EU innovation disparities will be hard to overcome

Subject

Innovation performance across regions.

Significance

The gap between the least and most innovative regions in the EU is widening, the European Commission’s Regional Innovation Scoreboard published in June shows. As innovation is one of the most important drivers of productivity and competitiveness, this divergence creates challenges for European policymakers.

Impacts

• Progress in creating an EU-wide digital single market would boost the growth potential of the digital economy and spur innovation.
• Germany’s lack of high-speed internet connections, especially in rural areas, could hold up innovation.
• Concerns about data protection and privacy could limit opportunities for new digital services.