Growth, jobs and more

  Another modern touch in the updated Lisbon Strategy is a reference to Open access to knowledge and Open innovation, both in the context of 5th freedom: “Member States and the EU must remove barriers to the free movement of knowledge by creating a “fifth freedom” based on enhancing the cross-border mobility of researchers, as well as students, scientists, and university teaching staff, making the labor market for European researchers more open and competitive” It is the free movement of the  entire creative class  that can make sure that in Europe we can put the best person to the job. Each individual member state is too small a market for the highly skilled and their movement is hampered through all kinds of obstacles. But the phrasing “ cross-border mobility of the  creative class ” or “ cross-border mobility of  talents ” did not pass  under  the bar. Member states do have a broader vision. For example, the discussion paper of the UK government “Re...

The economic and social future of Europe is mainly outlined in a strategy called "Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs". Launched in 2000 it provides the blueprint for Europe staying competitive in the globlized economy. It so happened that at the Spring European Council ending a few minutes ago, Europe is launching the next three year cycle. The European Council is presided by Slovenia and as the Minister in charge for the Lisbon Strategy in Slovenia I imagine that I had a little bit of influence on the flavor of the strategy in its next cycle. The first lesson learned with Slovenia in the driving seat of the EU is that it cannot make any sharp turns. The EU is much like a huge cargo ship with 27 smaller or larger tow boats trying to push it a bit in that or the other direction. And in the last couple of months we did some more pushing than one would expect from one of the smallest member states. Since its beginnings in 2000, the Lisbon Strategy was placing high hop...

Some notes for the speech to the European University Business Forum in Brussels last week. Key messages: universities were designed for a paper based communication technology which is outdated; the prevailing position that the universities have had on education and research and their other functions is coming to an end; universities need to change; updated Lisbon strategy is sending some messages in this respect, but there is a limit to what politics can do; the change must be initiated from within the universities; for this they need more freedom, but also more competition and market orientation; universities should be less of an industrialized mechanism to crank out graduates and more of a community of teachers an students, shaping minds rather that transferring knowledge. Dear X, dear y, ladies and gentleman, It is a pleasure etc. etc. … I was lecturing design communication , how professionals communicate when they design and build....

Here are some slides from the talk I gave in Berlin in January . In summary: Communication revolutions change the way we live together. They change culture, innovation, technology and the political process. We are at the middle of the second communication revolution. Internet is unleashing the human potential, the creativity, and allows the participation of the masses. Governments should exploit this. Updated Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs is taking note. eGovernment 2.0 is about two way communication. Internet is platform for public debate, exchange of ideas and problem solving. Government services are a springboard for community made services. Government AND citizens, business jointly provide services, information. Government mediates, rather than rules. Not just G2x but also x2G and x2y.

This is fairly similar to the way I see the opportunities of Europe during the so-called Asian century: The Comeback Continent - New York Times : "Today I’d like to talk about a much-derided contender making a surprising comeback, a comeback that calls into question much of the conventional wisdom of American politics. No, I’m not talking about a politician. I’m talking about an economy — specifically, the European economy, which many Americans assume is tired and spent but has lately been showing surprising vitality." However, one wonders if this is the way: Amazon's free shipping costing €1,000 per day in France : "Did you hear the one about Amazon? It offered free shipping in France, got sued for it by the French Booksellers' Union, and lost. Now it's choosing to pay €1,000 a day rather than follow the court's order. Ba-da-bing!"

One of the nice traditions of the Joint Technology Center of the European Commission is that they maintain "semesters" according to the schedule of the European Council presidencies. So the Slovenian semester started a few days ago. I was asked to take part at the kick-off of the Slovenian semester at Ispra, Italy and gladly accepted the invitation. Last but not least, my Faculty for Civil Engineering has an on-going and fruitful cooperation with the JRC's ELSA lab and was even able to meet some of my former students there. Of course there were a few speeches. Mine included. Below are the slides I made to use as talking points. Key message: Europe is about synergies among its parts. JRC's are a good example of that. | View | Upload your own

The "Lisbon Strategy" alias "the strategy for growth and jobs" is resulting in growth, does create jobs, but is not something that the Europeans would care about. I tried to run "lisbon strategy" through Google Trends and the result was: Your terms - "lisbon strategy" - do not have enough search volume to show graphs. Translation: nobody cares. Very few people know that the strategy sets targets such as investing 3% of GDP in R&D, that it calls for 70% employment, for 25% reduction in administrative burden or 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The strategy will be updated in spring 2008 under the Slovenian presidency. The discussions about the update started earlier this year. Portugal (as the current presidency) and Slovenia (as the next) established good cooperation. On Tuesday the Commission published its view on the past and future of the Strategy that is taking many of those discussions into account. As a very early adopte...