Reding calls for continued R&D investment

Viviane Reding: The ICT sector provides the heartbeat of the real economy

Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for Information Society and Media, has called for continued investment and research into IT, despite the current economic climate.

Reding told delegates at the ICT 2008 event in Lyon that the importance of this "biennial rendezvous" lies not just in its impressive size but in its timing.

"At this time of economic uncertainty, we must remember that the ICT sector provides the heartbeat of the real economy, of our productivity growth, of our capacity to innovate and create jobs, and of our ability to address key societal challenges," she said.

ICT 2008 focuses on how public policy can promote innovation, and Reding was keen to promote investment despite other financial considerations.

"Cuts in public and private R&D spending may be tempting, but this could irreversibly damage our economies and the ability to recover," she said.

"ICT research and innovation must, moreover, be put at the service of tackling our long-run challenges in the areas of health, energy and transport. Only then will we be able to innovate faster in vertical markets. Only then will public authorities be able to modernise services responding to challenges such as ageing populations, rising energy costs or congested transport systems."

One such innovative solution might be a workable identity card, according to Reding, which the UK has so far struggled to produce in either a timely or economically viable way.

"Let me give you an example: the development of an electronic identity management infrastructure as a basis for trustworthy services in e-government and e-commerce," she said.

"Think of the difference this would make for business efficiency and citizen-friendly services. Think what it would mean to overcome today's fragmentation, closed solutions, lack of interoperability, lack of legal transparency and limited market scale."

Reding also called for more investment in areas that she sees as underfunded. "The public sector, which represents more than 40 per cent of our GDP, lacks innovation," she said. "I am sure you agree that it is an area where more effort would yield good results."

Nor does the private sector spend enough, according to Reding, who said that investment in research was dramatically overshadowed by that of US firms.

"Although the private sector invests €35bn per year in ICT research (more than a quarter of all business R&D investments) this adds up to only half as much as corporate US spending on ICT research," she said.

"Europe's public investment in ICT R&D is also weaker than our competitors'. It represents around 40 per cent of the US level. Our track record in attracting venture capital and private equities to R&D in ICT is not very good either.

"If Europe wants to lead the transition to a low-carbon knowledge economy, for example, we can only do this with a massive and targeted development and take-up of innovative ICT solutions."

Reding said that she would propose a strategy designed to help firms innovate and get investment for research next year.