Tuesday 18 August 2009 4:24:16 pm

It is encouraging to see that there are some very good ideas being generated as a result of the Good Entrepreneur contest. Nevertheless, given a European population of 830 million, one would expect substantially more than 196 entries in a competition as broadly publicized as this. Perhaps a cause of such a low turn out is a (generalized) lack of interest in innovation among younger generations.

Is Europe loosing the battle for science driven technology development? How can our younger generations be motivated to dedicate themselves to research and development?

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Tuesday 18 August 2009 7:33:58 pm

Indeed Marc & Norman, the entries in this contest make you wonder. Not only the number of entries is intriguing to me, but also is the low degree in which they address the judging panel criteria.

Take a look at the so called "popular" entries on the first pages. How many of them have a quantifiable environmental impact?

I am not so sure about this contest being "widely publicised". Google it and you will find out there are no social reverberation on the outside world, I am sure the millions of green activists never heard about it yet. Again, it makes you wonder!

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Tuesday 18 August 2009 11:30:15 pm

Hi Norman, and thanks for your contribution. I agree that Europe is facing a huge challenge in getting its bright minds to work on creating (disruptive) technologies. I do not think that it is too late for this, and certainly there is space for both bottom-up and top-down driven innovation. Some of the brightest ideas are born the "Bill Gates" way, however probably the overwhelming majority of new technology is driven by close and coordinated cooperation between industry, academics and government. I believe that it is up to all of these institutions to create motivating and attractive platforms for young talent to join. The current change in global realities could certainly help create such a change in mind set. Most important however, is the positive impact we can ourselves have as parents and influencers on our children and youth in general, by creating an awareness of the importance of science. We certainly try to, among others through the implementation of our Algarve Energy Park.

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Wednesday 19 August 2009 12:42:14 am

Hi Luke - and thank you very much for the comments and highly enlightening McKinsey Innovation Heat Map.
Frankly, whichever way you look at this data map, it is a frighteningly strong reminder of the bad shape we are in here in Europe (try to see how many European cities among the global top 50 - perhaps 2 or 3...). This is a direct reflection of the per capita investment in technology R&D across the continents, where Europe has historically been lagging.
I believe the current global changes offer great opportunities and threats for Europe:
On the down side, Europe has never been in a weaker global competitive position - an aging population, scarce natural resources (and increasing dependence on foreign natural resources), and inability to compete at the industrial level with emerging economies. One of the only ways to maintain its geo-political and economic competitiveness is through aggressive acceleration of the implementation of renewable energy sources (allowing for energy independence), in conjunction with a massive increase in (disruptive) technology output.
The unique window of opportunity that has opened up to Europe within the current global environment, is based on the fact that Europe has had a head start in two crucial sectors - renewable energy, and health care. The ability of Europe to take advantage of this window, will depend on the extend to which Government and private sector players are able to efficiently channel funding into well targeted technology development programs. At EU level, the FP7 program is a good effort, but with a €50 bio 6 year budget probably not enough to outpace investment and innovation levels in the US and Asia.
Therefore we are lobbying for a renewed effort on increased R&D budgets both at the pubic and private levels. The above also underlies our efforts for the implementation of a new model R&D cluster (the Algarve Energy Park), which is focused on maximizing the effectiveness of R&D investments, as well as engaging the general public in science and technology, such that greater awareness and interest in scientific research and development is created. Not only a means to a more sustainable future, but also a sine qua non for maintaining our relative competitiveness in a quickly changing global landscape.

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