Who would have thought it? Unexpected success of the new Law of the Digital Economy program! We started with formal commitments from five universities: The new supplementary course on legal issues in European and international data law slowly took off in 2024. It quickly became clear that we had reached the limits of our capacity with more than 700 registrations and further inquiries from all over the world. The timing was very good: the European Commission had just adopted the final building block of its new data policy with the AI Regulation. For the first time, we could see the contours of European data law, from the Data Act to the DMA and DA to the Digital Services Act and the Cybersecurity Act. In this extraordinary situation, we decided to set up an additional training course, the only one of its kind in Europe, which deals academically with this new data space and its problems and opportunities. The course extends over two semesters: in the first semester, European media law was taught, i.e. the conventional basics of copyright law, fair trading law and data protection law. Once again, the two-hour lectures will be broadcast via Zoom and YouTube. This will ensure that anyone, including foreign students, can attend the lectures regardless of their location. The lectures are supplemented by comprehensive scripts on data law in English.
The high number of registrations, namely over 700 registrations from all over the world, was completely astonishing for us. Of these, 43% of applications came from the international digital economy, represented primarily by large companies such as Amazon, Google, Deutsche Bank and BASF. 57% of applications came from the university sector itself. Surprisingly, the Münster students were not the main team, but students from Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Austria. All participants were very engaged and eager to discuss, which was particularly beneficial for the external speakers. For example, presentations were given by high-ranking members of the European Court of Justice, the partner universities in Vienna or Lisbon or representatives of stakeholders (such as Bitkom). The students quickly formed groups and exchanged views on the content and beyond. They also took part in local events, for example at Tbilisi State University (TSU) in November and at TSUL Tashkent in 2025. An open-book exam was also held at the end of the winter semester. Using Microsoft Forms, most students were able to test their knowledge of information law very quickly and easily. In the summer, another round of short essays will be held on topics specified or requested by the students.
We will definitely continue. The second round is open for registration from June. So far, we have managed the entire training program without any special funding. In the second round, we will charge a small administrative fee of 200 € from non-student participants, which will cover our costs for proofreading and issuing the relevant certificates and will also partially cover our technical aids and licenses. In any case, the second round will also be recognized for the Master’s course in Technology Law in Georgia. The main wish there is to extend the course to other Caucasian partner universities. We are excited to see what further developments will bring.