Well, just how innovative are we?
How can European innovation be measured? This is the overarching question to be tackled by a group of prominent business innovators and economists put together by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. The right measurement indicator would help track Europe's progress on its quest to become a more innovative economy. The High Level Panel is chaired by Professor Andreu Mas-Colell, Secretary General of the European Research Council (ERC) and Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain. The role of the 13 members is to advise Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn and the European Commission on a suitable method (or methods) to gauge and measure Europe's innovation progress. During the Spring European Council (held on 25 and 26 March 2010), EU leaders (Heads of State and Government, the President of the European Council, and President of the European Commission) discussed the EU's new strategy for jobs and growth, known as 'Europe 2020'. The Council agreed on the main elements of the strategy (which will be formally adopted in June 2010) including the key 'headline' targets that constitute shared objectives and guide the action of both the EU and Member States. One of the targets is to improve the conditions for research and development (R&D) by bringing combined public and private investment levels in this sector to 3% of GDP (gross domestic product). As part of this target, EU leaders agreed that an indicator should be developed that reflects R&D and innovation intensity. Indeed, the Council concluded at the meeting that the success of the implementation of the new strategy rests largely on efficient monitoring mechanisms. They agreed that macroeconomic, structural and competitiveness developments under the new strategy will all be considered along with overall financial stability. In addition to benchmarking the progress of the Europe 2020 strategy, a measurement indicator would also capture overall research and innovation performance (including rationales for differences between Member States), help benchmark Europe's performance against that of other regions and countries, and feed into the implementation of the 'Research and Innovation Strategy for Europe' that Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn will propose in autumn 2010. The High Level Panel comprises the following leading business innovators and economists: Dr Martin Curley (Ireland), Director of Intel Labs Europe and a Senior Principal Engineer at Intel Corporation; Professor Dominique Foray (France/Switzerland), who holds the Chair of Economics and Management of Innovation at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); Professor Bronwyn Hall (Netherlands/US), Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and Professor of Economics of Technology and Innovation at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands; Dr Hugo Hollanders (Netherlands), economist and Senior Research Fellow at UNU-MERIT (United Nations University and Maastricht University); Dr Branko Huc (Slovenia), co-founder and Managing Director of the Slovenian start-up company, Lenis d.o.o; Professor Henning Kagermann (Germany), President of Acatech (the German Academy of Science and Engineering); Professor Franco Malerba (Italy), Professor of Industrial Economics at Bocconi University; Dr Erkki Ormala (Finland), Vice President, Business Environment, Corporate Relations and Responsibility at Nokia Corporation; Dr Helmar Rendez (Germany), Head of Business Unit Distribution at Vattenfall Business Group Central Europe; Dr Ammon Salter (UK), Reader in Innovation Management in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Group at Imperial College Business School; Mr Marek Serafin (Poland), Member of the Management Board, Petrochemical Operations, PKN Orlen; and Mr Diogo Vasconcelos (Portugal), Distinguished Fellow of Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG). The panel will also consult with OECD (Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development) experts. Its work will also be assisted by staff of the European Commission's Directorate General for Research (DG RTD) and Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry (DG ENTR), and economists from other Commission services.