We quote some passages from the Strategic Foresight Report published in 2024 by Mario Draghi for the European Commission: “. The main reason why EU productivity diverged from that of the United States in the mid-1990s was Europe’s inability to capitalize on the first Internet-driven digital revolution, both in terms of the creation of new technology firms and the diffusion of digital technology in the economy. In fact, excluding the technology sector, for all other sectors, EU productivity growth over the past two decades would be essentially equal to that of the United States. Europe is lagging behind in innovative digital technologies that will drive growth in the future. About 70 percent of basic AI models have been developed in the U.S. as of 2017, and three U.S. “hyperscalers” (major providers of cloud computing, storage, and large-scale computing services) alone account for more than 65 percent of the global and European cloud market, while the largest European cloud player accounts for only 2 percent of the EU market. Quantum computing is set to be the next big innovation, but five of the top 10 global technology companies in terms of quantum investments are based in the United States, four are based in China, and none are based in the EU. “
While for some digital sectors the opportunity has probably already been “missed,” Europe still has an opportunity to capitalize on future waves of digital innovation. The EU’s competitive disadvantage is likely to increase in cloud computing, as the market is characterized by continued massive investment, economies of scale, and multiple services offered by a single provider. However, there are multiple reasons why Europe should not give up developing its domestic technology sector.”
Italiano