Project description
A closer look at Europe’s IT past to secure the future
Europe’s computing industry has historically lagged behind the US in terms of establishing globally competitive IT firms. This disparity has contributed to a decline in European productivity and innovation. Despite the continent’s success in other industries, such as oil, the IT sector remains a weak spot. Understanding the roots of this problem is crucial for future economic development. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the DITNO project investigates this issue. Spanning the post-WWII era to the present, the research examines archives from companies, states, and the EU. By comparing the computing sector’s evolution with Europe’s successful oil industry, DITNO aims to explore the EU’s role in fostering competitive tech companies.
Objective
The “Data is the new oil – a political history of the European computing industry” project investigates the history of the European computing industry from the aftermath of the second world war until the present. The research will be based primarily on companies’ archives, State Archives, and the historical archives of the EU, and will place the evolution of the European computing industry in relation with the development of a European oil industry, the most successful example of developing a strong and globally competitive Europe-made industry against America’s first-comer advantage. By analysing the reasons of the failure to also establish strong European actors in the IT industry, the project will allow to better understand the reasons for the decline in European productivity, as well as what the role of the European Union (EU) can be in promoting the development of national or infra-national strong IT companies, able to compete with the current dominance of US companies alone. Furthermore, the project will consider the problem of the data economy in a historical perspective, analysing access to data as a commodity, in parallel to the problem of access to oil which dominated the geopolitical economy of the 20th century, testing the literature on the history of commodities on access to data. This will allow to cover a gap in the current literature on the history of the European computing industry, which focussed almost exclusively on hardware and software. It will also update the literature from international and media history with a reflection rooted in history on the role of data for current economic development.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- humanities languages and literature literature studies history of literature
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.