EUROPE: R&D wake-up call from European Commission

If the European Union wants to become the world leader in information and communication technologies as it frequently asserts, it should not expect to do it for nothing. As a start, the 27 EU member states should at least double their investment in ICT - both public and private - over the next 10 years, says the European Commission, the EU's executive, in launching a new ICT research and innovation strategy.

Member governments should share strategies and better coordinate resources to ensure research and innovation take place on the cutting edge, in first-rate facilities, on technologies such as embedded electronic devices and software for safe and clean cars - fields with a significant socio-economic impact driving innovation, the commission says.

In its strategy paper, the commission urges member states to set up new public-private partnerships for ICT-based solutions that are competition and innovation friendly, which would see universities and pubic research bodies linking with high-tech businesses.

"ICT research and innovation should be integrated into EU policy areas such as health, energy and transport with more collaboration between users and producers," it says. "A set of pan-European projects will showcase innovative ICT solutions, for modernising public services such as ICT for chronic disease management and a pan-European electronic ID infrastructure."

As background to the appeal for new investment, the commission notes that while Europe has 34% of the global ICT market, the value-added produced by the EU's ICT sector amounts to only 23% of the total because Europe's market and research efforts are fragmented.

As a result, "Europe is lagging behind its global competitors in ICT research and in the production of innovative ICT-based products and services".

This is a familiar complaint and the picture has not changed much in the past 10 years, in spite of constant exhortation by Brussels. There is a need for a significant culture change on the part of European businesses in their attitude towards research and development investment but, if it is happening, it is doing so very slowly indeed.

alan.osborn@uw-news.com