Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A Strategy for ICT R&D and Innovation in Europe: Raising the Game {SEC(2009) 289}
Date: 2009-03-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, Europe, disclosure of information, information technology, new technology, research programme

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.3.2009 
COM(2009) 116 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

A Strategy for ICT R&D and Innovation in Europe: Raising the Game 

{SEC(2009) 289} 

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This  Communication  proposes  a  strategy  to  establish  Europe's  industrial  and  technology 
leadership  in  information  and  communication  technologies  (ICT),  to  make  Europe  more 
attractive for ICT investments and skills, and to ensure that its economy and society benefit 
fully from ICT developments.  

Building  on  Europe's  assets,  the  strategy  seeks  to  step  up  the  effort  in  ICT  research  and 
innovation (R&D&I) and to maximise its impact in today's economic context. It forms part of 
the  preparations  for  a  European  plan  for  innovation  and  research,  encompassing  the  main 
technologies of the future including ICT, as called for by the European Council1. 

1. 

ICT UNDERPINNING VALUE CREATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

ICT provides essential infrastructures and tools for knowledge creation, sharing and diffusion. 
It  boosts  the  innovation  capacity  of  all  sectors  and  contributes  to  more  than  40%  of  overall 
productivity growth2. 

The  worldwide  ICT  market  has  reached  €2 000bn  a nd  is  currently  growing  at  4%  per  year. 
Europe represents 34% of this; however, the value added of its ICT sector amounts to only 
23% of the total3. The sector represents 4.5% of European GDP and even more if the value 
added of ICT in other sectors is also accounted for. 

ICT is also essential to address Europe's societal challenges. It brings unique responses e.g. to 
the growing needs for sustainable healthcare and ageing well, for better security and privacy, 
for a lower carbon economy and for intelligent transport. 

The  importance  of  ICT  is  reflected  in  R&D  budgets  worldwide,  where  ICT  typically 
represents more than 30% of the total4. This also shows that we are still at the early stages of 
the ICT revolution.  

Today, to compete on a global scale, Europe has to continuously reinforce a solid knowledge 
base in ICT, shape ICT developments and make the best use of ICT innovations at the earliest 
stage. 

2. 

THE NEED FOR A STRATEGY 

2.1.  Leading the way out of the economic downturn 

ICT  provide  vital  tools  to  recover  from  the  current  economic  slowdown5,  to  build  robust 
economies,  bring  the  efficiency  gains  needed  in  our  public  sector  and  cut  the  rising  costs 
related to e.g. ageing, energy and the environment. 

The current economic crisis risks to undermine the recent improvement in private ICT R&D 
investments.  It  is  therefore  all  the  more  important  to  ensure  that  public  policies  create  the 
right conditions for sustaining, and even increasing, the support for R&D. 

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5 

European Council Conclusions, 12.12.2008 
EU KLEMS, 2007 
European Competitiveness Report 2006; EITO 2006 
OECD: ICT and Economic Growth, 2003 
COM(2008)800 

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A  number  of  ICT  innovations  are  today  ripe  for  wider  roll-out  and  deployment  in  modern 
infrastructures.  For  instance,  broadband  networks  open  up  demand  for  new  products  and 
services; interoperable pan-European digital services such as e-signature, e-identification and 
e-procurement  are  important  for  the  single  market  to  function  well;  Intelligent  Transport 
Systems contribute to a cleaner, more efficient and safer transport. 

2.2. 

New opportunities for leadership 

The economies that set the direction and pace of changes in ICT will also be those that will 
benefit most from ICT developments. 

Europe has the opportunity to be in the lead to develop, master and shape the 'Future Internet' 
that  will  gradually  replace  the  current  web  and  fixed  and  mobile  networks  and  service 
infrastructures6.  Enabling  the  interconnection  of  trillions  of  devices  at  speeds  beyond  the 
hundreds of Mbits/s  will  change  the way we communicate and access knowledge and bring 
radical  transformations  to  production  and  distribution  systems  and  to  services  in  the  private 
and public sector. 

We will see increasing user participation with community networks, peer-to-peer systems and 
user-generated content providing new forms of digital content. People will not only have to be 
able to extract information but also to reason and learn about it. 

Europe should also be at the forefront of the next-generation ICT components and systems, 
seizing  new  opportunities  arising  in  nanoelectronics,  photonics  and  organic  electronics,  as 
well as in intelligent systems for markets such as automotive and health. At the same time, it 
is crucial to lead in radically new technological paradigms and in new multi-disciplinary R&D 
at the frontiers between ICT and other fields. 

Europe  should  as  well  lead  the  ICT  transformations  driven  by  its  societal  challenges.  For 
example,  it  should  be  the  forerunner  in  the  development  of  ICT-based  personalised  health 
systems that will significantly improve diagnosis and treatment of diseases7 and prolong the 
independence of elderly people. Europe should also drive progress in ICT-based monitoring 
and  control  tools  that  will  help  optimise  energy  efficiency,  safety  and  security  in  buildings 
and transport8. 

Europe  has  recognised  strongholds  in  ICT  fields  such  as  telecoms  equipment  and  services, 
enterprise software, robotics, security technologies and photonics. It has also world leadership 
in ICT application markets such as telemedicine  and  medical  equipment,  in  automotive  and 
aerospace  electronics,  and  in  embedded  ICT  that  underpins  innovation  in  all  products  and 
services.  These  give  us  a  pole  position  to  master  and  shape  ICT  evolutions  and  seize  the 
opportunities ahead. 

In  the  process  Europe  should  promote  new,  more  flexible  and  more  open  models  of 
innovation with lead users and innovation communities having significant roles in experience-
driven R&D. 

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COM(2008)594 
COM(2007)860  
COM(2008)241  

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2.3. 

Underinvestment in ICT R&D and innovation 

In the EU, ICT R&D accounts for a quarter of all private R&D spending, a third of all R&D 
employment, and a fifth of all patents9. Even so, the EU's ICT business sector spends less than 
half  on  R&D  as  its  US  counterpart,  accounting  for  half  of  the  total  gap  in  private  R&D 
spending.  

In addition, there is a growing deficit in the EU of qualified skills in ICT R&D, resulting in 
several hundreds of thousands of unfilled posts10.  

Europe  has  relatively  few  world-recognised  ICT  poles  of  excellence.  This  affects  the 
attractiveness of Europe to pupils, students and researchers as well as to private investments. 
California alone attracts twice as much venture capital as the whole of Europe11. 

Pre-commercial  procurement  of  ICT  to  modernise  public  services  is  today  heavily 
underutilised in Europe. It represents less than €1bn in the EU against more than €10bn in the 
US12. This not only affects the quality and efficiency of our public services; it also represents 
missed opportunities for opening up new markets for the European supplier base through the 
creation of competitive first-mover advantages. 

2.4. 

Barriers to ICT business growth 

Business entry, survival and exit rates are comparable across the EU and competing regions. 
In  other  parts  of  the  world,  however,  successful  new  firms  expand  more  rapidly,  entrants 
display  a  higher  dispersion  of  productivity  levels  and  the  more  productive  firms  have  a 
stronger tendency to increase their market shares13. 

This suggests that barriers to growth pose a bigger problem than barriers to starting a business 
in the EU. The reasons why European SMEs are not growing are multiple, e.g. sub-optimal 
conditions for their access to markets, innovation and finance; excessive regulatory burdens. 

2.5. 

Fragmented markets for ICT innovation 

The fragmentation of the European market for innovative ICT products and services is one of 
the main factors behind the low investments and slow development of high-growth SMEs.  

The framework conditions for regulation, standardisation and intellectual property right (IPR) 
regimes  need  to  be  adapted  to  new  realities.  Even  with  the  liberalisation  of  the  European 
telecom sector, a real internal market in telecoms has still not been achieved. Standardisation 
structures and processes must become more agile and reactive, and with a clearer distinction 
between  missions  requiring  public  intervention  and  those  more  related  to  market  dynamics. 
The  IPR  system  also  needs  to  be  improved  by  the  creation  of  a  Community  patent  for 
innovative ICT companies to protect their inventions in the single market14. 

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EC/JRC/IPTS: PREDICT 
COM(2007)496  
E&Y: Global Venture Capital Insights and Trends report 2008 
COM(2007)799 
European Competitiveness Report 2008 
COM(2008)465 

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The fragmented public demand for and slower uptake of ICT-based innovations in the public 
sector in Europe are also major weaknesses. There is often little collaboration between public 
authorities  procuring  innovative  ICT-based  solutions  (e.g.  for  health,  transport,  energy)  and 
those in charge of R&D/innovation. This means insufficient awareness of new public service 
needs,  on  the  one  side,  and  ignorance  of  technological  innovations,  on  the  other,  as  well  as 
weak links between programmes for R&D/innovation and procurement. 

2.6. 

Fragmented ICT R&D and innovation efforts 

Despite  recent  pioneering  efforts,  such  as  Joint  Technology  Initiatives15  (JTIs)  and  Joint 
Research  Programmes  under  the  seventh  EU  Framework  Programme  for  R&D  (FP7), 
Europe's ICT R&D landscape remains fragmented16. 

Little  interlinkage  can  be  seen  in  the  'knowledge  triangle'  between  innovation,  R&D  and 
education policies that are often drawn up in  isolation  by different ministries or at different 
levels. 

The consequences are: duplication of efforts, lack of critical mass, difficulties in addressing 
common challenges jointly and, in the end, sub-optimal returns on R&D investments. 

2.7. 

Complicated funding mechanisms 

The EU, the Member States (MS) and intergovernmental bodies have complementary policies 
and  actions  in  place  to  support  R&D&I  in  Europe.  To  provide  guidance  on  the  use  of 
Community Funds, the European Commission (EC) has published the 'Practical Guide to EU 
funding opportunities for Research and Innovation'. However, potential beneficiaries are often 
confused when deciding which funding source is most appropriate for a given activity. 

Although the 2008 Aho Panel ex-post evaluation of European ICT R&D concluded that the 
investment has been well managed and was effective in reaching its goals, and even with the 
improvements  introduced  with  the  launch  of  FP7,  the  Panel  called  for  simpler  and  more 
flexible funding mechanisms by developing a more trust-based approach towards participants. 

3. 

A STRATEGY FOR LEADERSHIP 

To reinforce its strengths and seize new opportunities in ICT, Europe needs to raise its game. 
A  more  efficient  and  systemic  strategy  for  ICT  R&D&I  must  address  both  supply  and 
demand, cutting across the innovation cycle and 'knowledge triangle' with more user-producer 
interactions and better interlinking of policies at regional, national and EU level – in line with 
EU's broad-based innovation strategy and building on the European Research Area. 

This requires resources and stakeholders to be mobilised along three interlinked paths: 

(1) 

Raise  both  public  and  private  investments  in  ICT  R&D&I  in  Europe  and 
increase their efficiency 

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Artemis & Eniac 
COM(2008)468 

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(2) 

(3) 

Prioritise ICT R&D&I in Europe into key areas and reduce the fragmentation 
of efforts 

Facilitate  the  emergence  of  new  public  and  private  markets  for  ICT-based 
innovative solutions 

3.1. 

Raise investments and increase their efficiency 

Europe must step up its investments so that within a decade we see a doubling of ICT R&D 
investments in value. 

1. 

It is important to ensure that public policies create the right conditions for sustaining 
the support for R&D.  

Annual  commitments  to  EU-level  ICT  collaborative  R&D  under  FP7  will 
increase from €1.1bn in 2010 to €1.7bn in 2013

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Member  States  are  invited  to  match  this  budget  increase  in  their  national 
programmes by re-orienting some existing public resources and by seeking new ways 
of securing public and private funds, while avoiding substitution effects and ensuring 
that  private  investors  continue  to  compete  for  the  best  ideas.  In  light  of  budgetary 
constraints,  Member  States  are  also  encouraged  to  explore  ways  to  increase  the 
efficiency of public spending on ICT R&D. 

The  EC  will  continue  to  monitor  and  compare  investments  in  ICT  R&D  in  the 
EU9.  

2. 

Increased public procurement of ICT innovations and R&D will increase the quality 
of our public services and create competitive first-mover advantages. 

Member  States  are  invited  to  engage  in  more  strategic  and  extended  use  of  public 
procurement of ICT innovations and R&D and to explore the use of pre-commercial 
procurement11. 

The  EC  will  support  actions  to  promote  experience  sharing  and  examine  ways  of 
providing incentives for jointly implemented pre-commercial procurement. 

3. 

Raising public spending on ICT R&D is essential but not sufficient to attract private 
investment. The schemes pioneered in the JTIs under FP7 have shown how industry 
is attracted to public-private partnerships (PPPs) that speed up innovation, thanks 
to  shared  technology  development  strategies,  pooling  of  resources  and  more  agile 
and lean operations.  

The  EC  will  examine  other  fields  where  combined  strategies  and  resources  are 
important,  such  as  the  Future  Internet,  to  see  how  PPPs  could  boost  innovation 
and competitiveness. It will also explore how PPPs could develop in ICT application 
and service areas, possibly with other themes in FP7 e.g. through coordinated calls. 

4. 

Another important additional source of support to ICT R&D&I is available through 
Cohesion Policy.  

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Member States and regions are encouraged to maintain their allocations for R&D&I 
investment,  including  co-funding  the  construction  and  fitting  out  of  ICT  R&D 
facilities and support to new approaches such as user- and experience-driven R&D.  

5. 

A  special  effort  is  needed  to  further  facilitate  the  access  of  businesses,  not  least 
SMEs and medium-sized enterprises, to venture capital, private equity and loans 
for ICT R&D. 

The EC will set up platforms for more intensive dialogues between investors and 
ICT  innovators  across  Europe.  It  will  pursue  the  effort  to  provide  guarantees  for 
investments  in  high-growth  companies  in  ICT  through  the  European  Investment 
Fund,  the  Risk-Sharing  Finance  Facility  under  FP7  and  other  EIB  instruments.  It 
will  also  support  worldwide  awareness  raising  of  European  technologies  and 
related business opportunities. 

In  addition,  the  EC  will  pursue  its  policy  to  encourage  further  participation  of 
SMEs in ICT in FP7 and beyond. 

Member States and regions are invited to reinforce their efforts in this field, notably 
through  more  focused  cluster  policies  and  support  for  innovative  SMEs,  i.a. 
through the Treaty Art. 169-based Eurostars initiative, within the rules defined by the 
risk  capital  guidelines,  the  R&D&I  framework  and  the  recent  General  Block 
Exemption Regulation. 

Member States' national and regional managing authorities may opt to participate in 
JEREMIE and use the ERDF to foster new business creation and SME expansion. 

3.2. 

Prioritise and reduce fragmentation 

Europe needs to better coordinate its policies and concentrate and specialise its resources, not 
least for the emergence of world class poles of ICT excellence in Europe. 

This entails stronger collaboration between the Community, the MS, the regions, industry and 
academia,  with  the  Community  acting  mostly  as  facilitator  of  multilateral  transnational 
collaborations. 

1. 

The first level of coordination is the development of shared strategies and policies 
across the EU.  

Member  States  are  invited  to  strengthen  the  dialogue  established  within  the 
National  ICT  Research  Directors  Forum  and  to  include  stronger  interactions  with 
groups such as the ICT Advisory Group and the ICT-related European Technology 
Platforms (ETPs).  

In  essential  sectors,  such  as  nanoelectronics  and  web-based  services,  a  shared 
European vision is urgently needed not only for R&D but also and above all for the 
whole innovation and skills development chain and for the role of public policies in 
boosting competitiveness. 

The EC will strengthen stakeholder groups, building on the work done in ETPs, to 
draw  roadmaps  from  R&D  through  to  commercialisation,  and  to  propose  public 
policy priorities for the development of essential sectors in Europe.  

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2. 

A  step  further  must  be  taken  when  pooling  of  resources  is  necessary  to  address  a 
challenge.  

Based  on  experience  gained  from  EUREKA,  the  JTIs  and  the  Ambient  Assisted 
Living  Joint  Research  Programme,  the  EC  will  examine  other  fields  where 
common action could create the necessary critical mass, either in response to specific 
societal challenges, e.g. ICT for energy efficiency, or to achieve precise goals with 
industrial drive. 

3. 

Another area where more multilateral collaboration between Member States and their 
regions is important is the area of ICT R&D infrastructures and knowledge-based 
innovation  clusters,  building  on  experience  with  the  GÉANT  high-capacity 
electronic communication network and the EGEE Grid infrastructure.  

Member States and regions are invited to strengthen their collaboration in planning, 
implementing and sharing infrastructures for ICT R&D&I, particularly in areas 
requiring large investments, e.g. nanoelectronics, organic electronics and photonics; 
high-performance  computing  facilities;  and  experimental  facilities  for  networks, 
software and services. This is essential to concentrate efforts, specialise and nurture 
high-calibre innovation and knowledge clusters. 

The  EC  will  provide  support  for  collaboration  platforms  between  the  Member 
States in this area. 

4. 

New  instruments  such  as  ICT  Knowledge  and  Innovation  Communities  (KICs) 
under the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will play a key role 
in  bringing  the  relevant  industries,  entrepreneurs,  R&D  institutes  and  universities 
closer together. 

Knowledge  hubs  play  a  key  role  in  mobility  of  researchers  between  industry  and 
academia,  which  is  a  principal  factor  for  making  ICT  research  careers  more 
attractive. 

The  EC  encourages  the  EIT  Governing  Board  to  take  full  account  of  the 
opportunities and challenges of ICT in defining priority areas for KICs. 

5. 

There is a growing deficit in the EU of qualified skills in ICT R&D. 

The  EC  will  pursue  its  support  for  the  'New  Skills  for  New  Jobs',  'digital 
competences'  and  e-Skills  initiatives17,  including  actions  to  encourage  youngsters 
and women to choose ICT careers. 

3.3. 

Facilitate the emergence of markets for innovation 

The  EU  should  be  able  to  produce  and  commercialise  the  equivalent  of  its  share  of  the 
global ICT market. This requires the right conditions to be in place for the growth of ICT 
companies, and more intense collaborations to open up new EU-wide markets for innovations. 

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COM(2008)868; SEC(2008)2629; COM(2007)496 

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In  addition  to  general  policy  measures  creating  more  favourable  conditions  for  business 
developments  in  the  EU,  the  public  sector  as  a  procurer  of  ICT  solutions  can  play  an 
instrumental role in driving ICT innovations.  

1. 

ICT R&D&I policy must help drive forward other policies - for health, energy, 
transport  etc  -  to  enable  Europe  to  innovate  faster  in  vertical  markets  and  to 
modernise its services in response to societal challenges. 

Member States and regions are invited to promote closer collaboration between users 
and  producers  of  ICT  innovations  in  different  corners  of  governments  and 
administrations. This should lead to shared roadmaps of public service needs that 
ICT can help address.  

Member States and regions are also encouraged to work closer together on defining 
and  implementing  public  demand  for  ICT  innovation.  This  should  enable 
procurers  to  share  the  risks  and  costs  inherent  in  innovation  and  R&D,  to  ensure 
interoperability and coherence of solutions and to exploit economies of scale. 

Furthermore,  Member  States  and  regions  are  invited  to  facilitate  the  emergence  of 
markets for innovation in ICT as a means to raise both ICT investment and diffusion. 

In  this  context,  the  'Regions  for  Economic  Change'  initiative18  is  an  important 
facilitator of interregional cooperation. 

The EC will support experience sharing at all levels.  

2. 

Ensuring  interoperability  and  the  emergence  of  standards  is  essential  to  foster 
innovation uptake on a large scale within the EU. 

The EC will pursue its effort to revise the ICT standardisation process, including 
through  a  White  Paper  planned  for  spring  2009.  A  priority  list  of  actions  will  be 
established to eliminate barriers to the development of markets for ICT innovations. 
This  list  of  actions  will  include  suggestions  to  improve  the  relationship  between 
researchers, standardisation organisations, ICT fora and ICT consortia. 

The  EC  will  accelerate  and  reinforce,  through  the  ICT  part  of  the  Competitiveness 
and  Innovation  Framework  Programme  (CIP),  a  set  of  pan-European  pilots  to  test, 
validate  and  deploy  innovative  ICT  solutions,  in  particular  for  public  sector 
services.  The  CIP  will  also  support  SMEs  piloting  highly  innovative  technologies 
and services, and the development of open platforms for user-driven innovation.  

The success of these pilots will depend on the continued support and participation of 
national,  regional  and  local  authorities  in  the  Member  States,  and  they  must  be 
supplemented by actions at regional and local level.  

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COM(2006)675  

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3.4. 

European-scale projects spanning from R&D to deployment  

To speed up the achievement of specific societal goals, the EC is considering how to 
support a set of focused projects of significant scale and duration that cut across 
the innovation cycle to develop modern pan-European service infrastructures. 

Building on lessons learnt on PPPs in the JTIs, in the CIP pilots and from the Lead 
Market Initiative, each project would mobilise a critical mass of resources , including 
grants  for  R&D,  pre-commercial  procurement  and  support  for  innovation  and 
deployment. Examples are: 

(i) 

(ii) 

Innovative  ICT  solutions  for  sustainable  healthcare.  Efficient  chronic 
disease  management  requires  precise  and  reliable  devices  for  health  status 
monitoring and personalised treatment. R&D is also needed for efficient access 
to  medical  knowledge,  data  analysis  and  exchange.  Testing  and  validation  of 
new care processes is essential, as is certification and standardisation.  

Innovative  ICT  solutions  for  energy  efficiency.  Dynamic  pricing  in  the 
utility  grid  requires  new  electronic 
trading  platforms.  Power  quality 
management  demands  new  decentralised  monitoring  and  control  systems  and 
smart metering. 

(iii)  An  electronic  identity  management  (eID)  infrastructure,  as  basis  for 
trustworthy  services  in  e-government  and  e-commerce.  Today,  a  plethora  of 
solutions result in fragmentation, closed solutions and lack of user control and 
transparency.  Ongoing  FP7  projects  and  CIP  pilots  constitute  important  steps 
towards an EU-wide project to implement an effective eID infrastructure. 

Further  considerations  will  take  place  as  part  of  the  preparations  for  the  European 
plan for innovation and research by testing and validating cases that would benefit 
from orchestrated efforts. 

3.5. 

Simplification and streamlining 

Investments must be well managed and administrative burdens cut to make it more 
attractive  for  innovative  companies,  in  particular  SMEs,  to  participate  in  local, 
national and EU-level actions, and to make high-tech R&D&I more effective. 

The EC calls on the Parliament and Council to support a new drive to cut red tape 
and allow greater flexibility in programme procedures. Public authorities at all levels 
are  invited  to  support  the  EC  in  developing  a  more  risk-tolerant  approach  to 
supporting R&D in Europe. 

3.6. 

International cooperation 

International  cooperation  addressing  scientific  and  technological  challenges  should 
strengthen  the  global  position  of  European  R&D,  industry  and  technologies,  as 
partners  share  expertise,  develop  common  roadmaps,  standards  and  interoperable 
solutions.  International  responses  to  global  socio-economic  challenges  should 
promote EU policy goals in the solutions. 

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The EC will seek global partnerships to tackle some of the future grand challenges 
in  ICT  R&D  such  as  the  Future  Internet,  quantum  information  processing  and 
communication, or bio-inspired ICT. 

Member States have already been invited to define together priority areas where a 
coherent EU effort would have more impact19.  

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

As the world's largest economy and representing the largest share of the world's ICT 
market, Europe can have legitimate ambitions for its businesses, governments, R&D 
centres  and  universities  to  lead  developments  in  ICT,  to  invest  more  in  ICT 
innovations and to grow new business.  

If Europe manages to step up its investments, pool its resources, when needed, and 
ensure  competitive  and  innovation-friendly  markets,  then  we  could  anticipate  a 
landscape where, by 2020: 

–  Europe has doubled its private and public investments in ICT R&D, doubled 
venture capital investments in high-growth ICT SMEs and tripled its use of pre-
commercial procurement in ICT; 

–  Europe  has  nurtured  an  additional  five  ICT  poles  of  world-class  excellence, 

measured by private and public investments in the pole; 

–  Europe  has  grown  new  innovative  businesses  in  ICT  so  that  one  third  of  all 
business expenditure in ICT R&D is invested by companies created within the last 
two decades; 

–  Europe's  ICT  sector  supplies  at  least  the  equivalent  of  its  share  of  the  global 

ICT market. 

This Communication proposes a combination of 'demand pull' and 'supply push' for 
ICT R&D&I in Europe. This involves increased investments in programmes on both 
the  supply  and  the  demand  side,  stronger  collaboration  between  stakeholders  and 
support for projects that cut across the innovation chain.  

The  strategy  should  open  markets  with  clearer  demands  from  users,  allowing  for 
shorter  innovation  cycles,  faster  responses  to  socio-economic  challenges  and  new 
opportunities  for  industry  in  Europe.  It  should  result  in  more  rapid  returns  on 
investments  and  thus  greater  attractiveness  of  Europe  for  investors,  companies  and 
researchers.  

Member  States  are  invited  to  endorse  the  proposed  strategy  and  to  encourage 
national and regional authorities and private stakeholders to participate in the 
preparation of future actions. 

19 

COM(2008)588 

EN 

11 

   EN