# Why Europe Struggles to Innovate in High Technology

DevFeed: [Why Europe Struggles to Innovate in High Technology](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/is-europe-just-not-good-at-innovating-36454.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/is-europe-just-not-good-at-innovating/>)

Published: 2022-12-13T16:15:50Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Bert Hubert's writings](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/bert-hubert-s-writings.md>)

Topics: [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>), [communications](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/communications.md>), [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [Hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/hardware.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [DuckDB](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/duckdb.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [business](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/business.md>), [communications](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/communications.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [duckdb](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/duckdb.md>), [europe](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/europe.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [innovation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/innovation.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [surveillance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/surveillance.md>), [technology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technology.md>)

## AI overview

This opinion article argues that Europe's weak high-technology innovation is driven partly by cultural and social factors, including limited appreciation for technology and insufficient ambition to take risks. It discusses Europe's dependence on US platforms, Chinese hardware, and non-European operations, while noting that some innovation, such as DuckDB, still exists.

## Source excerpt

This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Feedback is very welcome on bert@hubertnet.nl. I'd also like to thank the many proofreaders, but all mistakes remain mine! In the world of (high) technology, Europe is exceptionally weak at innovating. There are many ways to explain how this came to be, and a lot of the discussion focuses on unfair business conditions and regulation. In this post however I want to talk about important cultural and social reasons that are at least part of the reason, and present some possible solutions.