Red tape strangling Europe's €10bn IT R&D spend

Europe is falling behind international competitors despite over €10bn of IT research and development funding over the last five years, according to a report by the European Commission (EC).

The EC report found that European Union investment in "information society technologies" (IST) research needs to be increased if the region is to compete with the likes of the US and Asia.

"Despite Europe’s major investment in IST-related research since the 1980s Europe is not performing well enough with regard to its international competitors, especially the US, Japan and emerging Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, South Korea and India," the report said.

The EC report calls for an increase in funding for IST research and development, a reduction in red tape which it says threatens to strangle research, a greater involvement of small and medium-sized businesses and new European Union member states, and for countries to address the IT research skills shortage in Europe.

The full findings of the Five-Year Assessment: 1999 -2003 Research and Technology Development in Information Society Technologies can be found here