We cannot build Europe’s digital future on national preferences

Andrea Renda, Director of Research at CEPS, is one of the European voices who can both see the big picture and has his hands deeply immersed in concrete analyses and data.

Precisely for that reason, he strikes a nerve when he emphasizes a particular point: We cannot build Europe’s digital future according to national preferences. We must build it according to countries’ real capabilities.

This is one of the sharp messages Andrea Renda brings with him, among others, when he serves as keynote speaker at IT-Branchen’s annual meeting on Thursday, March 25.

“We want it here” is not a strategy

When Europe seeks to build technological strength, it cannot do so based on national interests or prestige projects. It is not enough for a country to want to be the centre of a particular type of investment.

If the EU does not think coherently about the relationship between regional strengths and overarching investment strategies, we risk falling behind in the global AI race.

Andrea Renda acts as a central advisor and knowledge partner to the EU system (including the Commission) through CEPS’ role as a leading European think tank. He therefore has insight into both the engine room and the political realities.

Renda’s call is that we must aim to connect national strengths with the EU’s overarching plan. One of the AI initiatives he is particularly focused on is the AI factories, which are part of the EU’s ambitious plan to create an “AI continent.”

AI factories are a necessary step

The AI factories are intended to function as test and training facilities where supercomputers are made available to businesses to develop “trustworthy AI” and to ensure that smaller companies in particular gain the opportunity to strengthen their innovative capacity using AI.

According to Andrea Renda, AI factories are a necessary step — but the initiative also raises several critical questions.

Because despite the high ambitions, Europe is not being strategic enough about where the AI factories are located. He points out, among other things, that the locations do not align with the leading AI hubs, do not match where the highest concentration of specialists is found, and do not necessarily correspond to where energy prices are most competitive.

And here he touches on one of the discussions that is becoming increasingly urgent: What kind of ecosystem are we building right now? And are we building it in the right places?

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