Europe in the Intelligent Age 2025

Where to play and how to win: Targeted strategy for key technologies 1 Europe will need to take a tailored strategic approach – from securing capability transfer where it lags to cementing global scale and leadership where it leads. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, Europe’s leaders could benefit from applying the appropriate strategic posture for each technology depending on technology maturity and Europe’s starting point. Leading in frontier technologies within scaled areas, for example, requires different approaches than trying to catch up from a lagging position in a nascent technology (Figure 4). In addition, the right level of prioritization and resourcing will depend on expected market size and strategic importance. To assess technologies on these dimensions, this paper relies on industry expertise for understanding maturity; builds on separate McKinsey research for market sizing;27 uses the approach outlined in the previous chapter to assess Europe’s starting point; and examines strategic importance based on how much the technology underpins Europe’s economic growth and sovereignty.28 Europe in the Intelligent Age: From Ideas to Action 10