EU's science and research Increased investment but challenges remain

TapTechNews June 28 news, on the 27th local time, the European Commission released the data of the 2024 version of the 'Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU 2024 report', showing that in the past 20 years, the EU has continuously increased its R & D investment, which has helped the region in terms of competitiveness in the green technology field and improving the overall quality of scientific research. But at the same time, there is still room for improvement in the development of the EU in the fields of AI, Internet of Things, etc..

TapTechNews summarizes the main data as follows:

The EU maintains a leading advantage in the number of global patent applications related to renewable energy (29%), energy utilization efficiency (24%). At the same time, the EU accounts for about 18% of global research output, ranking second in the world, only after China.

In the fields of AI, Internet of Things, blockchain technology, quantum computer, etc., the EU's research lags behind China and the United States, and there is still room for improvement in some key technologies that enhance productivity.

Data shows that in 2021, the EU ranked only fifth in terms of R & D investment intensity (2.3%), lower than the United States (3.5%), Japan (3.3%), South Korea (4.9%) and China (2.4%).

Compared with other regions of the world, the EU's venture capital market is very limited, which hinders private investment in innovative companies.

The report also emphasizes the three major challenges facing the EU's R & D work:

Underutilized R & D ecosystem: The report says that the EU is a leader in the global research field, but it faces many obstacles in fully utilizing its rich R & D ecosystem. There are huge differences in the efforts of various member states in research and development (R & D), which makes the target of accounting for 3% of GDP still far from being achieved.

Persistent research and innovation divide: Research and innovation activities are often concentrated in certain places - and this trend can be strengthened by providing support to the best-performing activities and participants.

Technology gap compared with other regions of the world: This is also caused by the difficulties faced by the EU in increasing private sector investment in research and innovation. Although the EU has made significant progress in the green transformation, there is still room for improvement in the digital field.