Kot dodatek petkovi kolumni “Teze za strategijo zelene in digitalne prihodnosti” še ključna poanta iz novega komentarja Carla Bildta v Project Syndicate. Pravi, seveda, da Evropa na tehnološkem področju močno zaostaja za ZDA in Kitajsko. Samo po uvajanju novih tehnologij zaostaja za tri leta, pri razvoju sodobnih tehnologij je ni nikjer. Za ponazoritev, od desetih največjih tehnoloških startupov je v povprečju šest iz ZDA, trije iz Kitajske in eden iz Singapura. ZDA in Kitajska dominirata sodobne tehnologije na vseh področjih. Evropa najmanj zaostaja le pri talentih, vendar tega ne zna materializirati. Zakaj? Ker nima razvitega institucionalnega okvirja, ker premalo vlaga v temeljne raziskave in ker nima razvitega kapitalskega trga, ki bi iskal tvegane naložbe v novih tehnoloških konceptih.

No, na ta problem odgovarjajo teze iz moje zgornje kolumne, in sicer: (1) enormno povečanje javnih vlaganj v raziskave in razvoj in univerze, (2) nova tehnološka politika (Tehnološka agencija, financiranje 2,000 mladih raziskovalcev iz gospodarstva, razpršeno financiranje novih idej in potencialnih inovacij) in (3) nova politika financiranja potencialno prebojnih tehnologij (Tehnološki sklad kot javni sklad tveganega kapitala). Tehnološki razvoj in njegova adaptacija v gospodarstvu sta temelj bodoče konkurenčne prednosti slovenskega gospodarstva.

To ni nobena raketna znanost, le prioritete si je potrebno poštimati. Namesto, da za vojsko namenimo 780 mio evrov do 2026, dajmo raje dve tretjini tega denarja namenit za razvoj. Namesto v železje vložimo raje v razvoj in našo prihodnost.

And 5G is just one technology. Even more important is AI, where the situation for Europe is particularly grim. According to a 2019 study by the Center for Data Innovation, the US leads the global AI race “in four of the six categories of metrics” examined (talent, research, development, and hardware), and China comes out on top in the remaining two (adoption and data). The EU commands primacy in none, though it is close behind the US in terms of talent.

This last observation is crucial. Europe’s problem is not a scarcity of talent but rather a lack of appropriate institutional arrangements and leadership in this critical domain. Fractured, old-fashioned governance frameworks are hampering the rollout of 5G infrastructure. Insufficient funding for basic research is hampering innovation. And the absence of deep capital markets is making it difficult for start-ups to get the financing they need to grow and scale up, leaving them to be snatched up by deep-pocketed US companies.

The results of these failures are clear to see in the rankings of the world’s unicorns (start-ups valued at $1 billion or more). According to one recent index, six of the ten largest are from the US, three are from China, and one is from Singapore. Other indices give China the biggest share of major unicorns; but none show European start-ups anywhere near the top.

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Late last year, to lend new momentum to the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, the European Parliament declared a “climate emergency.” That is a perfectly understandable objective to prioritize. But Europe also needs to declare a domestic “digital emergency,” lest it continue falling behind in the industries that will be necessary for achieving all other development goals – including a green economy.

Vir: Carl Bildt, Project Syndicate