer pathways for companies to scale trusted technologies across the Atlantic,” Jansa said in the joint news release.
“By deepening cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cybersecurity and digital trade, we can expand market access, strengthen our shared technological resilience and build globally competitive companies grounded in our common values,” Searle said.
“We fully support efforts by the European Commission and Canada to strengthen our collaboration,” added Oliver Grün, DIGITAL SME’s president. “European companies, particularly digital small and medium-sized enterprises, are ready to contribute their innovations to a shared EU–Canada sovereign technology stack.”
More technology news
Here are some other recent technology-related news stories.
On Sept. 17, the Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) announced the release of the second edition of its national standard on the use of biometrics for authentication.
On July 8, DGSI announced the release of the second edition of its national standard of Canada titled “CAN/DGSI 100-8: Data Governance – Part 8: Framework for Digital Sovereignty.”
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