DIGITALEUROPE Position Paper on Science 2.0

KEY MESSAGES

DIGITALEUROPE welcomes the European Commission’s consultation on ‘Science 2.0: Science in Transition’ as an exercise to better understand the opportunities and challenges of new modes of (collaborative) research.

ICT industry in general – including the members of DIGITALEUROPE – plays a very important role in Europe in advancing science and technology to bring digital innovation into the market. By the same token digital industries acknowledge the need to bring citizens and science closer, considering that ICT may help bridging the gap.

Drawing from their expertise and experience, DIGITALEUROPE members recognize many of the trends listed by the European Commission in its background document. By responding to the questionnaire, we hope to contribute to the EU executive’s efforts to have an informed view of possible future trends and implications of ‘Science 2.0’.

It is in this spirit that DIGITALEUROPE wishes hereby to address some additional points and issues of concern which should be taken into account by European policy-makers when considering any policy action in the field of Science 2.0.

We have addressed here below a few specific items. On a more horizontal level, we also would like to draw attention to the overall approach of ‘Science 2.0’:

(a) given the relevance of ICT as driver of listed trends, we would advise DG Research and Innovation as the lead DG of ‘Science 2.0’ to closely work with DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology in order to have a more comprehensive overview of barriers and opportunities;

(b) while DIGITALEUROPE is not well positioned to suggest which disciplines would most /least benefit from ‘Science 2.0’ opportunities, we would like to underline that any approach should pay particular attention to those sectors/disciplines that are closer to commercial exploitation. In commercially oriented areas, the business and competitiveness environment need to be taken into account if the EU wished to spur research and innovation activities.