Communications of the ACM

P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F T E C H T O U R

tionsa (CNRS in France) and
no major cloud service pro-
viders or Internet platforms
on the scale of Amazon,
Microsoft, or Google, Europe
does innovate in ICT. Non-
tech companies, particularly
automakers, banks, and
pharmaceutical firms, such
as BMW, Deutsche Bank,
BNP, and Bayer, drive much
of this innovation. Whereas
a Ranked by most cited AI-related
research papers. The Nikkei &
Elsevier, Atomico State of Euro-
pean Tech 2017; https://2017.
stateofeuropeantech.com/

in convoys along motorways, while their drivers take a break. Platooning could cut fuel costs, reduce congestion, and increase efficiency.

Rising Investment in
Deep Tech Research

At the same time, the
region’s tech ecosystem is
renewing itself: In Europe,
$3.5 billion was invested in
so-called deep tech compa-
nies in 2017 across more
than 600 deals, up from $2.5
billion in 2016.c Deep tech
refers to software, semicon-
ductors, and other digital
hardware. Many of these
investments take advantage
of Europe’s renown com-
puter science institutions—
the continent is home to
half of the top 10 computer
science institutions in the
world.d Moreover, Europe is
producing more than twice
the STEM Ph.D’s graduating
in the U.S.e
AI is the hottest area for
investment. AI companies
in Europe have raised more
than $4.6 billion since 2012
across over 1,000 deals.

Europe has also spawned
several hundred blockchain
companies and augmented
reality or virtual reality start-
ups since 2012.f Helsinki has
the second highest concen-
tration of app developers in
the world behind the San
Francisco Bay area.g Minsk
in Belarus ranks sixth, Stock-
c Dealroom.co. Atomico State
of European Tech 2017;
https://2017.stateofeuropean-
tech.com/
University Rankings 2018.

Atomico State of European Tech;
https://2018.stateofeuropean-
tech.com/
e The OECD. Atomico State of Eu-
ropean Tech 2017; https://2017.
stateofeuropeantech.com/
f Tracxn. Atomico State of Euro-
pean Tech 2017; https://2017.
stateofeuropeantech.com/
g A study by Caribou Digital; http://
bit.ly/2REupYi
Europe’s tech industry is
cash-strapped, non-tech
companies in Europe have
more cash holdings than
their counterparts in the U.S.
or China.b
As one of the world’s
leading financial centers,
London hosts a thriving
fintech industry, which is
harnessing big data analyt-
ics to personalize financial
services. Germany and
France are home to many of
the world’s leading players
in transportation, which are
adopting ICT rapidly, as they
move to semi-autonomous
vehicles and ultimately self-
driving cars. BMW, Daimler,
Siemens, Bosch, and Airbus
are among the major Euro-
pean companies embracing
the Internet of Things to im-
prove trucks, trains, planes,
and cars. For example, the
region is leading trials of pla-
tooning—the use of wireless
technologies to enable semi-
autonomous trucks to drive
b The S&P CapitalIQ Platform.

Atomico State of European Tech 2017; https://2017.stateofeuro- peantech.com/

IN GLOBAL TERMS, Europe’s informa- tion and communi- cations technology (ICT) industry is small, overshadowed by the massive U.S. software industry and the extensive electronics industry in East Asia. But it does have some world-class companies, such as telecom equipment providers Nokia and Ericsson, online music platform Spotify, e-commerce company Zalando, enterprise software provider SAP, games developer Supercell (now owned by Tencent), embedded processor designer ARM (now owned by Softbank), and Skype (now owned by Microsoft). Moreover, some of the region’s telecom groups, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Orange, and Telefónica, are major multinationals with operations spanning several continents.