Europe in the Intelligent Age 2025

and optics. And the public sector can support investments in secure communications for defence. –Building globally leading industrial AI: In nascent technologies where Europe is starting to fall behind, such as AI, innovators may leverage the region’s industrial strengths to build hubs in areas like pharmaceuticals, finance and energy efficiency. This may follow the visionary example seen with the Airbus A300 programme, where collaborators from across the continent identified an emerging market need and built innovative aircraft at scale. For instance, in finance, private sector firms could collaborate to build market-ready advanced financial analytics based on AI innovations in predictive models, processors, automation tools and decision- making. For its part, the public sector could propel such AI efforts by allocating access to public compute infrastructure, harmonizing regulatory frameworks, or creating regulatory sandboxes so consortium members can easily test and develop innovations. –Semiconductor skills and capability transfer: In scaled technologies where Europe needs to catch up, one focus could be on capability transfer. For instance, an industry-driven, semiconductor and applications skills and talent programme could attract top global talent, leveraging Europe’s established leadership in CPU IP31 and its existing relationships with downstream players. Such a programme could provide EU-wide scholarships for postgraduate students, semiconductor talent visas, early- work internships and temporary contracts with research centres. This would help to address the talent and skills issue commonly mentioned by European semiconductor leaders as a crucial challenge,32 particularly in critical capabilities like semiconductor front-end and back-end manufacturing. Europe in the Intelligent Age: From Ideas to Action 15