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| Angela Merkel, German chancellor, giving a history lesson at a Berlin school, Aug 13, 2013 |
Davos 2014: Berlin is vying to become Euro's tech startup hub and according
to McKinsey, the consultancy firm, it could add 100,000 new jobs by 2020. However, in a blog post for
the World Economic Forum, in advance of Wednesday's opening of the 44th annual
meeting of the forum in the Alpine resort, a digital insider who lives in Berlin
says: "Many are looking to the technology industry for solutions, hoping to
replicate the success of Silicon Valley. However, while there is no doubt about
the size and importance of technology as an industry, copying the US model will
not solve Europe’s problem."
Igor Schwarzmann, a co-founder of Third
Wave, a Berlin-based digital business consultancy,
says that "more and
more young Europeans are hoping to make money by founding tech start-ups.
Increasingly, they are relying on so-called incubators to guide them to
success.
Despite talk of changing the world, incubators are not fundamentally
different from military boot camps. Despite their promise to cherish
individuality and creativity, they’re really only interested in conformity;
they punish startups that stray from proposed business models and
predefined processes (processes that, despite incubators’ claims, are built
around financial risk assessment models and are not there to help founders.
Investors want their money back.)"
Schwarzmann says that the Berlin unemployment rate is significantly higher than the rest of Germany,
"yet of that group of job-seekers only a few have the potential to work in a
technology startup."
He wants a European approach to the technology industry with a focus on
sustainable businesses that pay tax to the community and "instead of
pilgrimages to San Francisco, startup founders should travel to southern
Germany. This is the home of the Mittelstand, the small and medium-size
enterprises that are the reason for Germany’s success as an export-driven
nation."
Ireland
We at Finfacts said last
month that 2013 was the year when Ireland would be recognised as a "world-class
knowledge economy," according to a 2006 official target.
The issue was
buried by the establishment as patent applications fell to a 30-year low.
Putting research at the heart of enterprise policy is delusional but providing
no evidence of success, Richard Bruton's Department told Finfacts:
"Minister Bruton and the Department of Jobs are
unashamedly ambitious for the
potential of scientific research in Ireland to support economic growth and
job-creation in Ireland" - - this
comes down to faith and we expect that time will be called when the
effort to conceal failure with public funds will be unsustainable. A recent
€88m project, is a combination of SFI public funding (€58m) and 30 industry
partners (€30m). "This does not include other state funding such as academic
salaries, buildings, in universities etc which may be used at times by the
research centre," the Department said meaning that for industry partners net of
grants and tax credits, Joe Taxpayer is funding the lion's share.
There can be a very thin line
between a minister being "unashamedly
ambitious" and
clueless.
Irish Innovation: Evidence of science policy failure mounts - - high growth firms are not typically in high tech
and McKinsey Global Institute has said: "While many policy makers see
innovative technologies as the answer to the challenge of job creation, our
analysis indicates that governments are likely to be disappointed in such
hopes.”
US company profits per Irish employee at $970,000; Tax paid in Ireland at
$25,000
Irish Medium-Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020: Exports to plunge by €50bn -
Parts 1-8
