Europe is seriously lagging behind the US and China in the global technology competition.
This is the conclusion of a new report from the Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV), which tests Europe’s innovation muscle in 10 critical technology areas.
The report’s findings are discussed today at Technological Summit.
Technological development and innovation have become crucial for nations’ competitiveness, security and ability to adapt to a world with major climate changes.
In a new report, the Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV) maps the global technology competition within 10 technology areas which, the EU Commission has assessed, are critical for the EU countries’ competitiveness and security.
The figures reveal strong, global growth in research and innovation driven primarily by the US and China, while Europe, in all areas, is falling further and further behind.
The report measures i.a. on the share of global quality patents, with China currently dominating in all 10 areas. It is also measured by the number of patents per research publication, which is a measure of how good a region is at translating research into commercial products.
The report confirms the picture that the so-called Draghi report also paints. The EU’s ability to commercialize research has gone too slowly in a world where technological development is progressing rapidly. A development that threatens Europe’s competitiveness, security and sustainable development.
Technology strategies are on the rise – what about Denmark?
Global developments have led to security of supply, economy and defense being at the top of the political agenda. Today, these are areas that rhyme with technological development and innovation, which has developed into a technology race between the countries.
In the EU, several member states have started to develop technology strategies to build capacity in critical technology areas. In the UK they are already in the process of rolling out their technology strategy, the Netherlands has just come out with theirs, while Sweden is in the process of defining and developing a strategy for technologies critical to Sweden.
ATV has long pointed to the need for Denmark to also have a technology strategy. Already in 2020, ATV documented with the report “The world’s leading tech regions” that Denmark is losing competitiveness in its areas of strength and needs to gear up for technological innovation. The academy’s latest report underlines the seriousness.
“We believe it is crucial that Denmark deals with the technologies that are critical for Danish competitiveness, security and resilience. We therefore recommend that Denmark draw up a national technology strategy that ensures cooperation across relevant political areas,” says ATV’s academy director Lia Leffland.
The report’s findings will be discussed today at the academy’s annual conference, the Technological Summit.
Source: it-kanalen.dk
