Europe is losing in the race to secure digital riches – DT CEO

Despite politicians around the world declaring the importance of technology and insisting their nation is one of the world leaders in digital, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hottges does not believe Europe is competing with the US and Asia.

This might seem like somewhat of a bold statement, but it is entirely true. The US, led by the internet players of Silicon Valley, have dominated the consumer technology world, while the China and Japan’s heavyweight industries have conquered the industrialised segments. Europe might have a few shining lights but is largely left to collect the scraps when the bigger boys are done feasting on the bonanza.

“Europe lost the first half of the digitalisation battle,” said Hottges, speaking at Orange’s Show Hello. “The second half of the battle is about data, the cloud and the AI-based services.”

In all fairness to the continent, there has been the odd glimmer of hope. Spotify emerged from Sweden, Google’s Deepmind was spun-out of Oxford University, while Nokia and Ericsson are reconfirming their place in the world. There is occasionally the odd suggestion Europe has the potential to offer something to the global technology conversation.

What has been achieved so far cannot be undone. The US and Asia are dominant in the technology world and Europe will have to accept its place in the pecking order. That said, lessons must be learnt to ensure the next wave of opportunity does not pass the continent by. A new world order is being written as we speak, and it is being written in binary.

If Europe is to generate momentum through the AI-orientated economy, it will have to bolster the workforce, create the right regulatory landscape (a common moan from the DT boss), but also make sure the raw materials are available. If data is cash, Europeans are paupers.

As it stands, less than 4% of the world’s data is stored in the European market, according to Hottges. This is the raw material required to create and train complex, AI-driven algorithms and business models. If European data is constantly being exported to other continents, other companies and economies will feel the benefits. More of an effort needs to be made to ensure the right conditions are in place to succeed.

Conveniently, the data collected through Orange’s and DT’s new smart speaker ecosystem will be retained within the borders of the European Union. There need to be more examples like this, forcing partners to comply with data residency requirements, as opposed to taking the easy route and whisking information off to far away corners of the world.

Another interesting statistic to consider is the number of qualified developers in Europe. Recent research from Atomico claims there are currently 5.7 million developers across the continent, up 200,000 over the last 12 months, compared to 4.4 million in the US. Everyone talks about the skills gap, though it seems Europe is in a better position than the US if you look at the number of professional developers alone.

Europe has lost the first skirmishes of the digital economy, and to be fair, the fight wasn’t even close. However, the cloud-oriented, intelligent world of tomorrow offers plenty more opportunities.