Even in their core area of business, companies are tapping into external sources of ideas and capabilities - open innovation  – in a quest for more and the right expertise. The European Commission is in pursuit of something similar but in the area of policymaking, going beyond traditional consultations. How does a 21st century policy framework look that allows us to efficiently, collaborate for future-proof problem solving? This question is at the heart of eBay’s Think 3.0 initiative where we challenge traditional lawmaking applied to innovative markets and services such as the new commerce and payments. 

Commissioner Neelie Kroes calls for the identification of both the right policy processes, such as dialogue and cooperation, and flexible policy solutions, perhaps in the form of industry coalitions and user co-creations. Her unit has launched the idea of a code on good design principles for self- and co-regulatory practices and other multistakeholder actions. This is a welcome initiative stimulating debate through a consultation to which eBay contributed.

Innovation and changing user behavior reinvent commerce and payments almost everyday  -  we now need to reinvent policymaking to match the needs of these 21^st Century markets. Our seminar in Stockholm introduced some novel ideas in this regard. These ideas basically stem from the recognition that, as markets and services are increasingly underpinned by technology, policymakers can learn much from the mindset and mechanisms of developers and techies – being agile, embracing complexity, and tapping into the best placed resources for solving a problem.