Michael Kalochristianakis
Electrical and Computer Engineer
home / "is there a need for new technologies?" 
19/9/24 patris.gr
reading Mr Draghi's report on the future of European competitiveness, it is hard not to wonder to what extent the content of the text is, or should be, relevant to our reality. In the current period when inflationary pressures seem to be prevailing, the report begins by setting out from the outset the central theme and the frame of reference, which is none other than the need for growth in Europe and its comparative performance in relation to the two other global economic poles, the United States and China. The period of rapid global growth is almost certainly over, and this is because optimised access to distant markets is more difficult due to the rise of both trade and strategic protectionism. Technology is, according to Draghi, the first and most important factor on which the EU must focus in order to maintain the prospect of a competitive growth rate in the future and thus its social model and living standards. At the same time, technological progress is continuing at an impressive pace and it is not easy to identify factors that could realistically slow it down. In the previous technological period, which was characterised by the unprecedented revolution of the internet and knowledge, the EU probably did not gain the most, especially in terms of productivity growth. Indeed, the productivity gap between the EU and the US is largely explained by the technology sector, according to the report. Only four of the top 50 technology companies are European. Perhaps more strikingly, no company with a market capitalisation of more than EUR 100 billion has been created in Europe in the last 50 years, while all companies with a valuation of more than EUR 1 trillion have been created during this period. According to Draghi, the EU needs to change its focus and concentrate much more on digital technologies. European companies are specialised and mature in more traditional sectors where not only the potential for explosive growth is much smaller but where problems have already started to emerge, with a recent example being the large German car manufacturers. Given the above, in Europe the largest investments in research and development to date have been in traditional sectors rather than in new ones. But as the population declines, the more the dependence of growth on productivity will be catalysed by technology. The problem is that technology does not seem to be able to develop as much as it should in Europe. Although there is no lack of ideas and ambition, the difficulty lies in the intermediate step, namely commercial exploitation. Unfortunately, it seems that innovative efforts are not working in Europe. Also unfortunately the Greek reality could not be less far from this conclusion, in my humble opinion. I will not disagree that the importance of digital technologies has been recognized by the public sector and that there are now policies in place to promote them in society. For example, in the digital transformation bible (2020-2025), digital competences and skills are included as a thematic module in the strategic intervention axes. However, the implementation and enforcement of policies is not what it could be, as can be seen from evidence from the European frameworks on digital competence for citizens (e.g. nationalcoalition.gov.gr) which show that we are rather far from where we would like to be. The issue of skills is perhaps more related to the technological maturity of society in general and the extent to which work efficiency is diffused through technology as well as the prevailing mindset of optimally solving issues with the most appropriate tools. But the innovation that Mr Draghi writes about is or should rather be initiated by professionals, often skilled, or at least by people who are immersed in their work and seek efficiency. The innovation landscape in Greece is recorded by the official management bodies. For example, according to a recent report by EKT (metrics.ekt.gr) on key research and development indicators in our country for personnel and expenditure in 2022, spending in Greece amounted to €3 billion, with businesses contributing around 49% of this. At European level, Greece ranks 13th out of 27 countries in terms of research and development funding intensity. The report specifies for the business sector as well as for higher education, the public sector and the regions. One can look for similar data in the management bodies, but what may be missing may be about quality rather than numbers. Perhaps it is not about activities that may be exploring the frontiers of technology or even science, but about those that offer modern solutions in key areas where there is an immediate productive and creative need. It is rather obvious and self-evident that these points are much more abundant in our country than in the EU and that innovation of this kind needs to find ways to develop and progress. It is also likely that it is probably harder to make progress in a country that does not invest enough in education, less percentage points of GDP than any of the 38 OECD countries, at least.
April, 2004