Final report on Key Enabling Technologies - European Commission ...

o Triggering a virtuous cycle
The three pillar bridge will trigger a virtuous cycle of innovation and economic development. The flow from
knowledge generation to market enables companies to successively pass:
- From basic science to technology by the technological research stage;
- From technology to product by the product development stage;
- From products to large scale production stage by competitive manufacturing stage to have access to global
competitive markets.
The return flow from market to knowledge generation closes a virtuous cycle leading to a competitive growth and
in turn also facilitating a market pull.
In particular:
- It is only based on market experience feedback that one can acquire a true understanding of user needs
and therefore the relevant specifications of future products. It is also this large volume production that
ensures a significant return on investment for Europe in terms of orders, employment and taxes, thus
enabling a harmonious societal development.
- From this feedback loop, products arising from the demonstration phase will have been correctly specified,
they will naturally find an optimal usage value which will in turn lead to a relevant demonstration. The
return on investment of this stage is therefore de-facto guaranteed.
- The product evolution expected by consumers having been identified, it is therefore easier to identify
the technologies in gestation or to initiate the technological developments required to address the
technological breakthrough needed. The level of relevance of the technology is in turn improved significantly
along with its chances of future exploitation.
- <strong>Final</strong>ly the technological developers can, in turn, identify the most relevant ideas in the knowledge reservoir
arising from the European fundamental research. This research base will therefore become more “useable”
and more “useful” thereby ensuring a return on investment at its proper level.
- At the same time, early feedback from the manufacturing community will allow European industry to
understand and identify new possible product specifications. This is only possible if these communities
remain in Europe. Such a virtuous cycle constitutes a solid bridge which links the basic science to the global
market.
The combined KETs sectorial SWOT and value chain analysis identified a double condition for sustainability:
technological capability and manufacturing capacity.
Figure 14: How to improve the competitiveness of
European KETs
Therefore, KETs competitiveness improvement must follow two
combined routes within the overall KETs integrated strategy as
shown in Figure 14 :
- improving technology capability mainly supported by
public investment;
- improving manufacturing capacity primarily supported
by private investment. Returns on investment in Europe
due to the increasing manufacturing capacity of existing
companies and the attraction of international investment,
will ensure the sustainability of the actions.
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