The Triple Transition
The “A New Era for Europe” report is just over a year old. In the report, the High-Level Advisory Group convened by European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, offered its recommendations for addressing post-Covid challenges and fostering sustainable growth and global stability. These include implementing the so-called Triple Transition: environmental, digital, and social. The three dimensions are considered to be interconnected, and forgetting the social costs could make the path to sustainable development “unsustainable.”
The triple transition requires a rethinking of the economy based on a new growth model that considers it crucial to reduce negative impacts and adopt innovative strategies and practices that can ensure greater inclusion.
Companies are learning to view digital initiatives and sustainability as factors in a single strategy, and to view investments in innovation as factors in accelerating social development.
In this context, the Open Innovation Report 2023 produced by Sopra Steria, a French company that consults on services and digital transition in more than 25 countries around the world, with research firm Ipsos, highlights the growing role that collaboration between companies and startups is taking on in the digital transition. Nearly three out of four European companies (72%) are pursuing collaborative projects with startups, and two-thirds (67%) consider this collaboration important or essential to the future of their organization.
The snapshot of digital Europe taken by DESI, the Digital Economy and Society Index, shows connectivity and technology integration as positive factors while pointing out that investment in human capital, particularly in SMEs, still has a long way to go. Among the 27 member states, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden are leading in digital initiatives, ahead of Ireland, Malta, and Spain. Scoring the lowest are Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece. France is in 12th place, between Slovenia and Germany. Italy is 18th (up two places in the European digital performance ranking in just one year).