Building the Technological Competences for A European Renaissance
On our computers and smartphones, it is never written “Made in Europe”. The same applies to the social networks, the browsers and the online stores we use. Europeans will rely on foreign IA suppliers for a rather long time. So far, Europe has successfully managed to acquire cutting-edge technologies through its strong integration in the world economy, while the Atlantic political and military alliance has guaranteed that these products would be available also to Europeans. But the landscape has changed. The lack of control over strategic knowledge-intensive activities leads to political and economic fragility. Should the European Union try to generate the competences which will allow it to cooperate but also to compete on a par with the United States and emerging nations? And how to do it? The policy implication is that Europe will not be able to compete in these areas without promoting its own corporations.