Data access and re-use are crucial for competition and innovation in the data economy and will play a key role in the economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. However, legal uncertainty surrounding rights and obligations with regard to data is a major obstacle for the uptake of a well-functioning data economy. This legal uncertainty stems from the special characteristics of data, which deviate from the characteristics of real property, goods, or intangible assets that were typically in the focus of the law governing trades in commerce in the United States and in Europe.

To tackle this legal uncertainty, the European Law Institute together with the American Law Institute have joined forces and developed the ALI-ELI Principles for a Data Economy, which set out rules tailored for data transactions and data rights. The Principles come right in time, especially when looking at European developments in the field where the European Commission is currently elaborating on the concrete content on its Data Act, which is foreseen to be published in Q4 2021.

Due to the approval of the Principles and the recent developments on rules for data transactions not only by the European Union, but also by various other states and international institutions, the project team organised the

Principles for a Data Economy Conference 2021 on 18^th and 19^th October 2021.

At the two-day conference the ALI-ELI Principles for a Data Economy were presented by the project team and discussed with experts and stakeholders from all over the world. Due to COVID-related restrictions, the conference will took place online.

The conference programme as well as recordings of each individual session can be accessed and downloaded here.