Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506723
11 WORLD 31.8.2023 THE EU appears to have a tech innova- tion problem despite getting much else right. The vast majority of apps and tech- based platforms that EU citizens depend on are US-made. Just the dominance of Apple and Mi- crosoft alone when it comes to our computers and phones is gargantuan. Then you have Uber, Airbnb, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Skype, Instagram, even dating apps like Tinder and Bum- ble. And of course there is the all-pow- erful tech app behemoth — certainly for younger generations — that is Tik- Tok from China and which wields enor- mous influence. "Europe significantly lags behind the US and China as a tech power," says the Twitter account Science Is Strategic, highlighting how this "tech stagnation" has serious "economic consequences for Europe's prosperity and beyond". This lack of tech innovation repre- sents a major strategic flaw for the EU's proclaimed vision. In the name of environmental con- cerns the EU is focusing on deindustri- alisation and considering ideas such as "degrowth", even though it doesn't have the technological depth or replacement capacity that might help facilitate the transition and mitigate the economic consequences. In its efforts to regulate and level the business playing field, the EU too often churns out unnecessary red tape that restricts innovation and entrepreneur- ship. The EU does have successful tech companies like Airbus, the multina- tional aerospace designer and manu- facturer, and ASML, the Dutch compa- ny that manufacturers machines used to produce computer chips. These "are genuinely world leading", Science Is Strategic says. But the bloc doesn't have enough of these sorts of companies — especial- ly when you consider it is drawing on 27 developed nations — and its dom- inance remains in traditional sectors such as tourism and producing the likes of luxury, more high-end goods. "The overall risk for Europe is that its prosperity and influence will con- tinue to decline given how important technology is to economic vitality and competitiveness," Science Is Strategic notes. "Slowing tech competitiveness has already contributed to lower levels of productivity growth and per capita income in Europe [versus] the U.S." EU's lack of technological innovation is fundamental strategic flaw e vast majority of apps and tech-based platforms that EU citizens depend on are US-made. Just the dominance of Apple and Microso alone when it comes to our computers and phones is gargantuan