Europe's innovation gap: Don Rumsfeld's revenge?
Andy Grove wasn't in the mood to sugarcoat his words. So it was that Intel's then-CEO bluntly told Europe's elites that they were in danger of dooming the next generation to a second class future.
That was 1997. The venue was the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, where Grove was invited to share his views about the impact of technology on society. He didn't waste the moment: in a speech that bordered on turning into jeremiad, Grove warned that Europe was too slow to invest in computing infrastructure and that the continent's work force lacked high-tech skills.
EU innvoation versus the U.S.
(Credit: Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology)At the time, I thought Grove had a lot of chutzpah, but it turned out that his preaching wasn't so far off.
In the latest study of innovation on the other side of the pond, it turns out that Europe continues to lag behind the United States. The good news is that the EU has increased the number of people graduating with degrees (particularly in the fields of engineering and science) while also registering a "strong increase" in broadband and venture capital investments. (Keep in mind, however, that the annual study was finished prior last year's fourth quarter economic meltdown.)
Bottom line: "There has been a continued improvement in the EU's performance relative to the US and a recent improvement relative to Japan. Nevertheless, there remains a significant gap between the EU and these two other regions and there appears to be some slowing down in the catching up with the US in recent years."
Here's where gaps remain, according to the European Innovation Scoreboard, prepared by the Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology:
• International patenting
• Public private linkages
• Numbers of researchers
• Business R&D expenditures
Of course, it's misleading to paint with too broad a brush. When it comes to innovation within the EU, the report found that the leading nations include Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The next tier, which the report dubs "innovation followers" include Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
In third place, the "moderate innovators" include Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Spain
The so-called catching up countries" at the bottom of the EU list include Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Turkey. (Turkey is an associate member of the European Union.)
Charles Cooper has covered technology and business for more than 25 years. Before joining CNET News, he worked at the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie. 
What exactly does this have to do with Donald Rumsfeld?
Or did you use his name solely for the purpose of getting us to read your article?
It's a sad day when you have to use real newsworthy people's names in lies in order to get your product out.
To come back to the subject of the article, yes, Venture Capital is not as developed in Europe as it is here. But why can every French guy lost in the country get a 25 mBytes Internet connection for $40/month? Why is our phone infrastructure so inadequate, why is our railway system so way behind?
As suspect we are not comparing the same things...
I have used Amtrak here for several cross country and interstate trips and will acknowledge that they can be pretty bad but if one gets off of the express trains or main routes in Europe, their trains can alse be pretty grim.
The short, local runs in England can be on some dumps for trains as can those in Germany and Austria. Chech Rep. is not considered a major EU country but I was still suprised to see outhouses at some of the stations on some locals. Viennas' subway is modern, its' trolley is antique. I have had visitors from England give me good comments on the public transportation in Houston, Texas and I didn't even think we had one!
My guess is Europe is doing some things better than us and some things worse. Nearly all European countries are significantly smaller than the U.S. That make country wide broadband , train travel, etc... much cheaper and easier in the long run. Not that we shouldn't focus on some improvement in the U.S. where feasible. If we can get through the next 6 months and get some stimulus into the economy quickly (everyone email your Congressperson and demand that they at least work together on this thing. Not everyone is going to be pleased with every facet of the plan. Inaction will be worse than "less than pefect action" as the recovery after the great depression showed), I think we have good infrastructure plans ahead. Bush didn't break this thing overnight. Obama isn't going to fix it overnight either.
I was recently in the states ..Denver to be exact..just something as paying with a visa in a cab. It took around 20 minutes.. .and the machine he was using looked like a commodore64
normaly in my home country this would take 3 seconds.
as well as going into a corner store we have the option to pay with our cellphone. where he scans a code from the cellphone, of course this is a bit more expensive than paying with cash or visa.
but it is a help if u forgot ur wallet.
(excuse my english, its not my native lang.)
- by eudefender January 24, 2009 3:37 AM PST
- You cannot measure innovation. Innovation means "more patents". Patents are harmful for the functioning of a free market. If Intel criticizes European markets my answer is, go and fix the US patent system first. You are no European company, so leave other nations alone. Go and add to the patent bubble of your own nation.
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