The European Union is stepping up its efforts to strengthen its technological position. In the draft Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Commission announced more than €400 billion from the European Competitiveness Fund for investment in the area of, inter alia, digital transformation and space. Under Horizon Europe, € 175 billion will be allocated to global innovation. Subsequent announcements concern strategies related to semiconductor production in Europe, the improvement of data centres and AI. The aim of these initiatives is to increase technological sovereignty and to improve the ability to compete with planet leaders.
– The European Union must build its digital and technological competences, due to the fact that it is the only way to preserve technological sovereignty – emphasises Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of Digitization in an interview with Newseria Agency. – Europe focuses on innovation, technological leap and technological sovereignty. Hence, the various programmes that are intended to strengthen our competences and give EU countries a chance to compete with planet giants.
Projects targeting digital sovereignty are an crucial component of the revision of the Union strategy. 1 example is the European Chip Act, which aims to increase semiconductor production in Europe, strengthen supply chains and make the EU independent of external suppliers. In 2030, the European Commission aims to guarantee that the Union's share of global chip production is 20%.
Last year, the Commission besides launched a process to support the construction of European AI factories – infrastructure to enable training of large models and advanced device learning systems on European equipment. In full it is 19 AI factories in 16 associate States, including 2 in Poland. The function of the EU in the improvement of artificial intelligence is to be strengthened by the InvestAI instrument, which sets up a fund of EUR 20 billion to make up to 5 AI gigafactories.
"I am increasingly assessing the actions of the European Union in the context of supporting innovation. We halt looking only at regulations. This forces the current relation between the European Union and the United States and Donald Trump's administration. – says Dr. Maciej Kawecki, president of the Lem Institute, manager of the Centre for Innovation at the University of WSB Merito in Warsaw. – On the another hand, only 11 European companies in the area of artificial intelligence are worth over a billion dollars – so the question arises where we in this race are and what our function is to be.
For the moment, Europe is lagging behind the number of alleged AI unicorns – among the top 10 companies in the planet and among the most valuable unicorns there are no European players.
– The answer to the question of whether Europe has a chance to be a leader in the area of large artificial intelligence is: of course there is no – says Dr Maciej Kawecki. – The revolution in which we are, however, is more than just language models. It is besides artificial intelligence at application level, integration of quantum computers, quantum algorithms with artificial intelligence mechanisms, an area of unmanned aircraft and the usage of artificial intelligence in predictive areas. This is simply a full lot of areas where, in my opinion, Europe has a chance to be a leader.
"I believe that Europe needs projects that will connect countries in different regions with strong organisms. Gigafactory as 1 of the projects operating on the Old Continent present is an example of how to build a strong regional cooperation based on digital technologies. I hope that there will be more specified projects, especially in the region of Central and east Europe, which, as a region, has a very strong sense of common history, common needs and today's position in technology development. It is so crucial that we make 1 strong voice in this region and build a strong digital hub for Europe – is judged by Michał Kanownik, president of the Digital Union of Poland.
Experts item the request to increase resources for investigation and development. Within the EU, Horizon Europe has become the largest investigation programme in history. In December, the European Commission adopted a work plan under the programme for the next 2 years. In line with this, between 2026 and 2027 EUR 14 billion will be allocated to investigation and innovation in all the strategical objectives of the Union. In turn, the draft fresh EU budget for the period 2028-2034 allocated EUR 175 billion to the programme. The financing of world-class innovation is besides to be closely linked to the European Competitiveness Fund, for which the EC has foreseen EUR 409 billion. Among the precedence areas of this fund were defence, space manufacture and digital transformation. As announced, Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund will offer support for the full investment process of the task (from concept to scale-up) and will reduce both the costs incurred by possible beneficiaries and the timing of the payment.
According to Dr. Maciej Kawecki, large investments by private entities in data centres in Europe can besides aid increase R & D spending.
– The improvement of artificial intelligence is besides an area of discipline and research. 1 of the ways is to make large technology companies open to spending billions of dollars in the European Union. The way to attract them is to open huge, billion-dollar data centers – water-cooled from the Baltic Sea or utilizing renewable energy sources, due to the fact that that is what is missing even in the United States present – explains Dr. Maciej Kawecki. – If we had led to a situation where specified data centres were created in the European Union, billions of dollars would have come to us, and then we would have transferred these resources to discipline and innovation. Then we'd have a chance to get to a point where we're not just about the planet of technology. This is to be done in three–four years.
In addition to investment initiatives, the European Commission besides announced simplification of rules for technology companies, including artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. This will besides include consolidating EU data government (with Data Act, the Data Act) and stimulating the improvement of European companies dealing with artificial intelligence by unlocking access to advanced quality data sets for AI. This is what deregulation is about to become part of the acceleration that the fresh technology sector has been waiting for for years. Companies have frequently pointed out that the pace of technology improvement is higher than the pace of regulation. In response, the European Commission launched a review of regulations that hinder investment in fast-cycle technologies.
"Today we have a affirmative signal from the European Commission to realize that in order to build the competitiveness of the European economy, we request to simplify the law, remove excessive barriers to innovation. Innovation needs regulatory space to make to make fresh products, digital services. We will see how this process ends – This is Michael Kannik.
The manufacture expects the combination of deregulation and backing to translate into a greater competitiveness for European companies in the global market.
The Deputy Prime Minister stresses that the ongoing digital revolution is 1 of the elements of building state security.
“The more we invest in this market, the more we effort to get fresh talent, the more we aid companies, the more administrative cooperation, public institutions with business, the better for countries and their expansion. It's the greater the chance that no 1 will attack us, and in the event of this attack, we will be able to effectively defend ourselves. – emphasises Krzysztof Gawkowski. – In pre-war times in which we live, in which we request to be armed, both in the conventional edition and in cyberspace, work for science, fresh technologies, basic investigation must be at the centre of the government's attention. This is how Poland treats this area.
