Sweden at head of pack on digital research funding
5 Jun 2014 04:20 PM
While Sweden may be a global leader in R&D investment,
the EU as a whole is still lagging behind the Japan and the US: new data shows
that 6.6% of the total R&D government support is invested in ICT in the EU,
compared to 9.1% in Japan and 7.9% in the US.
Figures from the Digital Scorecard show that more efforts are necessary to meet
the goal set by the Digital Agenda for Europe: to reach €11
billion of annual total public spending on ICT R&D by
2020.
Vice-President of the European
Commission @NeelieKroesEU, responsible for the Digital
Agenda, says: "Public funding in digital research and development
is behind many of the great technologies we take for granted. Helping
researchers develop their best ideas translates into new products and services,
and into jobs. Over the next seven years, through Horizon 2020 we will invest
more than €13 billion in ICT. I encourage Member States to step up their
efforts to secure our jobs of the future".
EU research
leaders
Total public spending: Germany
spends €1.2 billion annually on ICT R&D
The 5 biggest public funders of
R&D in ICT in 2012: Germany takes by far the lead with €1.2 billion
followed by the UK (€0.69 billion - €11 per person), Spain (€0.6
billion- €13 per person). Sweden is next on €0.55bn.
Relative public spending: Sweden
spends most per person
Sweden spen
ds far more than any other EU country on a per capita basis, at €58 per
person. Sweden spends more than Italy (€0.52bn), yet Italy has 6 times the
population (60 million to 9.5 million).
Most ICT–intensive
spending – Swedish and European Commission
Sweden and Belgium are investing
the most heavily in ICT (15% and 11% of total spend respectively). The European
Commission spends 16% of its research budget on ICT research. Around €13
billion the Commission’s Horizon
2020 research programme (2014-2020) #Horizon2020 will go to ICT projects over a seven-year
period.
Most EU funding: Germany and
United Kingdom
Universities, companies and
researchers in Germany (€1.6 billion), the UK (€1 billion), Italy
(€0.8 billion), France (€0.7 billion) and Spain (€0.6 billion)
receive 60% of the total EU funding and account for 57% of participations
during the period 2007-2013.
Examples of projects
with German, British, Italian, French, Spanish partners.
Highest EU funding relative to
ICT sector: Cyprus and Greece
Cyprus (€24 million) and
Greece (€339 million) have relatively small ICT sectors which are growing
thanks to relatively high EU funding levels. Examples of projects
with Cypriot, Greek partners.
Other top
facts:
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