3 Science, Technology, and Innovation in Europe
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REYNALD BONMATI Elf Aquitaine Development, 9 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
During the recent European e l e c t i o n s , the p r e p a r a t i o n f o r which was likely r a t h e r confusing f o r Americans, I o f t e n heard here an i n t e r e s t i n g d e f i n i t i o n of the t y p i c a l European: he would have the even-temperedness of the Irishman, the charm of the P r u s s i a n , the imagination of a B e l g i a n , the s o b r i e t y of a Luxemburger, the flexibility of a Dutchman, the good nature of the Dane, the p u n c t u a l i t y of the I t a l i a n , the modesty of a Frenchman, and, l a s t but not l e a s t , the love-making ability of an Englishman. As a modest Frenchman, I am very f l a t t e r e d t o have been i n v i t e d t o address t h i s most d i s t i n g u i s h e d group on innovation in Europe, a very fashionable subject now. In t h i s country, European innovation i s c o n t i n u a l l y p r a i s e d , compared t o the U.S. which is viewed as l o s i n g its p o s i t i o n of t e c h n i c a l leadership t o Europe and Japan. The paper of C.A. Sears describes what the s i t u a t i o n is i n Japan, but as far as Europe is concerned, l e t me tell you that everything i s not n e a r l y so rosy as people say, and that Europe, with its usual delay, i s now s t a r t i n g t o come t o g r i p s with problems s i m i l a r t o those that t h i s country began t o face s e v e r a l years ago. I s h a l l return to these s h o r t l y . In a d d i t i o n , as J . Herbert Hollomon, D i r e c t o r of the M.I.T. Center f o r P o l i c y A l t e r n a t i v e s , p o i n t s out, science and technology p o l i c i e s i n the s e v e r a l countries that make up Europe vary s i g n i f i c a n t l y . He goes on t o say that Great B r i t a i n emphasizes b a s i c research, and France, n a t i o n a l independence i n some advanced technologies, whereas West Germany encourages the p r i v a t e s e c t o r and l i a i s o n s between the s t a t e , the u n i v e r s i t y and i n d u s t r y . I would add that these science and technology p o l i c i e s , when there i s any c o n s i s t e n t p o l i c y at a l l , are o f t e n contradictory. The f a c t i s , no one knows yet i f and when Europe w i l l become one e n t i t y — p o l i t i c a l l y , economically and i n d u s t r i a l l y — as w e l l - d e f i n e d as the 50 s t a t e s which comprise the United States. But i t seems now that economic union w i l l precede p o l i t i c a l union which, i n t u r n , w i l l precede i n d u s t r i a l union.
0-8412-0561-2/80/47-129-051$5.00/0 © 1980 American Chemical Society Smith and Larson; Innovation and U.S. Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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INNOVATION AND U.S. RESEARCH: PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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Thus, without b e i n g aware of i t , or at l e a s t without r e a c t i n g , Europe, as d i d the U.S., entered a completely new s i t u a t i o n which contains these f o u r components: Component No. 1. An i r r a t i o n a l and misleading h o s t i l i t y of the p u b l i c towards t e c h n i c a l progress which i s blamed f o r a l l problems, even though no respected s p e c i a l i s t would deny the o v e r r i d i n g importance of new technology i n the unprecedented and e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g standard of l i v i n g of t h i s same p u b l i c . From t h i s h o s t i l i t y s p r i n g s the enormous p r o l i f e r a t i o n of r e g u l a t i o n s , some of which are necessary, but many which are exaggerated and even counter-productive. As an example, l e t me remind you of the o f t - c i t e d case i n the pharmaceutical i n d u s t r y which I learned myself from Bruce Hannay, V i c e P r e s i d e n t , Research and Patents, at B e l l Labs: i n 1938, r e c e i v i n g approval f o r the i n t r o d u c t i o n of a d r e n a l i n to the market r e q u i r e d two years and a 27-page r e p o r t ; i n 1948, an expectorant needed 73 pages; i n 1958, the d e s c r i p t i o n of a treatment f o r pinworms took 439 pages i n two volumes; i n 1962 a c o n t r a c e p t i v e r e q u i r e d 12,370 pages i n 31 volumes; and i n 1972 a s k e l e t a l muscle r e l a x a n t needed 456 volumes weighing one ton and taking 10 years to prepare. I leave i t to you to imagine what more up-to-date f i g u r e s would look l i k e ... but I can t e l l you that some European c o u n t r i e s are vying with the U.S. i n t h i s area. Component No. 2. A. g e n e r a l and absurd b e l i e f that everything has been d i s c o v e r e d , even though a simple cursory look at recent s c i e n t i f i c progress, and the re-examination of some t h e o r i e s which have been challenged by t h i s progress, u n d e r l i n e s the b e l i e f that everything i s yet to be discovered. T h i s m i s l e a d i n g i d e a i s even shared by some of our experts, as i t i s found to be a major theme i n the f i r s t report of the Club of Rome. Component No. 3. There i s a d i f f i c u l t economic context on which i t i s u s e l e s s to d w e l l . I t rewards the short term over the long term, l e a d i n g to a d r a s t i c r e d u c t i o n of R & D budgets, thereby compromising the f u t u r e . Instead of development by i n n o v a t i o n , business today p r e f e r s development by a c q u i s i t i o n , a more immediate source of p r o f i t . Component No. 4. A new s o c i o l o g i c a l context, notably with a new balance of d e s i r e s and p o s s i b i l i t i e s between work and leisure. To i l l u s t r a t e , I only have to mention the astonishment of my American colleagues at the r e p o r t of s t r i k e s i n France by employes demanding the g e n e r a l i z a t i o n of a f i f t h week of p a i d vacation.
for new
T h i s dramatic change i n the environment makes i t imperative Europe, as w e l l as the United S t a t e s , to adopt a r a d i c a l l y a t t i t u d e — i n a word, to innovate, t e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n
Smith and Larson; Innovation and U.S. Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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being only one aspect, although an e s s e n t i a l one, of t o t a l innovation. I t i s u s e f u l to measure the p o s s i b l e dimension of technolog i c a l i n n o v a t i o n by examining what has been accomplished i n the l a s t 10 or 20 years i n Europe, and i n p r e d i c t i n g what seems p o s s i b l e i n the 10 to 20 years to come. T h i s study was c a r r i e d out with EIRMA (European I n d u s t r i a l Research Management A s s o c i a t i o n ) , the s i s t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n of the IRI, by the "Technology 88" committee, c h a i r e d by Mr. B. Delapalme, V i c e P r e s i d e n t , Research and Development, E l f A q u i t a i n e . Concerning the t e c h n o l o g i c a l upheaval of the l a s t few years i n Europe, I w i l l only have to c i t e a few f i g u r e s : i n a quarter of a century, from 1950 to 1976, car ownership i n Europe i n c r e a s e d twenty-fold, the number of passenger-miles of the European a i r l i n e s i n c r e a s e d t h i r t y - f o l d , and households with a r e f r i g e r a t o r , f i f t y - f o l d . In j u s t ten y e a r s , from 1966 to 1976, annual European production of c o l o r t e l e v i s i o n sets q u i n t u p l e d , whereas the p r i c e of the e l e c t r o n i c p a r t s needed (and t h e i r s i z e as w e l l ) were d i v i d e d by 100, p u t t i n g t h i s technology w i t h i n the reach of a much l a r g e r p u b l i c . The l i s t could be long. But i t i s r e g r e t t a b l e that h a r d l y anyone ever speaks about t h i s i n the mass media. Has everything been invented? A l l we have to do to r e a l i z e that the answer i s no i s to look at the e l e c t r o n i c s i n d u s t r y which has known the g r e a t e s t changes i n the l a s t 20 years. We are now witnessing a s e r i e s of innovations at the heart of which i s the microprocessor. These innovations sprang from the theory of quantum mechanics, l e a d i n g to Bohr's atomic model, followed by semi-conductor p h y s i c s , then the t r a n s i s t o r , then i n t e g r a t e d circuits. I t i s i n t h i s continuous l i n e of developing technology that m i c r o l a s e r s are now being developed. They w i l l make i t p o s s i b l e to produce new q u a n t i t i e s of i n f o r m a t i o n corresponding to the i n c r e a s e d c a p a c i t y of the newer micro-processors, while o p t i c f i b e r s w i l l allow f o r t h e i r t r a n s m i s s i o n , c r e a t i n g a whole communication process. T h i s k i n d of progress i s d e s t i n e d to invade other aspects of l i f e : M. K. Teer, D i r e c t o r of E l e c t r o n i c Systems, P h i l i p s Research Center, estimates that the cost of c i r c u i t s w i l l be one-sixth of what i t i s today i n ten y e a r s , whereas the number of b i t s of i n f o r m a t i o n that can be s t o r e d per c i r c u i t w i l l be m u l t i p l i e d by 100, thus t r i p l i n g the f o r e s e e a b l e net s a l e s i n the s e c t o r s where i t can be used. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to know where to t u r n next to apply the t e c h n o l o g i c a l advances which are at hand. The s i t u a t i o n i s s i m i l a r i n biochemistry i n which development should be evident during the next 20 years by i t s impact on such v a r i e d areas as n u t r i t i o n , h e a l t h , chemistry and energy. I w i l l j u s t mention i n passing g e n e t i c engineering. Innovation i n t h i s area i s advancing r a p i d l y and the outcome i s d i f f i c u l t to evaluate today, but i t could r e v o l u t i o n i z e the methods of manufacturing not only pharmaceutical products, but a l s o most intermediates i n organic chemistry.
Smith and Larson; Innovation and U.S. Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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INNOVATION AND U.S. RESEARCH: PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From t h i s p o i n t of view, the EIRMA committee I mentioned e a r l i e r s t r o n g l y emphasized the i n s u f f i c i e n c y of r e l a t i o n s between s o - c a l l e d " h o r i z o n t a l " i n d u s t r i e s which have a great tempo of t e c h n i c a l progress, i . e . e l e c t r o n i c s , b i o l o g y , chemistry; and " v e r t i c a l " i n d u s t r i e s , i . e . t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , s h e l t e r , food and c l o t h i n g f o r which the tempo of progress i s much slower, undoubtedly because there i s i n s u f f i c i e n t p e n e t r a t i o n of these new technologies i n t o these s e c t o r s . The Japanese have been very s u c c e s s f u l i n two popular consumer areas by applying the l a t e s t progress i n e l e c t r o n i c s , to photography and a u d i o v i s u a l s . I t i s g e n e r a l l y agreed i n Europe that the s t e e l , t e x t i l e s and paper i n d u s t r i e s are those c u r r e n t l y having the g r e a t e s t d i f f i c u l t i e s , but at the same time, t e c h n i c a l progress i n these areas has been r e l a t i v e l y slow and R & D expenditures have been very low, o f t e n l e s s than 1% of the net s a l e s . On the other hand, there has been considerable progress i n the technologies of e l e c t r o n i c s and a e r o n a u t i c s , and i t i s e x a c t l y i n these areas where research spending has been the g r e a t e s t , o f t e n exceeding 10% of net s a l e s . These f i g u r e s speak f o r themselves. In order f o r the r a t e of t e c h n o l o g i c a l progress to remain constant or even to i n c r e a s e i n some areas, European governments must both provide i n c e n t i v e s and even o f f e r new d i r e c t i o n s , but of course without g i v i n g i n to the temptation of taking a p l a c e i n p r i v a t e i n d u s t r y , nor even imposing s o l u t i o n s which must remain the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of i n d u s t r y i t s e l f . This attitude implies a c e r t a i n confidence which appears to be s o r e l y l a c k i n g at the moment. I t i s becoming more and more apparent that the trends which seem f a v o r a b l e to the consumer or the businessman f o r the short run, or i n a p a r t i c u l a r area, are not f a v o r a b l e u n i v e r s a l l y , over the long term, to the nations of Europe, to European s c a l e . European governments, t h e r e f o r e , have a duty to use the considerable means at t h e i r d i s p o s a l to b r i n g these trends i n t o l i n e . The l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n of t h e i r budgets designated f o r i n n o v a t i o n i s o f t e n channeled i n t o defense or n a t i o n a l p r e s t i g e , and very l i t t l e — o f t e n l e s s than 20% — to consumer areas, the s o — c a l l e d bread and b u t t e r i n d u s t r i e s . N a t i o n a l p o l i c i e s , and i n t e r n a t i o n a l as w e l l through the Common Market and the OECD, should take i n t o account more c a r e f u l l y the r e a l new problems which need to be s o l v e d , such as i n f l a t i o n , unemployment, and working c o n d i t i o n s . One important element of innovation which might take d i f f e r e n t forms i n Europe and the U.S. w i l l be a greater awareness of the s o c i o l o g i c a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n the changes to be made. T h i s new awareness w i l l make i t necessary f o r s o c i a l and economic sciences to be introduced i n an i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y approach, t h i s approach which has been t a l k e d about so much over the l a s t few years. In general i t i s imperative during the coming years that European i n d u s t r y become much more open i n v a r i o u s d i r e c t i o n s — towards p o t e n t i a l consumers i n order to understand t h e i r r e a l
Smith and Larson; Innovation and U.S. Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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needs; towards other i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r s as a primary s u p p l i e r , c l i e n t or j o i n t venture p a r t n e r ; toward government agencies f o r the establishment of reasonable r e g u l a t i o n s ; toward other c o u n t r i e s such as America and Japan, but a l s o toward the developing c o u n t r i e s to f i n d complementary areas of cooperation; and f i n a l l y toward the people who i n f l u e n c e p u b l i c o p i n i o n and the mass media to enable them to understand the t r u e p o s s i b i l i t i e s of i n d u s t r y , an understanding which i s s o r e l y l a c k i n g at present. In both the U.S. and Europe, as you have witnessed, the problems are s i m i l a r . There are, however, a d d i t i o n a l d i f f i c u l t i e s for Europe because of i t s l a c k of u n i t y . Nonetheless, i n both areas we must not underestimate our r e s p o n s i b i l i t y as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of the s c i e n t i f i c community. The new world which i s coming i n t o being i s p r e s e n t i n g challenges which we must meet, challenges which, i n many cases, we have the means to overcome. But we must act now and see these changes as o p p o r t u n i t i e s to s e i z e r a t h e r than chasms i n which we r i s k d i s a p p e a r i n g . Remember the q u o t a t i o n from Shakespeare: "There i s a t i d e i n the a f f a i r s of men, which, taken at the f l o o d , leads on to f o r t u n e ; omitted, a l l the voyage of t h e i r l i f e i s bound i n shallows and i n m i s e r i e s . On such a f u l l sea are we now a f l o a t and we must take the current when i t serves or l o s e our ventures." RECEIVED November 13,
1979.
Smith and Larson; Innovation and U.S. Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
