Cutting-edge technologies may have a beneficial impact, including in terms of enhanced security and democracy. Yet, distinctive elements of the current technological era, such as the raising role of private actors and the growing automation, challenge traditional legal categories and raise new regulatory concerns. International and EU law are continuously confronting with a whole array of new issues, which call into question their effective capability to adapt to a dynamic World. Whereas practice shows that the spectrum of relevant legal issues is constantly growing, this Panel intends to provide a broad overview of the main emerging trends, by accommodating papers that tackle different technologies (Internet, drones, autonomous weapons systems, databases) and apply different legal perspectives. The aim is that of identifying real normative gaps, which cannot be filled by somehow stretching or reshaping the existing legal rules, but rather call for a proactive role of Public Law.