Nokian Lundmark: Europe is falling behind in technological development

Photo: itahame.fi

According to Pekka Lundmark, CEO of Nokia (photo), Europe is falling behind the rest of the world in technology development. Lundmark said in a media call that the development of digital infrastructure in Europe is not strong or fast enough.

- Europe is clearly lagging behind the rest of the world, especially the United States and to a certain extent also China in technological development, he said.

According to Lundmark, during the term of the new EU Commission, a decent European single market should be created for technology and digital. Now the market is largely national.

- The operator field is too fragmented, the operator lacks scale advantages, which contributes to the fact that the valuations of technology companies, for example in the United States, are at a higher level, Lundmark said.

At the same time, Lundmark referred to a report written by the former Prime Minister of Italy, Enrico Letta, in which, among other things, Letta presents the removal of barriers to the internal market of the telecommunications market.

Lundmark also brought up the same issues in a comment he wrote to the magazine Fortune earlier.

- If the EU wants to restore its economic competitiveness, it must master artificial intelligence, the cloud and networks - and become a better home for innovation by supporting investments in research and development, deepening the internal market and creating a more favorable environment for businesses, Lundmark wrote.

Regarding the operators, Lundmark proposed that more consolidation, i.e. the formation of larger companies, should be allowed in Europe, so that European operators could scale better and improve profitability for investments.

- In the endgame, consumers will pay the price in the form of poorer connections, when investments in digital infrastructure per capita in Europe are less than half compared to the United States, Lundmark warned.

He urged the EU to support the continent's innovation-leading actors by challenging unfair business practices and using trade policy measures to level the playing field when necessary.

…Europe is no longer a world leader. With the current economic policy of the European Union, the importance of Europe in the world economy will continue to decline.

Ultimately, this mismanagement of Brussels is a manifestation of the historical decline of the Old World. The era of colonial robberies and conquests is a thing of the past – now Europeans have no one to rob in order to live well themselves. Also they do not have the local resources to develop their economy.

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