NEWSLETTER

Issue # 46, December 2014

European Forum for Science and Industry

News

EU companies must boost R&D investment to stay globally competitive

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%).

These results are published on 4 December in the '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. Data show that EU-based companies (633) invested €162.4 billion in 2013, whereas US-based companies (804) invested €193.7 billion and the 387 Japanese ones €85.6 billion.

The EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard is published annually by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation and DG ). The 2014 Scoreboard is based on a sample of 2500 companies. The research 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. It comprises companies that invested more than €15.5 million in R&D in 2013. They are based in the EU (633), the US (804), Japan (387) and other countries (676) including China (199), Taiwan (104), South Korea (80) and Switzerland (62). Thanks to the Joint Research Center's 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.

1 The 2014 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment trends is based on an extended sample of the top 1000 R&D investors located in the EU.

Related links:

Infographics: EU R&D Scoreboard 2014 2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard 2014 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment trends Press release: EU companies must boost R&D investment to stay globally competitive

Upcoming events

Round Table on Digital Privacy: Citizen Rights in the Light of New Technologies, Commercial needs 28 January 2015 European Commission's , Rue de la Loi 200, , Belgium

The Joint Research Centre in close cooperation with the European Council of Academies of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering (Euro-CASE) is organising a Round Table on the theme of "Digital Privacy: Citizen Rights in the Light of New Technologies, Commercial needs " in Brussels on 28 January 2014. The aim of the Round Table is twofold: to underline the importance of technological progress in enhancing European competitiveness and boosting innovation while addressing privacy related concerns from the perspective of different stakeholders. This event envisages contributing to the ongoing debate by bringing together actors from science, industry, society and policy making, to address privacy related concerns from different perspectives and the contribution of science in facing the existing and upcoming challenges. For further information, please write to [email protected].

Workshop on Paving the Way for Advanced Manufacturing: Technology Transfer 25 February 2015 European Commission's Breydel building, Avenue d’Auderghem 45, Brussels, Belgium

The European Commission's in-house science service – the Joint Research Centre (JRC) organises a workshop on "Paving the way for advanced manufacturing: technology transfer". Advanced and clean manufacturing is a key driver of the upcoming industrial revolution. The aim of this workshop is to explore how technology transfer activities can be used as a mechanism to help EU industry, particularly manufacturing SMEs, to adopt new advanced and clean manufacturing technologies. Practical examples will be presented to illustrate the potential of technology transfer in this area. The workshop will gather technology providers, industry executives, technology transfer officers, policy makers and financial intermediaries to share experiences and lessons learned. One of the key objectives is to discuss policy implications at all levels that could help accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies by the European manufacturing industry.

2 To support innovation in Europe, the JRC launched in 2011 the European Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) circle, which brings together the technology transfer offices of the largest European public research organisations. In this context, this workshop has been organised in close cooperation with the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA), and other European Commission's services such as the Directorate General for Research & Innovation, which supports R&I actions on advanced manufacturing systems under Horizon 2020, and the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry, which leads the task force on advanced manufacturing for clean production. For further information, please visit the JRC Science Hub, where you can also register for the Workshop via our events registration tool.

Further information

You can also find information on the European Forum for Science and Industry online: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/efsi A more general overview over current JRC activities is given by the JRC newsletter: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/jrc-newsletter

The JRC invites you to contribute

The JRC invites you to participate… On a regular basis, the JRC will publish news about the European Forum for Science and Industry. This will include information on JRC activities related to industry needs, updates on innovative examples from science and industry as well as the announcement of upcoming events from both JRC and partners. Therefore, I invite you to actively contribute to this publication: if you would like to present an interesting study, innovative idea or event, you are welcome to contact the JRC: [email protected]

The JRC

…is the European Commission's in-house science service. It provides independent scientific advice for policy decisions, with a view to ensuring that the European Union achieves its Europe 2020 goals for a productive economy as well as a safe, secure and sustainable future. The JRC includes 7 institutes in 5 European countries and collaborates extensively with over 1000 public and private organisations, institutions and expert groups.

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With this issue we would like to thank all of our partners for the fruitful cooperation WITH SEASON'S GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR! 3