October 2018

ICT and Productivity: Europe’s Future Challenge

The Lisbon Council convened the High-Level Roundtable and Policy Brief Launch on ICT, Productivity and European Prosperity. The session brought together an eclectic audience of policymakers, digital afficionados, academics and business leaders for a wide-ranging discussion on the way ICT can be used to foster greater productivity in Europe. Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), kicked off the discussion with a presentation on the key findings of How ICT Can Restore Lagging European Productivity Growth, a new policy brief which argues that supporting ICT adaption can restore productivity growth in Europe. Dirk Pilat, deputy director for science, technology and innovation at the OECD, discussed recent OECD findings on productivity and ICT including an overview of the emerging digital strategy. Fabrizia Benini, head of the digital economy and skills unit at the European Commission, shared the European Union’s plans and priorities in this field. The roundtable convened under the banner of DSM 2.0: Digital Futures Forum, a Lisbon Council-led initiative on Europe’s next digital agenda.