In January, I took part in an Economist conference and panel discussion in Brussels attended by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and other key government officials.
We were discussing technology and innovation in Europe. For some time, the productivity gap between the US and Europe has been widening, both from an industrial and social perspective. Economists argue that US productivity gains are largely due to investment in and the deployment of technology. Not all of Europe is falling behind; we have great examples where some countries have used technology in innovative and creative ways to improve the lives of their citizens. But it is clear that to remain competitive Europe needs to invest more in the right technology products and solutions now.
I shared with the conference my opinion that investing in technology in the home, and the public and private sector is critical for Europe's long term competitiveness. Why? Firstly, there's the impact on our productivity of an aging population that is reducing the size of the European workforce. This means we need to achieve more with fewer people and puts considerable focus on the role of technology in enabling everyone to be more productive.
Secondly, we need to look at the environment. We are all responsible for finding ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Technology plays a key part in helping all Europeans to continue our economic growth while minimising our environmental impact.I also used this meeting to discuss the policies that Europe needs to adopt to drive forward the digital transformation that will help close the productivity gap. These include changes that could be made to reduce the cost of accessing technology for citizens and small businesses. I believe the key to bridging the productivity gap between US and Europe is accelerated technology adoption.
Please read on in my speech transcript to find out how I believe Dell can help its customers and partners in Europe drive forward this change.