Closing European innovation gap ‘requires systematic change’

Experts recommend long-term investment in education, infrastructure and skills to narrow divide

Improving the innovation performance of lagging European countries will require long-term investment in higher education, research infrastructures and knowledge transfer skills, experts have told Research Professional News.

On 8 July, the 2024 European Innovation Scoreboard from the European Commission showed that the EU as a whole is gradually improving its innovation performance but that there is a persistent divide between its leaders and laggards. This roughly follows geographical lines, the Commission flagged, with northern and western Europe leading the way and the east and south trailing.