How To Make Europe Grow (Again)
How to reignite Europe's growth and stay ahead
More detailed information
Over the last 25 years, productivity growth in the EU has slowed down significantly, on countless levels.
The productivity gap with the US has been rapidly widening (where it was 17% in 2002, it’s now around 30%), and meanwhile China has managed to catch up at an astonishing rate.
That's very problematic because when you stop growing, it’s like when you stop pedalling when you’re cycling. You have to keep moving to get ahead. When you stop pedalling, you eventually lose momentum, and it can end with a fall.
Europe has been worried about a slowdown in growth since the beginning of this century. Various strategies to boost growth have come and gone, but the trend has remained unchanged."
These are the opening words of a recent report written by Mario Draghi - former President of the European Central Bank and one of our greatest economic minds - after being tasked by the European Commission to share his personal vision for the future of European competitiveness.
What is going on exactly?
How can we fix this mess to avoid Europe turning into nothing but a large open-air museum?
And, importantly, why is this also your concern?
Keynote by
Robin Wauters is a longtime European tech observer who founded the region's premier information portal and market intelligence platform, Tech.eu, and currently the founder and managing director of Profoundo, a strategic communications advisory firm for fast-growth technology scale-ups and investors.
He is part of the founding team behind BeCentral, the digital campus located in Brussels Central Station that has helped thousands of people learn technologies, grow a startup and have a positive impact on society, and helped start the Syndicate One seed investment group, which helps ambitious Belgian early-stage tech company founders realise their visions.
As an executive advisor to the non-profit Pulse Foundation, which exists to promote and stimulate entrepreneurship in Belgium, he is helping to upscale BEyond, the country's only accelerator for technology scale-ups.
Robin is on a mission to boost the competitiveness of the Belgian technology, startup and investment ecosystems, but also at a pan-European scale as an incoming board member of the European Startup Network.
Seasoned tech strategist and communications expert, specializing in scaling startups and strengthening tech ecosystems through platforms
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