In addition, digitalisation was regarded by firms as replacing low and medium-skilled jobs but not high-skilled jobs. 4  For more information, see European Investment Bank (2019): Investment Report 2018/2019. Retooling Europe´s Economy. 5 For more information, see ECB (2018): “Digitalisation and its impacto n the economy: insights from a survey of large companies”, ECB Economic Bulletin, Issue 7/2018 3/6  Intangible assets Today’s conference deals not only with digitalisation but also with intangible assets. Intangible assets are non-monetary assets without physical substance encompassing ICT, research and development (R&D), innovation, design, creativity, image and brand, organisation and human capital formation. The development of the digital economy has certainly contributed to a notable increase in investment in intangible assets, as digital firms tend to both invest and innovate more than non-digital firms. Also digital technologies have increased the demand for high-skill workers, increasing in this way the investment in intangibles. Partly as a result of digitalisation, the relative importance of intangible assets has been increasing in most economies6. But measurement of intangible assets is not straightforward, and their definition in the national accounts has gradually broadened. The current national accounts systems include as intangible assets computerised systems (software and databases), R&D, mineral exploration and entertainment, literary or artistic originals. Nevertheless, some authors7 claim that a broader range of assets should be included in the definition of intangible assets.

In this regard it is worth mentioning the activities of the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) in Spain as a key provider of venture capital, either directly or indirectly, through FOND-ICO Global, a “fund of funds” whose goal is to promote the creation of private venture capital funds that invest in Spanish companies. At the European level, the European Investment 6  For recent evidence in the euro aera, see ECB (2018): “Investment in intangible assets in the euro area”. ECB Economic Bulletin, Issue 7/2018 7 C. Corrado, J. Haskel, C., Jona-Lasino and M. Iomni (2018), “Intangible investment in the EU and US before and since the Great Recession and its contribution to productivity growth”, Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, Volume 2 Issue 1. 8 Cotec Foundation for Innovation-Ivie (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas). Intangible assets: database for Spain and its autonomous communities (1995-2014). April 2017. Database available at: http://informecotec.es/activos-intangibles/. 9  Brown, J. R., Fazzari, S. M. and B. C. Petersen (2009): “Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990x R&D Boom”, The Journal of Finance, Vol. LXIV, No. 1 4/6  Bank Group also supports innovation through different instruments such as guarantees, SME loan securitisation and venture capital. The public sector can also play a relevant role in supporting innovation through the education system since a key element of innovation is the supply of high-skilled workers. An improvement of the quality and functioning of the education system can therefore have a positive contribution to innovation.