View from Europe
The latest report on European innovation calls for bold action if R&D is going to help sustain the regional economy
There’s been much public soul-searching in Europe as governments try to modernise their economies while protecting standards of living and social values. Politicians want more R&D and innovation in Europe, but this is difficult when market forces are enticing large companies abroad and smaller companies find it hard to grow.
Esko Aho, the former Finnish Prime Minister, has been working on the issue. The resultant report, Creating an Innovative Europe, has just been sent to European science and research commissioner Janez Potoçnik. Its authors, who include EIRMA member Professor Luke Georghiou as rapporteur, go to the heart of the challenge: how does Europe focus on the things it does well, in order to create the large, coherent markets for innovative products and services that will help sustain the European economy? The report recognises the importance of R&D as a tool, but emphasises the importance of R&D productivity and views the level of investment as an indicator of success, rather than the objective.
The Aho report is ambitious. It calls for broad and coherent action on regulation, procurement, standards, intellectual property and the culture of innovation. Some key markets are identified: e-health and pharmaceuticals; energy and the environment; transport and logistics; security and digital content. The opportunities are clear but so are the challenges.
Achieving more productive R&D today depends upon greater excellence in science, adequate industrial R&D and substantial improvements at the interface between science and industry. These improvements require targeted and more mobile resources; effective venture-capital mechanisms; a better flow of knowledge; more productive involvement of academics in innovation; and recognition of the slipstream effect that sustains small firms in the wake of larger companies.
The report builds on current initiatives, such as efforts to create Technology Platforms and form a European Research Council. It also calls for a paradigm shift that preserves European values in a new social structure, and for a Pact for Research and Innovation among political, business and social leaders to drive this agenda forward. EIRMA’s work on Responsible Partnering is mentioned explicitly, as well as arguments for greater R&D effectiveness already discussed in Innovation Quarterly.
The Aho initiative will stand or fall on its call for a paradigm shift and an Innovation Pact. Will enough people see sufficient value in working towards these goals, or will the realities of their day-to-day activities in the face of seemingly overwhelming global forces and self-interest continue to derail Europe’s progress towards a knowledge-led economy?
The trap lies in forgetting that people in established middle-management positions need to be persuaded that this is the right way forward. If executives believe their careers are based on being good at doing things in one way, it will be difficult for them to start working in another. They will prefer to believe that someone else must change first, despite the fact that they are being asked to lead change.
The Aho report requires that firms apply the tenets of open innovation more effectively here in Europe than elsewhere. This means finding truly effective models of working together, including with public bodies, based on trust and common goals. It requires a willingness to concentrate efforts into leading scientific teams and economic activities, which in turn means accepting that European instruments like the Framework Programme cannot be about sharing out the funding evenly.
It is much easier for small communities to agree on such matters than large ones, which is partly why countries such as Finland, Ireland, Israel and Singapore have been so successful. The challenge today is to translate their success to the European scale, revitalising the European experiment and thereby achieving the economies of scale, large markets, and consistency of regulation that are essential if innovation is going to help maintain Europe’s economic success.
Andrew Dearing
Secretary general, EIRMA
adearing@eirma.asso.fr
doi:eiq-2006-007-0003
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