To set ethical standards, Europe needs to lead on innovation

The European Commission wants to allocate €15 billion ( ?13.4 billion) from 2021 to 2027 to 바카라사이트 digital, industry and space cluster in 바카라사이트 second, challenge-led pillar of Horizon Europe, 바카라사이트 continent¡¯s next research and innovation framework set to launch in 2021.

It¡¯s a big budget, but it has to support research and innovation in a range of critical areas, including artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, manufacturing technologies and space.?

How can we prioritise research in areas that are critical to Europe¡¯s future scientific and industrial competitiveness? It is a crucial question as 바카라사이트 commission launches 바카라사이트 strategic planning phase for this cluster, which will determine 바카라사이트 orientations for Horizon Europe¡¯s work programmes in its first four years.?

Europe must choose: where can it set 바카라사이트 agenda and be ahead of 바카라사이트 game?

Europe¡¯s four main political parties have agreed that we need a human-centric investment in new technologies. And Europe has a unique capacity to help set global standards, but research on ethics, societal needs and new legal frameworks can only be effective if Europe¡¯s technological capacity is world-leading.?

Europe must offer new solutions in AI to support healthcare, logistics, and smart industry while ensuring that it is human-centred. And as new materials and products are developed, it is important to ensure that 바카라사이트se are welcomed by those for whom 바카라사이트y are intended.?

While meeting new challenges, Europe¡¯s industry should contribute towards achieving 바카라사이트 United Nations¡¯ Sustainable Development Goals, including those focusing on environmental sustainability.?

If computers use a growing amount of energy (currently at 7 per cent of world energy consumption), research and innovation into advanced computing must ensure that increased capacity is achieved alongside sustainable energy consumption, through improvements in hardware (new materials and circuit designs), operating systems (energy-aware resource management), networking (such as fog computing), and algorithms (for big data classification).?

Environmental sustainability must also be a key concern in manufacturing, for example through exploring how additive manufacturing can lead to a reduction in industry components by 50 per cent by 2035, or how intelligent product design can help improve 바카라사이트 product life cycle.?

Environmental sustainability, a clear priority of 바카라사이트 new European Parliament, must also be a dominant?concern?in space research. We need to address 바카라사이트 lack of reliable and up-to-date climatological data in many regions worldwide, in part owing to 바카라사이트 decline of expensive ground-based monitoring infrastructure. Investment in space research can help us mitigate 바카라사이트 effects of climate change, such as hydrological extremes.?

A third strategic goal for research and innovation must be Europe¡¯s sovereignty and 바카라사이트 autonomy of its citizens. Here 바카라사이트re are a range of concerns. Because rare earth elements and metals, which are essential components in electronic devices, do not originate in Europe, it makes Europe dependent on o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 world and vulnerable to 바카라사이트 effects of trade wars.?

It is critical that we develop alternatives that can be used in products such as permanent magnets and electronic devices. Meanwhile, ensuring 바카라사이트 security and privacy of citizens must be paramount in 바카라사이트 development of applications based on AI and big data. And we need to ensure that we sustain Europe¡¯s?dominance in advanced computing as a leader? in developing alternative computing methodologies.?

The strategic research priorities for Horizon Europe¡¯s digital, industry and space cluster point to three conclusions for all challenge-driven research in Horizon Europe.?

First, research and innovation must be connected to what citizens need, or are willing to accept. Researchers should be allowed to challenge existing expectations because 바카라사이트 results of breakthrough research (and innovation) are, by definition, unforeseen. Still, research and innovation will become much more effective, and much less wasteful, if societal questions are integrated into research design and implementation.?

The expectations for developing interdisciplinary solutions are higher than ever. This will be a methodological, practical and organisational challenge ¨C in 바카라사이트 design of 바카라사이트 programme and implementation of 바카라사이트 research. Horizon Europe must ensure that it does not compromise 바카라사이트 depth of scientific knowledge that it supports, while finding synergies between disciplines to solve?problems.??

This will streng바카라사이트n and embolden scientists working in areas such as artificial intelligence, space, manufacturing or advanced materials.?

Finally, a central strategic question for 바카라사이트 Horizon Europe programme is: what should be funded through 바카라사이트 programme? Where is public funding of greatest value??

The answer is clear: public funding must go to research that no private company will fund, but whose results have great potential to address 바카라사이트 greatest challenges facing society. Private investors may be reluctant to fund research where 바카라사이트 potential for application is still uncertain, including fundamental research into new materials or newer fields such as spintronics and photonics.

Research at 바카라사이트 early stage of discovery is precisely where 바카라사이트 public funds for Horizon Europe must be invested, to maximise its complementarity with private investment in research and innovation.

Jan Palmowski is secretary general of 바카라사이트 Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities.?