Next-level process automation, applied Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biotechnology, Advanced Programming and the Use of green technologies are some of the key technologies that Romania should use on a large scale to have long-term results and to reduce its development gap against the rest of Europe, a special report drafted by the McKinsey Global Institute mentions, Agerpres reports.
According to the document, called „Securing Europe’s future beyond energy: Addressing its corporate and technology gap,” the EU-30 member states (the 27 EU member states, alongside Norway, Switzerland and the UK) are eclipsed by the US regarding the industrial scale adoption of technology.
„The stakes are high. We estimate that corporate value added of 2 trillion EUR to 4 trillion EUR a year could be at stake by 2040 value that could generate wages, employment, investment, and economic growth to the broader benefit of society. To put the estimated value at stake into perspective, that would be equivalent to 30 to 70 percent of Europe’s forecast GDP growth between 2019 and 2040,(…) or 500 EUR monthly universal income for each European citizen,” according to the report.
Romania is surpassed by non-European competitors in terms of the use of technology on an industrial scale. Because it became an EU state relatively recently, Romania will have to match and even surpass the actions of other states in order to allow its companies to be competitive.
In this context, the specialists argue that the Romanian authorities could support three initiatives through which companies can develop faster and more freely, through which they can expand internationally, attract financing for expansion and compete equally with other companies: increasing the degree of awareness on the importance of transversal technologies for the competitiveness of Romania and the EU; taking the lead or collaborating with other member states in implementing initiatives at the EU level; political support for the adoption of such initiatives within the EU institutions.
As positive points, Romania has relatively good results in technologies, such as Advanced Programming, the „Zero Trust” Model and applied Artificial Intelligence, and these results are due to the efforts of some local companies, such as Bitdefender, UiPath, TypingDNA, DRU-ID, RayScape, Lumen and numerous start-ups, according to the McKinsey & Company analysis.
On the other hand, Romania is lagging behind in terms of some technologies such as Biotechnology and Next-generation materials. Also, our country takes the final spots in Europe regarding the use of Advanced Programming.
In the experts’ view, there are ten „must-have” transversal technologies which Romania must implement in order to decrease the gap against other states: Next-level process automation, Future of Connectivity, Distribuuted Architecture; Next generation computing; Applied AI; Future of programming; Trust Architecture; Bio revolution; Next-generation materials; Future of cleantech.
The official data showed that the share of companies that used cloud computing services in Romania, in 2021, was 14 percent, compared to 27 percent for Central European countries and 41 percent for those of the EU. At the same time, in terms of „green” innovations, between 2012-2021, Romania registered only five patents in the area of environmental technologies, compared to 86 registered in Poland.
The special report drafted by the McKinsey Global Institute was launched in September 2022 and assessed the level of technological competitiveness of the EU-30, the US and China.
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm present in over 65 countries and 130 cities, helping clients of the private, public and social sectors define bold strategies and transform the way they work, incorporating technology where it brings value and develop capabilities to sustain change.
In Romania, McKinsey & Company has been present since 2007, when it opened the office in Bucharest.
Agerpres
