GSO4SCHOOL Summer School 2020
Investment in research and development by companies based in the EU grew by 2.6% in 2013, despite the unfavourable economic environment. However, this growth has slowed in comparison to the previous year’s 6.8%. It is also below the 2013 world average (4.9%), and lags behind companies based in the US (5%) and Japan (5.5%).
The overall performance of the EU group is largely driven by the performance of companies based in Germany, France and the UK, accounting for 68.4% of the total R&D investment.
These results were published in the European Commission’s 2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, which analyses the top 2500 companies worldwide, representing about 90% of the total business R&D expenditure. The survey collects companies’ key R&D and economic indicators corresponding to the companies’ latest published accounts. It measures the total value of their global R&D investment financed with their own funds, irrespective of the location where the relevant R&D takes place.
Thanks to the Scoreboard history database containing information on the top R&D companies since 2003, companies’ behaviour and performance can be analysed over longer periods of time.
The 2014 Scoreboard shows that the top two sectors in terms of R&D investment, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology and Technology Hardware & Equipment, achieved a modest increase in R&D, of 2.4% and 3.3% respectively. The highest R&D growth was seen in the Construction & Materials sector (13.6%). The following three top sectors increased R&D well above the world average: Software & Computer Services (11.4%), Electronic & Electrical Equipment (9.0%) and Automobiles & Parts (7.1%).
For the second consecutive year, the EU-based carmaker Volkswagen leads the world R&D investment ranking, showing again a remarkable increase in R&D investment in 2013 (23%, up to €11.7bn).
The other three companies in the top four positions are also the same as last year. Samsung Electronics from South Korea is second in the ranking and increases R&D by 25.4%, up to €10.2 bn. Microsoft and Intel from the US are in the 3rd and 4th places.
There are two new entries in the top ten in this Scoreboard 2014 edition: Google (9th) from the USA and Daimler (10th) from the EU. Two Swiss pharmaceutical companies, Novartis (5th) and Roche (6th), and Toyota (7th) from Japan and Johnson & Johnson (8th) from the USA complete the top ten.
The survey shows that there is a strong link between R & D investment and innovation. The world’s top R&D investors in the Scoreboard are responsible for an important proportion (around one third) of all the patents filed at the US and EU patent offices. The Electronic & Electrical Equipment sector file the highest number of patents, about ten times more than the Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology sector, with Samsung Electronics being, together with IBM, the most active among the top 100 R&D investors.
For more information: http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard14.html
EU investment plan to boost digital technology
The European Commission’s investment drive to boost the region’s economy will include spending billions of euros on digital technology. EU Digital Economy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said talks with telecom groups, authorities, local communities and investors about expanding digital networks will start next year. “It will be about the questions of who will do what and how the expansion can be financed. A double-digit billion euro amount qualifies for this as part of the EU’s investment package”.
Last month, the European Commission presented a €300 billion plan to boost Europe’s stagnant economy. However, some analysts doubted private investors would stump up the funds needed to make it work. The EU is setting aside just €8 billion and the European Investment Bank (EIB) €5 billion to help provide capital for the special fund to be managed with the European Investment Bank. The cash, designed to tempt in private investors, could multiply into €300 billion in investment over the next three years to create a million jobs.
Related posts
