Bananen, chocolade en plakband: ik ontmoet de mensen die werken aan de techniek van morgen (en)

Met dank overgenomen van N. (Neelie) Kroes i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 29 januari 2013.

The EU has long invested in research in innovation. And quite right too - because this is something essential to building a strong economy, and a strong society. Yesterday I announced two large scale programmes in particular that will benefit from that investment, on a sustained and large scale.

They were:

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    The Graphene Flagship programme - looking at a new substance that could one day transform electronics - not to mention transport, healthcare or others. It really is a miracle material, the focus of a lot of research activity. In future maybe we’ll have “Graphene Valley”, instead of Silicon Valley: and maybe it will be right here in Europe.
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    And the Human Brain Project, looking at how this incredible machine represents reality. Not just to better our understanding of brain diseases, but maybe also as a new model for tomorrow’s computers.

The two programmes, together involving 161 partners from 25 countries, will benefit from €1 billion each in funding from the EU and others: but the scale of the investment matches the scale of the challenge, and the huge potential pay-off.

These programmes are not just massively important - they are fascinating too. It was my pleasure to chat with the leaders of the two “Flagships” about what they’re doing - and what the world might look like in 20 years’ time, thanks to their hard work. Check out our two discussions here:

All in all this is an important reminder of how important research and innovation are to our future growth - and how much we can achieve if we work together. That’s something I hope that EU leaders remember as they debate the future EU budget next week.

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