EUROPEAN ICT Poles of Excellence - an Atlas of EU areas where digital technologies thrive

Wondering what makes an ICT hotspot? Take a look at Munich, London, Paris or smaller cities such as Darmstadt identified in a new EU Atlas of ICT hotspots. This atlas shows where digital technologies thrive and examines the factors contributing to this success. 

A European ICT Pole of Excellence (EIPEs) is a geographical area inside the EU, with best performing activities in ICT production, R&D and innovation, activities with a central role in global international networks.

The report looked at all EU regions in terms of ICT activity and assigned scores according to its relative weight; 14% of the regions scored above 20 points. The top 34 scored between 41 and 100.

The report analysed three elements (business activity, R&D and Innovation in the ICT sector) on the basis of their intensity (e.g. business turnover, turnover growth, number of employees), their internationalisation (e.g. how many international partners businesses/research centres/universities have) and networking (what is the role of each region in networks: which of them are hubs and connect directly to many partners, which of them have links that only allow few exchanges)

Check the Infograf for more details.

PS: Romania has no regions highligthed...

Join the STARTUP manifesto movement

Vice-President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes has created The Startup Europe Leaders Club — an independent group of founders in the field of tech entrepreneurship who provide guidance on strengthening the business environment for web entrepreneurs in Europe.

Drawn from the combined experience of dozens of Europeans who were lucky enough to imagine, build and grow successful businesses — businesses that created thousands of jobs — they have distilled 22 actions which, taken together, can give European businesses the best chance of future success.

The members of the Leaders Club, an independent group of founders in the field of tech entrepreneurship, have launched the Startup Manifesto campaign for entrepreneurial excellence (pdf). You can sign the Manifesto.

Social media used by 30% of enterprises in the EU28

Recent Eurostat report, the statistical office of the European Union, that form part of the results of a survey conducted at the beginning of 2013 on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) show that in Europe:

• 28% of enterprises in the EU28 used social networks (e.g. Facebook) in 2013, 

• 11% multi-media content sharing websites (e.g. YouTube), 

• 10% blogs or micro blogs (e.g. Twitter) 

• and 6% wiki-based knowledge-sharing tools. 

Romania scores badly on multiple categories:

• The proportion of enterprises with a website differed among Member States, with the largest shares recorded in Finland (94% of enterprises with at least 10 persons employed), Denmark (92%), Sweden (89%), and the smallest in Romania (42%), Bulgaria (47%) etc.

• Largest shares of enterprises using blogs in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Among the different types of social media, the highest shares of enterprises using social networks were registered in Malta (52%), Ireland (46%), the Netherlands (45%) and the lowest in Latvia (13%), the Czech Republic (15%),  Romania (7%) etc.

This means there is a huge growth potential!

Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs

"We want to empower Europeans to fill the jobs that will drive the next ICT revolution", Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

 

What does he mean?

 

Basically the EC tries to address the 900 000 job vacancies expected to exist in Europe in Information and Communication technologies (ICT) by 2015; and the fact that the number of fresh ICT graduates and skilled ICT workers is not keeping up. The ICT workforce in Europe in 2011 amounted to 6.7 million, which is 3.1% of the overall workforce.

 

With the Coalition for Digital Jobs (don't know why it's called Grand...), the Commission has sought pledges in the following key areas: Training and matching for digital jobs, Mobility, Certification, Awareness raising, Innovative learning and teaching.

 

Some linked European initiatives:

• Academy Cube - an European alliance between industrial companies and institutions; primarily intended for academics, graduates and job seekers – ideally from the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
• EU Skills Panorama - a website presenting quantitative and qualitative information on short- and medium-term skills needs, skills supply and skills mismatches.

 

Si de data asta, Romania e la coada clasamentului european cu cei mai multi cetateni fara cunostinte PC/IT, si anume peste 60%! Pare uimitor, tinand cont ca IT-istii nostri sunt vestiti in Europa; dar statisticile pulicate de Eurostat nu pot fi negate. Alte statistici (Panorama) arata ca in Romania IT-istii ,ca procent din numarul total de angajati, au un procent extrem de scazut in comparatie cu media europeana.