As employers and as creators of wealth, the service industries now dominate most developed economies, including Europe’s. But innovation policy thinking remains focused on manufacturing. A new report from the European Commission’s Enterprise DG calls for better understanding – and more vigorous promotion – of innovation in services.
he European Union is consciously engaged in transforming itself into a knowledge economy. But the extent to which this transformation has already taken place sometimes seems to be overlooked. The authors of a new Innovation study, to be published by the European Commission early in 2005(1), point out that services now account for around twothirds of EU employment and GDP. Of the 76 million jobs created in the US between 1970 and 2000, 93% are in services. And Eurostat believes that over the past two decades in Europe, additional jobs have only been created in the service sector.
(1) ‘Innovation in Services: Issues at Stake and Trends’. The study is one of a series from the Innovation policy unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise. The full series is available at /innovation-policy/studies/
May 2004
INNOVATION IN SERVICES
he European Union is consciously engaged in transforming itself into a knowledge economy. But the extent to which this transformation has already taken place sometimes seems to be overlooked. The authors of a new Innovation study, to be published by the European Commission early in 2005(