High-impact entrepreneurs are key to overcoming the economic fallout from COVID-19

As entrepreneurship takes a hit, Europe needs collaboration to develop, identify and implement innovative solutions, writes Dirk Jan van den Berg

 
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to our societies. This defining moment is pushing us to reconsider and change the way we live; and ultimately, this will mean innovating. Indeed, innovation will play a crucial role in resolving this crisis and in ensuring a sustainable and inclusive recovery. When I think about Europe before the crisis, and after the crisis, I believe that innovation acts as a bridge between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’.

To reach the ‘new’, Europe needs its innovators – more than ever. They are Europe’s key to solve the crisis, to turn promising ideas and research into products and services urgently needed by citizens, to sustainably rebuild our economy, society and jobs and to predict and prevent future outbreaks. Yet our innovators and entrepreneurs find themselves amongst the most affected by the crisis: investment pipelines have all but dried up, supply chains have been severely hit, orders have been placed on hold, innovation labs and universities have been closed to name but a few. Many of us remember the impact of the 2009 financial crisis when the EU’s economy contracted by 4.5%. In a stark reminder of the severity of today’s crisis, the European Commission presented a bleak economic forecast for 2020 with the EU economy expected to contract by a record 7.4%, and 7.7% in the euro area.

Συνέχεια ανάγνωσης εδώ

Πηγή: blogs.lse.ac.uk