Europe “lagging behind” in innovation and start-ups

Europe’s competitiveness in innovation and the practical application of scientific research is “lagging behind” the rest of the world, ministers told a conference of European universities on April 23.

“Europe is still reasonably good in science, but it’s really lagging behind in valorising that science in industrial application,” said Michiel Scheffer, president of the board of the European Innovation Council.

“The gap in patents, the gap in start-ups and the gap in unicorns coming out of innovation is even starker.”

Today, Europe accounts of 18% of the world’s innovative output, as compared to 25% some 15 years ago, according to Balázs Hankó, Hungarian minister of education.

The biggest reason for the gap is Europe’s “fermented” and “weak” funding landscape, which must be reinvigorated without compromising European values or losing sight of sociopolitical objectives, said Scheffer.

The European Innovation Council, established in March 2021 under the EU’s Horizon Europe program, was granted €10.1 billion (£8.7 bn) to support “game changing innovations” and the “financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs”.

So far, the EIC has funded around 500 European companies, 90% of which are located within 10kms of a university.

“Existing companies are not going to deliver a [digital] transition in Europe, so we need new ones. Our role [at EIC] is not only to stick with the current ones but to be entrepreneurial and explorative,” said Scheffer.

Scheffer stressed that the instrument should be the “icing on the cake” and that most of the investment in innovation should come from national and regional funding.

“France is probably the country with the best management of regional, national and European [funding]. That’s also the reason why France is doing the best in the system,” said Scheffer, who also pointed to Germany and the Netherlands developing public funds to boost innovation.

In 2021, president Macron announced a major investment program known as ‘France 2030,’ including €13bn for higher education and research-related actions.

“The objective is to encourage the universities to transform their curricula to link it to the wish and needs of the nation,” said Sebastian Chevalier, head of higher education and research strategy at the French ministry of education.

This includes linking higher education more closely with France’s industrial aims and transforming the curriculum for employment opportunities and socioeconomic performance, according to Chevalier.

“We are also encouraging universities to take risks in research and try and open new doors. Some will work, some won’t work, but it’s not a problem. At this moment we are encouraging the risk,” he said.

“We are encouraging universities to take risks in research and try and open new doors. Some will work, some won’t work, but it’s not a problem”

National higher education strategies are being developed across Europe in Hungary, Greece and Latvia, to encourage market-oriented research and boost performance-based economic outcomes, delegates heard.

And yet, “without values, KPIs are empty”, and socioeconomic objectives must not be in opposition to European values, said Scheffer.

“Yes, we have socioeconomic responsibilities, but universities have roles beyond this. They make sociopolitical contributions as well.

“When the European Commission funds projects, we fund them within the framework of European values. So, it’s not an apolitical instrument. It is a political instrument that aims to strengthen Europe’s position as a thought leader.”

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