EURADA benchmarks regional competitiveness
No fewer than nine lessons are drawn from pilot projects on benchmarking framework conditions - in the fields of professional qualification, logistics, the impact of new information technologies (NITs) on company organisation, and the financing of innovation - as reported in the January 1999 issue of the newsletter of the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA). The results of the four pilot projects, co-financed by the European Union, are available on URL: http://www.benchmarking-in-europe.com The lessons drawn included: - Companies located in peripheral regions suffer from the poor quality of infrastructures, expensive logistical services and weaknesses in the field of transnational cooperation; - The authorities should support the effective use of NIT and the enhancement of NIT-related structures; - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lack NIT qualifications and skills; - Business Angels play a lesser role in innovation in Europe than in the US, probably due to tax- and revenue-related problems; - Even though it remains below the number of such companies operating in the US, the number of venture capital companies operating in Member States of the EU is rising (750 versus 1800); - Generally speaking and in comparison with the US and Israel, Europe suffers from a deficit in terms of the ability to evaluate technological risks and from a lack of initiatives to support faster interaction between universities and companies; - Education policies should be more practical and in-company training should be fully integrated in the programmes of higher education institutions; - Closer links should be promoted between industry and the educational system; - The skills which new workers lack most upon entry to the labour market are (a) knowledge of English, (b) computer literacy, (c) knowledge about the industrial world, and (d) adaptability.