Of all the EU countries, Romania invests the least in R&D and Innovation, and national budget allocations for such activities are absolutely ridiculous, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana declared on Monday at the opening of Bucharest Tech Week – the largest technology and innovation festival in Central and Eastern Europe.
„You cannot be at the top just by hoping that you will get technology transfers from elsewhere, if you do not produce your own innovation and are not part of the innovation ecosystem. In terms of innovation Romania is at the very bottom, and Romania’s private sector with both foreign and domestic players invests the least in R&D and Innovation. (…) If I were to make a recommendation or if I were to think of something, it would be for us to offer aggressive fiscal incentives for R&D where the private sector, after all, is the producer of most innovations, to help it live up to a fierce innovation competition in the military field as well,” Mircea Geoana emphasized, citing Ukraine’s successful completion of the digital transformation despite being in the midst of a war.
According to Geoana, Romania’s risk capital „is still extremely anemic”.
„It’s a shame not to use the homegrown talent, the potential of start-ups that are capable of producing absolutely phenomenal ideas. (…) I think there is much more room to grow for those interested. (…) Innovation does not mean just a fantastic technological project, but is a state of mind. The country brand is a subject that has been on my mind for many years. I think that if we start investing seriously, using talented people like you, the young men and women of Romania and from the massive Romanian diaspora, Romania could set itself as a goal to become an Innovation Nation,” Mircea Geoana said.
This year’s edition of Bucharest Tech Week started on Monday in Bucharest and will host until June 14 five specialist conferences on significant industries in the tech area.
The tech week will end with the largest exhibition of technology and innovation in the region, taking place on the weekend of June 14-16 at Romexpo Pavilion B1 and open for free to the general public.
AGERPRES
