The argument put forward by Marietje Schaake for a European digital ecosystem independent of America is a strong one (“Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness”, Opinion, February 20), but it skips the how.
Europe can’t match the dizzying heights of Silicon Valley’s spending — where the four leading tech companies are lining up to spend over $320bn on artificial intelligence this year alone. But it can compete with the US by leaning on its talent, research capabilities and industrial foundations.
Home to some of the world’s leading universities and research programmes, Europe is a Petri dish for the type of innovation that makes a real impact to business outcomes.
This is particularly true for AI, where most of its value comes from its applications. The real opportunity lies in creating enterprise-ready solutions that meet the needs of European industries.
Instead of chasing scale for scale’s sake, EU tech funding must prioritise efficiency, interoperability, and industry-specific solutions that create real economic value.
Tom Henriksson
General Partner, OpenOcean,
Helsinki, Finland
