Accenture report-accelerating-europes-comeback-digital-opportunities-competitiveness-growth

ACCELERATING
EUROPE’S
COMEBACK:
DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR
COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH
CARRIED OUT BY

CONTENTS
3 FOREWORD
4 INTRODUCTION
6 ACCELERATING EUROPE’S COMEBACK
8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
10 THE BUSINESS AGENDA FOR EUROPE: THE GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS CHALLENGE
14 THREE KEYS TO ADDRESSING THE WIDENING EU COMPETITIVENESS GAP
16 DIGITAL DISRUPTION: A CATALYST FOR EU GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS
24 THE DIGITAL RE-INDUSTRIALISATION OF EUROPE
26 MANUFACTURING
28 BANKING
30 ENERGY AND UTILITIES
32 PUBLIC SERVICES
34 HEALTHCARE
36 SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY
38 BUSINESS RECOMMENDATIONS
40 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
40 IMPROVING THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT FOR DIGITAL UPTAKE
41 ADDRESSING THE DIGITAL SKILLS ISSUE
42 FOSTERING GROWTH AND INNOVATION THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
44 THE NEED TO MEASURE PROGRESS AND IMPACT—A DIGITAL INTENSITY INDEX
46 THE LAST WORD
48 ABOUT THE RESEARCH
48 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
49 APPENDIX
50 EU DIVERSITY: COUNTRY ANALYSIS UNVEILS A VARIED AND CONTRASTING LANDSCAPE
52 GERMANY
54 UK
56 FRANCE
58 ITALY
60 SPAIN
62 BELGIUM
64 RESEARCH RESULTS BY COUNTRY
72 REFERENCES

3
FOREWORD
Accelerating the digitalisation of the economy is essential
to improve European competitiveness. The report published
by Accenture on the occasion of the 12th European Business
Summit identifies the challenges to be met in order to do so.
BUSINESSEUROPE was delighted to collaborate on this effort.
The European economy is starting to recover. But Europe
has not yet fully recovered from the crisis. “Business as
usual” is simply not an option if we want more growth
and more jobs for European citizens. We have to make the
necessary reforms to regain the ground lost compared to
key competitors on world markets.
We suffer from persistent unemployment because of
excessive taxation and regulation, constrained access
to finances, high energy prices, insufficient innovation,
inadequate education and training and remaining labour
markets rigidities.
Over the past five years, Europe focussed on a defensive
or reactive agenda. It brought badly needed economic
stabilisation. While we were repairing our economic
system, the rest of the world did not stand still. Instead,
they made structural reforms, invested in infrastructure,
machinery, skills and innovation. They worked hard to
make the best of information technologies and improve
their competitiveness.

It is time for European policies to become much more
proactive. We have a lot to offer as a region. Many
entrepreneurs and SMEs are keen to develop their potential.
But they need a supportive environment to be successful.

The European Union aims to ensure that 20 percent of
its GDP is generated by industry by 2020. In order to
achieve that, Europe must stop regulating itself to death.
It must unleash its innovation potential and accelerate the
digitalisation of its economy. Financial resources are limited.
They must be used for smart, future-oriented public and
private investment. This will lead to jobs with a real future.

If we want to have more growth and
create more jobs, a reactive agenda
is not enough. Europe must act now.
There is no time to waste.
Emma Marcegaglia,
President,
BUSINESSEUROPE

INTRODUCTION
The issue of how to restore competitiveness and growth
to the European Union (EU) is a crucial one for all involved:
the region’s businesses, governments and citizens alike. While
important steps to that end have been taken over the years,
much more must be done to move the region forward and
keep it from slipping further behind other economies such
as the US and China.
4

5
There is a palpable sigh of relief among EU business leaders
that growth is returning. However, we must not make the
mistake of conflating this more optimistic outlook with
Europe’s competitiveness. The EU lags its competitors on
productivity and on crucial aspects of innovation. And the
recent economic crisis has set efforts back, so now is the
time to accelerate our return to competitiveness.
The following report is designed to contribute to that
effort. Based on research jointly conducted by Accenture
in collaboration with BUSINESSEUROPE and the European
Business Summit (EBS), it explores the on-going economic
challenges Europe faces and proposes tangible, practical
steps leaders can take to address critical drivers of
competitiveness.
The solution to the challenge is neither easy nor simple.
However, according to EU business leaders participating in
our research, concerted effort focusing on three key areas
could help considerably: smarter regulation, innovation
resulting in the creation of new products and services, and
the adoption of new technologies to drive productivity. The
development and implementation of digital technologies,
in particular, will play a very important role.
Digital is fundamentally reshaping individual organisations
and disrupting entire industries. And digital technologies
offer great promise in addressing the dual challenges of
productivity and innovation—areas in which the EU is
rapidly falling behind other regions and countries.
The vast majority of businesses see the potential in digital
to support growth. But in many cases, their focus is still too
heavily on using digital investments to drive efficiencies,
rather than on making their products and services digital.
That balance must reverse. And a more aggressive and
ambitious approach to digital adoption is needed to build
on current momentum and capitalize on the numerous
assets Europe already has that are prerequisites for digital
transformation.
That is where new thinking and actions on regulations can
help. EU business leaders in our research agreed that to pave
the way for the digital transformation of Europe, policy
makers should focus on efforts to create a supporting
regulatory environment for investment in technology,
innovation and digital infrastructure; tackle the ‘digital
skills issue’ by addressing both the shortage of digital
skilled people and the reskilling of workers displaced by
automation; and encourage the development of new
businesses and a culture of entrepreneurship to facilitate
the creation of new jobs.
Accenture would like to thank BUSINESSEUROPE and the
EBS for their support and assistance with this important
research. We hope that, through our combined efforts and
insights, we have been able to contribute substantively to
the conversation about how to re-energise the EU economy.
Jo Deblaere,
COO and Group Chief Executive-Europe,
Accenture

ACCELERATING
EUROPE’S
COMEBACK
Expect EU economy
to improve over next
three years
The EU is
internationally
competitive
2014
60%
2013
46% 61%
Competitiveness
of EU will increase
over next three years
47%
6

7
EU is
behind
China
EU is
behind
the U.S.
THE EU HAS A STRONG PERFORMANCE IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION…
…BUT WILL LAG BEHIND THE U.S. AND CHINA IN IMPLEMENTING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
BUSINESS LEADERS SAY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE IMPORTANT OR CRITICAL TO BOOST:
…AND MUST URGENTLY CONSIDER MORE FOCUS ON DIGITAL INNOVATION AND GROWTH
DIGITAL PRODUCTIVITY, ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION AND SMART REGULATION ARE
KEY TO FUTURE EU SUCCESS:
Now
38%
In 3 years
50%
PRIMARY FOCUS
OF DIGITAL
INVESTMENT:
Now
61%
In 3 years
53%
96% EU competitiveness
Broadband
coverage
Mobile
broadband
penetration
Population
purchasing
online
Accessing
Government
services online
93% EU economic growth 75% EU job creation
96% 47% 41%59%
60%62%
Digital will drive
major change in
their industry in
next 12 months
63%
Fear losing customers
if they do not embrace
digital during this time
Increase productivity
and reduce costs
through automation
and new production
methods Use analytics and real time
information to improve
financial performance, better
control the business and
increase speed to market
Improve the regulatory
environment for digital
uptake
Become a disrupter in your own
industry by selling fundamentally
new products and services, created
in new ways
Driving process
efficiency
40%
Product/Service
innovation
and growth
Develop and implement new
ways to serve customers
through multiple channels
Address the digital
skills issue through
education, training
and mobility
Foster growth and
innovation through
entrepreneurship

8
Improving economic conditions are
fuelling renewed optimism among
business leaders that the European
Union (EU) is finally on the road to
recovery. And at an objective level, it
is. EU forecasts expect the euro area
to grow 1.5 percent in 2014 and 2.0
percent in 2015, on the back of two
straight years of decline or flat growth.i
But these more promising numbers and executive
confidence mask underlying problems that continue to
challenge Europe’s competitive position in the global
economy. Projected EU growth still has not reached
historic levels, and it trails by a wide margin the estimates
for emerging markets and the US. Furthermore, European
unemployment remains stubbornly high—well above that
in China and the US—which threatens to dampen any
momentum the region can muster. The reality is that while
conditions in Europe certainly are more positive than they
were a year or so ago, they still do not compare favourably
when viewed in the broader global context. In fact, rather
than narrowing, the gap in Europe’s competitiveness with
other major economies is forecast to grow.
Business leaders and policy makers need to urgently address
two critical areas of competitiveness—productivity and
innovation—while creating the regulatory environment
needed to help the EU compete on a global basis. A powerful
lever to that end are digital technologies, including
“connected everything,” or the internet of things; social
media; mobility; big data analytics; and cloud. These
technologies can both help boost productivity by automating
and streamlining business processes to make them more
efficient and increase output per employee, as well as
foster growth through the creation of new products, services
and business models that appeal to customers in domestic
and foreign markets alike.
The EU is actually in a favourable position to capitalize on
digital’s potential. Its strong legacy of innovation, education
system, and entrepreneurial spirit—not to mention significant
adoption to date of digital technologies by consumers and
businesses alike—give the region a robust foundation on
which to build. In fact, examples abound of organizations
across the EU—in manufacturing, banking, energy, public
service, and healthcare—that already are using the power
of digital to help them save millions of euros in operating
expenses and launch new businesses generating millions of
euros in new revenue. These enterprises provide a glimpse
of how these technologies can dramatically improve business
performance and, in the process, transform industries and
entire economies.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the root of the challenge are
three main factors:
PRODUCTIVITY
The EU is forecast to lag behind
the US and China in labour
productivity growth (real GDP
growth per person employed).
INNOVATION
EU R&D intensity (as a
proportion of GDP) is behind
the US and, for the first time,
China surpassed the EU in 2012.
REGULATION
The fragmented regulatory
environment is making it
difficult for companies to boost
productivity and innovation
through the adoption of digital
technologies at scale.

9
Yet these organizations have only scratched the surface of
what is possible. To sustain and build on this momentum—
and rise to the level of other economies—businesses and
governments in the EU must create an environment in which
digital technologies can flourish.
Businesses must embrace new principles and capabilities
that enable them to fully exploit digital’s potential. At a
high level, this means not just applying digital technologies
to current offerings and business models to incrementally
improve them. Rather, it means thinking completely
differently about the business and what it could achieve:
identifying the new customer-driven outcomes that digital
makes possible, considering how the company’s business
and operating models need to change to deliver these new
outcomes, and then defining the combination of digital
and traditional technologies, operations, and information
required to realise these outcomes. Making this mindset
shift is fundamental to putting digital technologies and
information at the heart of the business so they can drive
substantially greater productivity and internal efficiency
(and, as result, greatly lowered costs), as well as new levels
of innovation that generates more robust growth.
For their part governments, working in concert with
businesses, must address a number of key policy and
regulatory issues to help pave the way for increased
development and deployment of digital technologies. For
instance, they must modernise and harmonise country-
specific and cross-border regulations to encourage the
uptake of digital technologies and solutions at scale. They
need to focus on reducing unemployment and closing
critical digital skills gaps through investments in new
education and training programs, as well as on enhancing
the mobility of qualified talent within, and into, the EU.
And they must further develop policies that nurture the
current and coming generations of entrepreneurs and start-
ups that will play a central role in Europe’s recovery through
boosting innovation, the launch and development of new
businesses and the creation of new jobs.
Businesses and governments alike also will need a way
to understand how effectively they are executing their
digital initiatives to illuminate what has worked and
where opportunities exist. Thus, a final key to success is
a methodology that measures the impact of digital on
EU competitiveness—both from a country and industry
perspective—against which progress can be evaluated
and quantified over time.
Restoring growth and competitiveness to the
EU economy will not be easy, as significant
challenges still must be addressed. However,
digital technologies offer significant promise as
a tool to help the EU rebuild its economic future.
The development and deployment of digital
technologies at scale to address two of the critical
elements of competitiveness—productivity and
innovation—coupled with the implementation
of new policies and regulations that foster the
widespread adoption and use of such technologies,
can serve as a powerful catalyst for transforming
the EU economy.

THE BUSINESS
AGENDA FOR
EUROPE:
10

11
As European Union (EU) executives view the business
landscape and shape their strategies for the future, they are
feeling a growing sense of optimism about the prospects
for growth in the EU. For example, in the recent Accenture
survey of business leaders from across the EU conducted
for this report, 53 percent of respondents believed the
economies of the EU member states would improve in
2014. A higher proportion (60 percent) also believed that
the EU economy would continue to improve in the next
three years—a major increase over the 46 percent who
held such a view last year (Figure 1). While this view
is consistently held across most EU economies, there
are divergent opinions in France and Belgium, where
respondents were less positive (38 percent and 43 percent,
respectively).1
These survey findings echo official economic
forecasts for the EU, which see a continuation of the
economic recovery, a strengthening of domestic demand,
substantial improvements in public finance, and gathering
momentum expected in investments.ii
Figure 1: How conﬁdent are you about Europe’s
economic growth prospects in the next three years?
Business leaders also are remarkably positive about the
ability of the EU to compete, with 61 percent of respondents
indicating they considered the EU to be competitive
internationally.2
Furthermore, when asked how they expect
the international competitiveness of the EU to evolve in
the next three years—assuming the current level of actions
by businesses and policy makers—three quarters of
respondents (74 percent) stated their confidence that the
EU’s international competitiveness will at least remain at
this level, with almost half of all respondents (47 percent)
confident it will increase in the next three years (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Based on the current level of actions by
businesses and policy makers, how do you expect
Europe’s international competitiveness to evolve in
the next 3 years?
60%
31
3
7
53
46%
33
36
18
3
43
Very optimistic
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Neutral
Very pessimistic
2013 2014
Source:Accenture European Business Summit Survey 2014
47%
26%
27%
Europe’s international competitiveness
will increase in the next 3 years
will decrease in the next 3 years
will remain the same in the next 3 years
THE GROWTH AND
COMPETITIVENESS CHALLENGE
1
Appendix: Q2
2
Appendix: Q3

12
This confidence, however, belies underlying problems that
continue to plague the EU’s economies. Modest EU growth
rates have not yet returned to historic trend levels and, in
fact, still fall short of the higher growth rates forecast for
the BRIC economies as well as mature markets (see Figure
3). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts average
developed-economy growth in 2014 at 2.2 percent, nearly
double that forecast for the EU.iii
Other forecast data
highlight the continuing growth gap in the next few years
with competing economies such as the United States and
China (see Figure 4). Additionally, with few exceptions,
unemployment is projected to remain stubbornly high
across the EU member state economies, well above that
of the US and China, during the next several years (see
Figure 5). Economic recovery is expected to lead to only a
minor positive impact on employment in 2014, but a more
visible impact in 2015 and 2016.
The US, in particular, is gaining momentum, fuelled by
low energy prices, greater labour market flexibility, and
greater openness to innovation. For instance, research
and development (R&D) investment in the US has been
outgrowing that in the EU significantly— 8.2 percent
versus 6.3 percent growth compared with the previous
year (above the global average of 6.2 percent).iv
This
momentum is also evident in higher productivity growth.
In 2013, productivity—output per hour worked—grew
one-third faster in the US than it did in the EU area.v
In other words, while the growing optimism of EU business
leaders is welcome, as is the forecast of a modest return to
growth, significant challenges remain when one places this
economic improvement in the wider context of competing
economies on the global stage.
-4.0 -2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
1.8%
2.3%
2.9%
1.5%
6.0%
4.9%
7.2%
7.7%
3.0%
1.9%
2.7%
1.9%
0.7%
-0.2%
0.5%
-1.9%
1.4%
0.5%
0.8%
0.2%
% real change pa
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
UK
US
China
India
Russia
Brazil
2014 forecast 2013 data
Source:The Economist Intelligence Unit 2013 data and 2014 forecast
Figure 3: GDP growth: Percentage change in real GDP, over previous year.

13
Figure 4: GDP growth per head – EU, United States,
China and world 2011-2016.
Figure 5: Unemployment rate in EU, United States and
China 2011-2016.
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
% Percentage change in real GDP per head
2011 2012
8.9
1.7
1.4
1.3 1.4
7.2
1.4
2.0 1.8
1.6 1.7
0.9
6.9
1.8
6.6
2.0
6.5
2.1
7.3
1.1
2013 2014 2015 2016
-0.61.1
China World United States of America EU27
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit Country Database 2014
-0.2 1.0
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
6.5
6.1
5.8 5.5
6.4
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
6.5
8.9
6.9
6.4 6.1
7.2
8.1
9.7
10.3
11.110.6 11.0 10.7
% Official unemplyment as a percentage of total labour force
China United States of America EU27
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit Country Database 2014

14
THREE KEYS TO ADDRESSING THE
WIDENING EU COMPETITIVENESS GAP
”A competitive economy is an economy with
a consistently high rate of productivity growth.
The EU must outperform its competitors in terms
of research and innovation, information and
communication technologies, entrepreneurship,
competition, education and training.”
—The European Commissionvi
While the EU is slowly recovering from the recession and
maintains a strong legacy position in a number of key
industries (including Pharmaceuticals, Aerospace, Testing
and Control Instruments and knowledge-intensive servicesvii
),
the Eurozone crisis has slowed the recovery process further.
Thus, the gap in competitiveness with other major economies
globally has continued to grow.
Policy makers, business leaders, academia, non-governmental
bodies, and other interest groups have been debating—and
searching for—responses to the challenges of growth and
job creation in the EU. The survey carried out for this report
highlights what business leaders believe would help the
most. When asked which initiatives would most improve
EU competitiveness in the next three years, leaders cited
smarter regulation (41 percent), innovation resulting in
the creation of new products and services (40 percent), and
the adoption of new technologies to drive productivity
(35 percent) as the top-priority initiatives. Other notable
initiatives included easier access to credit and financing
(34 percent), cheaper energy resources (33 percent), better
education and training of the workforce (33 percent),
and less-expensive and more flexible labour resources
(31 percent).3
Indeed, productivity is a major challenge for EU economies.
While labour productivity growth (real GDP growth per
person employed) has been recovering in the EU with
a 0.5 percent growth in 2013, and 1 percent and 1.2
percent growth forecast for 2014 and 2015 respectively,
a comparison shows productivity growth below that in the
United States in the forecast period (see Figure 6). China’s
labour productivity, while still below that of the EU, is
forecast to grow at four times the EU rate in 2014.viii
Figure 6: Labour Productivity growth in percent for
EU, USA, Japan and China.
Productivity growth below that of the USA
Productivity growth above that of the USA
China data: Conference Board Total Economy database, 2014
Source: EU Eurostat Economic Forecast, February 2014
EU
USA
Japan
China*
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
United Kingdom
1.2
1.6
1
NA
1.2
1.4
0.7
0.6
1.4
2015 Forecast
0.5
0.9
1.2
7.1
0.6
-0.1
0.8
2.1
0.8
2013
1.0
1.4
1.1
4.1
0.6
1.2
0.4
1.0
1.2
2014 Forecast
3
Appendix: Q5

15
“The nation that goes all-in on innovation today
will own the global economy tomorrow.”
— Barack Obama, President of the United Statesix
Despite some areas of weakness, the EU boasts pockets
of innovation capability4
—especially in Sweden, Denmark,
Germany and Finland—that match and exceed many
countries globally (see Figure 7). Internationally, the EU
continues to compare favourably to the leading economies
(including Australia, Canada and all BRIC countries, which
the EU leads). However, South Korea, the US and Japan
have a performance lead in innovation over the EU. In
addition to having a relatively larger skilled workforce than
the EU, these three countries’ collaborative knowledge-
creation between public and private sectors is better
developed and enterprises in these countries invest more
in research and innovation.x
Figure 7: Global innovation performance.
Some interesting trends emerge when you consider
research and development (R&D) expenditure—another
key indicator of innovation in an economy. The EU has set
a headline target of 3 percent of EU GDP to be invested
in R&D by 2020, as part of Europe 2020 Strategy. Yet
comparing R&D intensity (R&D expenditure compared to
GDP) for the United States, China and the EU is striking.
China in 2011 already had a higher R&D intensity than Italy,
Spain and even the United Kingdom, and has been growing
its R&D investment at about 18 percent annually in the past
10 years. At current investment rates, China’s total spend on
R&D is expected to surpass that of the U.S. by about 2022.xii
Of course, regulation continues to be an on-going challenge
within the EU business community as well—particularly as
it applies to digital technologies. As mentioned, 41 percent
of executives said smarter regulation would most improve
EU competitiveness in the next three years.5
An even
greater percentage—46 percent each—indicated excessive
regulation and lack of adequate EU policies due to the
fragmented landscape of Europe were impeding the
development of digital technologies in the EU. These were
the two most frequently cited among all the prospective
challenges covered by the survey.6
Perhaps an area of
greater concern is the general lack of awareness among
the business community towards EU policy on digital with
80 percent of respondents being either unaware of the
Digital Agenda for Europe or having no awareness of the
objectives and content.
The main conclusions from this is clear: To prevent the
gap in European competitiveness from growing and to
potentially begin closing it, business leaders and policy
makers will need to urgently address two critical areas
of competitiveness—productivity and innovation—while
creating the regulatory environment needed to help the
EU compete on a global basis.
South Korea
United States
Japan
EU
Canada
Australia
China
India
Russia
Brazil
South Africa 0,105
0,178
0,191
0,207
0,275
0,389
0,497
0,630
0,711
0,736
0,740
0,000 0,200 0,400 0,600 0,800 1,000
Source: Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014, Executive Summary
4
Innovation capability index measurement goes beyond RD expenditures and includes other factors like human resources, research systems, public‐
private co-publications and intellectual assets.
5
Appendix, Q5
6
Appendix, Q17

17
A disruption of societies, industries and economies is
underway as a result of the emergence and adoption of
digital technologies. These include the internet of things,
mobile computing, business analytics and big data, cloud,
social media and other technologies like connected devices
and sensor networks that have both reached critical mass
and are working together to define the digital world (see
“Five key digital technologies”). They are forces of change,
creating opportunities that previously were either technically
impossible or uneconomical. In fact, examples abound of
how connected vehicles, connected workers, digital factories,
intelligent pipelines, smart grids and many other applications
of digital technologies are transforming products and services
and the way people work.
In fact, an overwhelming majority of business leaders believe
digital technologies will play an important or a critical role
in boosting EU competitiveness (96 percent), EU economic
growth (93 percent), and EU job creation (83 percent) in
the next three years.7
With the impact of traditional levers
such as fiscal and budgetary policy currently limited, the EU
finds itself in a unique set of circumstances in which digital
presents itself as a powerful lever that can be effectively
used to bridge the ever-widening competitiveness gap.
Digital technologies can make processes more efficient
and reduce operating costs while creating substantial new
growth opportunities through innovation in products,
services and new ways of reaching customers.
Furthermore, business leaders expect digital to have an
immediate and profound impact on their industries in
the short term. Sixty-two percent of respondents believe
that digital will result in major change or a complete
transformation of business models in their industry in
the next 12 months, and almost two-thirds (63 percent)
are concerned they will lose customers to competitors if
they do not embrace technology in that timeframe (see
Figure 8).
Total
62% 63%
Belgium
49%
53%
France
52%
46%
Germany
42%
45%
Italy
77%
74%
Spain
71%
77%
UK
58%
82%
Other EU countries
72%
62%
Very concerned or somewhat concernedComplete transformation or major change
A CATALYST FOR EU GROWTH
AND COMPETITIVENESS
Figure 8: Impact of digital technologies on industry business models in the next 12 months and concerns about
losing customers if businesses fail to embrace digitally transformation over this period.
7
Appendix: Q7

18
Yet despite executives’ enthusiasm for digital, most European
companies are not fully capitalizing on the full potential of
digital. For instance, the major focus of executives’ digital
investments to date has been primarily on driving efficiencies
(60 percent) instead of making their products and services
digital (40 percent).8
Additionally, a majority of respondents
(54 percent) said the primary impact of digital technologies
is to make processes more efficient and reduce costs rather
than create substantial new growth opportunities through
the development of new products and services and reaching
customers in new and innovative ways (46 percent).9
There’s
no question of the positive impact digital can have to
drive process efficiencies and cost reductions. However,
organisations must not underplay the capacity of digital
technology to drive innovation and growth. Companies
should consider allocating the balance of their current digital
investment to better support their strategic growth agenda.
Figure 9:
Even as they express enthusiasm for digital’s ability to help
improve EU competitiveness, business leaders fear the EU
will struggle to compete with other major economies in
digital adoption. While 51 percent think Europe is ahead
of China in the development and use of digital today, 50
percent believe China will overtake the EU within the next
three years.
Additionally, 61 percent believe that Europe lags the U.S.
today, and more than half (53 percent) expect this to still
be the case in three years’ time (see Figure 9).
51%
30%
11%
20%
38%
50%
Now
EU compared with China regarding the development
and implementation of digital technologies
EU compared with the US regarding the development
and implementation of digital technologies
22% 24%
17%
23%
61%
53%
In 3 years Now In 3 years
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Europe is/will be behind China
Europe is/will be level with China
Europe is/will be ahead of China
Europe is/will be behind the US
Europe is/will be level with the US
Europe is/will be ahead of the US
8
Appendix: Q10
8
Appendix: Q9

19
While Europe’s business leaders expect to see China’s ability
to develop and implement digital technologies power ahead
of Europe in the next three years, that does not necessarily
equate to the level of competitive impact China can achieve
through these efforts. At the same time, business leaders
and policy makers should not underestimate the strength
of the US and its capacity for innovation. It is likely the US
will continue to maintain its healthy advantage over both
Europe and China based on its proven ability to develop
and implement technology-based innovation.
That said, there appear to be strong foundations in the
EU on which companies can build in their pursuit of digital.
For instance, when asked to identify EU’s most important
strengths to help improve its competitiveness in digital,
business leaders pointed to the large base of EU companies
with international presence (49 percent), strong innovation
capabilities (47 percent), highly-reputed educational system
(38 percent), thriving entrepreneurship (35 percent), and
strong local demand in both business (34 percent) and
consumer (33 percent) markets.10
The education system in the EU is clearly considered to be a
competitive strength. In fact, surprisingly, two out of three
business leaders believe the EU currently has enough skilled
workers in digital (e.g., data scientists and engineers).11
However, 52 percent of business leaders said they plan to
increase the number of recruits from outside the EU to fulfil
the digital skill requirements for their own business.12
This
suggests an expectation that demand for skilled workers in
digital will outpace supply rise in the coming three years as
competition for resources intensifies (see Figure 10).
In the near term, one course of action is to retrain and
up-skill existing workers to meet the increasing demand
for digital skills. When asked what initiative should be taken
at the EU level to help address this issue, executives most
frequently cited the use of technology to enable lifelong
learning and development of skills (58 percent); promoting
re-skilling/retraining programs for older age groups (51
percent); and promoting the direct involvement of business
in the professional education system (51 percent).13
Figure 10: In the EU, there could be a shortfall of
up to 900,00 digitally skilled people by 2015 at a
time when average youth unemployment is nearly
24 percent.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
In ‘000
Digital jobs: vacancies and graduates
Vacancies in the digital sector New ICT graduates
10
Appendix: Q18
11
Appendix: Q23
12
Appendix: Q24
13
Appendix: Q27

20
Looking further forward, business leaders believe a number
of priority actions can be taken at the EU level to develop
the digital skills of graduates and first-time workers to meet
demand. Educational programs with specific training on
digital technologies and business (49 percent), developing
entrepreneurial skills (45 percent), and promoting the direct
involvement of business in curriculum development for the
tertiary educational system (43 percent) were the top-
ranked initiatives.14
A third element on which Europe can build is its
entrepreneurial skills and culture, which business leaders
across the EU recognise as key to success in the digital
economy (59 percent deemed them important and 35
percent said they are critical15
). And within this context,
87 percent of respondents said it is important or critical
to foster closer collaboration between large corporations
and entrepreneurs/SMEs for the EU to succeed in its digital
transformation. Among the actions business leaders see as
vital to fostering such collaboration are stimulating joint
investment (cited by 60 percent), supporting the development
of local clusters (57 percent), and supporting collaborative
initiatives with universities and education (52 percent).16
Arguably the biggest asset that can fuel digital transformation
in Europe is the fact that digital technologies already are
pervasive across the EU’s consumers and businesses.
Broadband penetration is at 95.5 percent across the EU
and mobile broadband at 59 percent. There are more than
400 million unique mobile subscribers in the region, where
smartphone penetration is at 49 percent. Nearly half of the
population routinely purchases products or services online
and more than 40 percent use eGovernment services.
However, consumer activity varies widely across the EU with
relatively low online purchases in Eastern and Southern
European countries and cross-border activity lower still.xiii
Many businesses are still reluctant to sell online and online
sales are still a relatively small part of overall sales activity
for many organisations.xiv
This is reflected in the Digital
Agenda for Europe, where the near term targets for cross-
border online purchases and small and medium enterprises
selling online still look far from being achieved.xv
Just as consumers are embracing digital technologies, a
number of businesses and governments in the EU also are
demonstrating how digital can help boost productivity and
foster growth.
On the productivity side, digital technologies are helping
European organisations automate and streamline business
processes to make them more efficient and increase output
per employee—as these real-life examples illustrate:
• A major private Italian bank developed and deployed
a mobile iPad®
application to support personal financial
advisors in their sales conversations with customers. The
app provides the ability to take a real-time snapshot of
customer accounts and incorporate this information into
a presentation highlighting the bank’s investment products.
As a result of using the app, the bank has increased the
effectiveness of its personal financial advisors, eliminated
costs associated with paper management, and boosted
advisor productivity by minimising rework and repeat
trips between the office and clients.xvi
• One hospital in Spain has deployed a technology solution
for chronic disease management that includes patient
segmentation, modelling, self-management, connected
patient network, electronic medical record, telemedicine,
and new roles and responsibilities for homecare, hospitals,
and nurses. It is estimated that if this type of program
were extended and applied at the European level, it
could lead not only to better services but also to health
management-related cost savings that could amount
to €62 billion, or 5 percent of European governments’
health spendingxvii
.
• In the energy sector, the United Kingdom is embarking
on a deployment of smart meters, supported by mobile
and analytics technologies, to more than 50 million
electricity and gas meters.xviii
The effort is expected to
enable the UK’s energy producers to manage and analyse
high volumes of meter data more effectively to help
customers conserve energy and to enhance providers’
outage management processes with near real-time outage
and restoration verification capabilities.
14
Appendix: Q26
15
Appendix: Q25
16
Appendix: Q36

21
In terms of product and service innovation, digital
technologies are enabling European companies to develop
new and relevant products and services to sell to today’s
digitally inclined customers, both in domestic and
international markets. For example:
• A European carmaker launched a new range of connected
vehicle services designed to meet the increasing wants
and needs of drivers and passengers to have access to
connected services in their vehicles. The services deliver
the latest in-vehicle technologies providing consumers
with entertainment and information, enhanced safety
features, and seamless integration with their mobile
devices. The company benefits through revenues from
subscription fees from end customers for the connected
services.
• A French bank adopted a cloud-based analytics solution
that automates risk assessment to help it fulfil state-
mandated obligations to provide short-term lending
while managing credit quality. Ten days after rollout, the
system was handling more than 300 loan applications
worth more than €250 million.xix
In effect, the analytics
approach is helping the bank grow and is also enabling
the bank to contribute to economic growth by providing
liquidity to businesses while managing risk.
• A European tire manufacturer has created a solutions-
oriented business for its commercial customers—based
on selling “tyres as a service” with fees charged per
kilometre driven—to complement its existing product-
oriented business model (i.e., selling tires outright). The
company uses data transmitted by the tires, combined
with other metrics (such as fuel savings data and driving
style), to optimise customers’ total cost of ownership.
With high penetration rates across broadband, mobile
and smartphones, extensive use of eGovernment services,
and strong digital initiatives already under way in many
European companies, the EU is in a good position to build
on this progress. However, to sustain this momentum and
succeed in rebuilding competitiveness in both the short and
long term, Europe’s business and policy makers must take
urgent steps to convert the region’s digital potential into
higher levels of productivity, innovation, and growth to
ensure the EU can become a leader in a new era of digital
business.

22
Music, books, art, maps, the ways
we communicate—these and countless
other things that used to be primarily
physical or analogue are now digital as
well, and that has changed the ways we
live, work, learn and play. But that is just
the tip of the iceberg. Today, technology
is enabling the digitisation of almost
everything. Five such technologies are
particularly influential in transforming the
lives of consumers and the organisations
that serve them.
CONNECTED EVERY-
THING – THE INTERNET
OF THINGS
Connected devices of all kinds and sensors
integrated nearly everywhere have tremendous
potential to enable new ways of automated
and personal interaction. They allow businesses
and public sector organisations to manage
assets more effectively; optimise performance
and improve operational efficiency (through,
for instance, better supply chain tracking
and management); and create new business
models and lines of business.
MOBILITY
Mobility simply used to be another forum
for enterprises to deliver information—that
is, develop an application that would let
employees (and later, customers) use a
browser to navigate through company data
on a mobile device. Now, mobility enables
companies to do so much more. Companies
can use mobility to optimise business
processes, simplify tasks and enable employees
to be more productive. And they can use it to
improve user engagement—interacting with
customers and prospects no matter where
they are—and create new revenue streams
for their businesses.
FIVE KEY DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES

23
BIG DATA ANALYTICS
Using sophisticated analytics, European
businesses, government agencies and other
public service organisations can generate
deep insight from the data they collect—
insights that can help them improve their
business in a myriad of ways. For instance,
analytics can increase growth by helping
companies understand and reach new
customer segments more effectively. It also
can drive operational excellence by helping
to identify ways to improve key business
processes and enhance workforce skills.
CLOUD
Cloud computing can improve the economics
of IT for companies and governments, as well
as provide greater operational flexibility and
responsiveness. It also enables organisations
to shift to operational costs and entirely new
business models, including flexible “pay-as-
you-go” service models.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media excels in its ability to personalise
interactions with customers and support new
ways of interacting within and outside of the
organisation. Social media can be a powerful
tool for helping European companies keep in
tune with changing customer demands and
behaviours, as well as serve as an efficient
channel for reaching today’s digital consumer
—especially those in fast-growing markets.

24
THE DIGITAL RE-
INDUSTRIALISATION
OF EUROPE

25
As noted earlier, Europe is well positioned to benefit from the
digital revolution. The region has a strong corporate base (it
is home to 14 of the world’s 50 largest companies by market
capitalisation) with a significant innovation capacity. Europe also
boasts a significant number of entrepreneurs and young businesses,
(which account for half of the jobs created in Europe each year),xx
that tend to be experienced with and receptive to the use of a
wide variety of technologies. European consumers are similarly
sophisticated and open to innovation—they are asking for and
actively using digital technologies in their daily lives.
And the high esteem in which the education system in Europe is held is one of
the most important strengths that will help to improve digital competitiveness in
the EU.17
But while the impact of digital is being felt everywhere, the real change has barely
started. The power of digital is in the interplay of the different technologies. It is not
about social media, but the potential for social collaboration at any time or place. It
is not about using analytics to create a better marketing campaign, but leveraging
enterprise data across the whole supply chain. It is not about smart tollgates on
motorways, but the opportunity to use the data from millions of real-time traffic
movements and from road sensors to help optimise traffic flows across a whole region.
It is not about online back-up, but giving a young business access to near-unlimited
computing power that years ago only massive organisations could afford. It is about
helping to solve everyday challenges for citizens, consumers and organisations in
new ways based on new combinations of information, resources, and technologies.
To illustrate this, we explore how specific digital technologies are helping to transform
five key sectors of the European economy—and further demonstrate the potential
digital has to rebuild competitiveness and create economic growth across the EU.
17
Appendix: Q18

26
MANUFACTURING
The manufacturing industry is arguably the “engine” of the
European economy. A strong industrial base is essential for
Europe’s recovery and long-term competitiveness, growth
and job creation.xxi
Digital technologies offer manufacturers
a variety of opportunities to close the competitive gap.
Industry 4.0, a ground-breaking approach to production
with digital technologies as its foundation, promises to usher
dramatic changes into the industrial world and serve as a
catalyst for the reindustrialization of Europe (see Figure 11).18
Billed as the fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0 is
poised to combine classic production techniques with
cyber-physical production systems (CPPS), leading to the
creation of an “Internet of things, data, and services.”
Industry 4.0 represents a tectonic shift from centralised
to decentralised production. This means that industrial
production machinery no longer simply “processes”
the product, but that the product communicates with
the machinery to tell it exactly what to do.
Decentralized intelligence helps create intelligent object
networking and independent process management. The
interaction of the real and virtual worlds represents an
entirely new way of approaching the manufacturing and
production process. Industrial processes, for example, can
be made more efficient by connecting them to the Internet
in a “Smart Factory.” Cyber-physical production systems
also signal a paradigm shift from existing business models,
as revolutionary new applications are developed, new service
providers emerge, and new value chains become possible.
The new and intelligent products, embedded in intelligent
networks, can be harnessed to spin off a host of new
business models. The horizontal integration of these
intelligent products and networks can also help expand
the value chain.
Figure 11: The fourth Industrial Revolution.
4. Industrial Revolution
based on Cyber-Physical
Production Systems
through introduction of
electronics and IT for a
further automatization
of production
mechanical production
facilities powered
by water and steam
mass production based on
the division of labour and
powered by electrical energy
Cyber physical systems combine
communications, IT, data and
physical elements using the
following core technologies:
• Sensor networks (receptors)
• Internet communication
infrastructure (IP)
• Intelligent real-time processing
and event management (CPUs)
• Actors for mechanical activities
• Embedded Software for logic
• Big Data and Data Provisioning
• Automated operations and
management of system activities
Industry 4.0
Industry 3.0
Industry 2.0
Industry 1.0
End of 18th Century Start of 20th Century Start of '70s Today
DegreeofComplexity
Source:Accenture analysis
18
Accenture, “Digital Industry 4.0”, 2013

27
Companies can up the ante from merely producing
intelligent devices to adding more value by coupling the
product with a host of services brought about by the deep
analysis of data. New big data processing technologies
allow the analysis of large amounts of data collected from
digitized products and networked sensors. They can also
help accelerate the entire data cycle from insight to action,
enhancing the enterprise’s ability to deal with data velocity.
For example, Trumpf GmbH, a German producer of
intelligent machine tools and industrial laser systems is
taking the next step beyond efficiently manufacturing its
machines.xxii
Instead, Trumpf is interested in mining the
information provided by the machines, to gain deeper,
actionable insights and to network machines in an
intelligent way to create smart factories. In this way, they
autonomously exchange information, trigger actions, and
control each other, improving productivity and speed and
reducing costs.
At Trumpf, networking has already advanced greatly. Apart
from a cloud-based platform for remote diagnostics, there
is the Trumpf software for production control, which takes
the inventories and the urgency of order processing into
account and allows the production status to be remotely
monitored via an app. According to Trumpf, all of its
Industry 4.0 activities are designed to further increase its
machines’ productivity, making better use of resources and
thereby helping to improve the performance of Trumpf’s
customers.xxiii
The common denominator enabling Industry 4.0 is greater
leverage of industrial software. Driven by the continuous
need to reduce costs and increase process transparency
and flexibility, manufacturing companies increasingly
embed industrial software in their installed machine base.
This enables them not only to better manage the entire
automation processes, but also creates new opportunities
to transform their current business models from one
focused on making products to one that is oriented toward
providing solutions.
Four solutions, in particular, are poised to support the
entire set of operations along the value chain in an
integrated manner, adding value in the process. One
solution is nextgeneration corporate optimization and
execution systems that can help manufacturers drive down
costs. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems already
provide many applications, from customer relationship
management (CRM) to sourcing, manufacturing and
forecasting. Future ERP systems will leverage in-memory
computing, advanced Web portals and cloud computing,
thereby offering all the entities along the supply chain
access to real-time data and need-based data processing.
Benefits include lower capital expenditure, reduced costs
and quicker implementation. By harnessing the cloud
skilfully, companies can also enter completely new businesses
or quickly launch new products.
Crowdsourcing is another solution that can help
manufacturers to further leverage the power of social
media to boost innovation. As several successful innovators
have learned, opening up the innovation process to the
collective wisdom of ‘the crowd’ can dramatically increase
the odds of coming up with the next big idea before
someone else does. It is possible that the future will see
entire parts of the supply chain outsourced to an undefined,
anonymous ‘crowd’ using technologies such as the Internet.
A third solution is next-generation 3-D printing. This powerful
tool is likely to be one of the leading technologies in the
future that will significantly change the way products are
developed, produced, delivered and serviced. Consumers
may have the opportunity to design products on their own
personal computers or co-design them with companies
using the Internet, producing them within the confines of
their own homes. With further refinement in technology
and a reduction in printing costs, 3-D printing could render
an entire phase of traditional supply chains obsolete.
Finally, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) can have a
major impact on manufacturers’ operations by helping
them organize, develop and manage new products and
services throughout their lifecycle. Integrated PLM—which
closes the loop between product usage and engineering,
and provides a foundation for collaboration among
engineers and other experts around the globe—can enable
manufacturers to get products to market faster and more
efficiently. Manufacturers using PLM have increased the
speed of product launches by up to 55 percent and reduced
operational and product development costs by 10 percent
to 30 percent.xxiv

28
BANKING
While banks in the EU are recovering from the downturn,
growth is slow and profitability remains low. The return on
equity (ROE) at the average large EU bank in the first half
of the 2013-2014 financial year was 8.2 percent, compared
with 8.7 percent for the United States. ROE of large EU
banks is forecast to remain below 10 percent in 2015.19
Digital offers a multitude of benefits for banking
institutions that can help them achieve stronger growth
and profitability—including cost containment through
automation, risk management, increased revenues through
new digital products and services, enhanced quality of
services through digital channels, and ultimately increased
profitability (an estimated ROE uplift by 3.8pp through
technology-enabled business transformationxxv
).
A French bank for example, adopted a cloud-based analytics
solution that automates risk assessment to help it fulfil
state-mandated obligations to provide short-term lending
while managing credit quality. Ten days after rollout, the
system was handling more than 300 loan applications
worth more than €250 million.xxvi
In effect, the analytics
approach is helping the bank to grow and is also enabling
the bank to contribute to economic growth by providing
liquidity to businesses while managing risk.
Despite such benefits, however, EU banks appear to be
slow in adopting digital. Across Europe, retail banks have
only digitized 20 percent to 40 percent of their processes.
In addition, 90 percent of European banks are investing less
than 0.5 percent of their total spending on digital.xxvii
Making their outlook worse is the aggressive entry of non-
banks with digital innovations such as mobile and online
payments, and capturing a growing part of the banking
value chain. By being slow to embrace digital technologies,
banks risk being consigned, by digitally enabled competitors
from other industries, to a limited role as utilities. Bank-
customer loyalty has also become more tenuous (on average,
20 percent of banking customers switch banks or banking
products each yearxxviii
). Together, these factors could have
a devastating impact on banks’ customer bases.
To avoid being relegated to a form of utility banking, where
they become a back-office function for their customers,
banks must innovate through digital products and services
to fight back and gain new market share. It is estimated
that 40 percent of revenues and 55 percent to 60 percent
of operational processes in the average financial institution,
could be impacted by technology.xxix
Up to two-thirds of
the profitability uplift required by banks to be in the high
performer category is linked to technology-led transformation
(see Figure 12).xxx
Figure 12: For a bank, up to two-thirds of the profitability uplift required to be a high performer could come
through technology-led transformation.
Technology Enables business transformation ROE uplift
5.7
Strategic cost
reduction
12.0
Asset quality
normalization
ROE potential2012
2.82.6
1.9
0.9
0.2
1.3
Regulatory
adjustment
1.3
Momentum
growth
Balance Sheet
efficiency
0.6
Delivering performance improvement through
technology enabled change
Business transformation Economic ROE uplift
Source:Accenture analysis
19
Accenture, “Technology that matters, Harnessing the technology wave in banking,” 2013.

29
Payments are the primary touch point with banks’
customers and account for up to 25 percent of the typical
bank’s revenues. Right now, banks have vast amounts of
big data—information clarifying where people shop, how
much they spend, and what they use to make payments.
If they lose that to alternative providers, they lose customer
insight and customer touch points. But they are beginning
to fight back.
BNP Paribas Fortis, SA/NV, for example, has teamed up
with Belgium’s largest telecom company and Accenture to
create Belgium’s first mobile wallet. It will allow consumers
to use their mobile devices to purchase goods or services,
redeem coupons, or use their loyalty cards when visiting
the mobile application of participating merchants. It is not
just a mobile payments tool; they are creating a commerce
“ecosystem” for Belgian merchants and consumers. The
program is currently in the pilot stage with major Belgian
merchants.
In mature markets, where banks have been busily cutting
costs for five years, they are now using digital for growth.
Accenture estimates that if a bank can shift a customer
fully from physical branches to a digital platform, it can
reduce costs by around 70 percent. But a bank also can
provide value-added digital products to its customers to
grow both revenues and market share.
For instance, Lloyds Bank plc analyses its data to offer cash
back for goods and services that its customers buy using
their debit cards, all based on customers’ past spending
habits and merchant promotions. T. Garanti Bankası A.S.
(Garanti Bank) in Turkey has designed a highly sophisticated
mobile banking app that uses GPS data and analytics to
provide customers with discounts relevant to the stores
they happen to be passing by. It also helps them manage
their money based on past spending behaviour and
withdraw cash using their mobile phones. Barclays Bank
PLC’s number-one digital avenue for attracting new
customers has caught on quickly amongst young people
in the UK. The service, called Barclays PingitTM App
, allows
customers to transfer money to one another using a
mobile phone.
All these digitally enabled products will help generate growth
and protect customer relationships because they allow
banks to become more a part of people’s everyday lives,
not just a utility for processing transactions and holding
deposits. Following the financial crisis, governments in
mature markets are encouraging competition in banking.
That will include efforts to make it easier for customers to
switch providers. Banks know they need to improve their
image with customers. With digital products and services,
they have an opportunity to differentiate themselves, not
least through establishing these innovative services with
leaders in other industry sectors.

30
ENERGY AND UTILITIES
Energy costs are a critical component of competitiveness
for EU-based companies, particularly for manufacturers
in energy-intensive industries, which account for about
25 percent of industrial employment and 70 percent of
industrial energy use, according to the International Energy
Agency20
. In 2011, the EU was the world leader in the
production of energy-intensive goods with a 36 percent
market share, far outpacing other countries such as the
United States (10 percent), China (7 percent), and Japan
(7 percent).xxxi
Today, this leadership position is threatened
by the disparity in energy costs between EU and other
countries. In fact, partially because of their lower energy
costs, the US and key emerging economies are expected to
see a rise in export shares of energy-intensive goods up to
2035, while EU and Japan are likely to see a sharp decline.
(See Figure 13)xxxii
.
Figure 13: The United States and key emerging
economies are forecast to increase their share of
energy-intensive goods, while the EU and Japan
are likely to see a sharp decline.
As it is unlikely that the EU will be able to compete with
the United States on energy costs in the foreseeable
future, it needs to become more energy efficient and take
fundamental market model decisions regarding fuel mix,
interconnection, the EU Emissions Trading System, and
capacity remuneration to optimize the overall energy
system. Digital technologies can play a role in helping
the EU’s transition to this ‘new energy architecture’.
Technologies such as smart grids, smart metering and
analytics can help make the EU a world leader in energy
efficiency and intelligent, distributed energy, compensating
to some extent for the EU’s energy cost disadvantage.
These technologies also provide opportunities for global
leadership in high-value exports of energy technology.
In fact, 58 percent of European business leaders believe
digital technologies are important to enabling access to
competitive energy and 56 percent agreed they are important
to improving energy efficiency. Just over one third said
digital technologies are critical to addressing both of those
issues (see Figure 14).
Figure 14: Digital technologies will be key to address
key energy challenges Europe is facing.
How important are the digital technologies (connection of
renewable energy to efficient smartgrid, smartmetering) to
address challenges Europe is facing?
European Union
-10
36
Japan
-3
7
+3
China
7
+2
Middle East
3
+2
India
3
USA
10
+1
Export share in 2011 Expected changes for 2035 in pp
Source:Accenture, IEA,WEO 2013
Critical
Important
93%
35%
58%
92%
38%
56%
Access to competitive energy Energy efficiency
20
International Energy Agency (IEA), “World Energy Outlook, 2013”.

31
Adoption of technologies such as smart grids, smart metering
and analytics can help make the EU a world leader in energy
efficiency and intelligent, distributed energy, compensating
to some extent for the EU’s energy cost disadvantage. These
technologies also provide opportunities for global leadership
in high-value exports of energy technology.
Business leaders believe there are three key priority actions
that should be taken at a European level to boost the
adoption of digital technologies to address energy challenges
in the region: the promotion of energy efficiency (cited by
73 percent); support and investment in Smart Grids (61
percent); and support and investments in renewables (60
percent) (see Figure 15).
Figure 15: Digital technologies will be a key driver of
energy efficiency.
What priority actions should be taken at European level to
boost the adoption of digital technologies to address energy
challenges in Europe?
Smart technologies, in particular, hold massive promise.
Smart grids can convey real-time information on the state
of the grid and, in conjunction with advanced analytics,
help reduce electricity waste, spending on monitoring and
diagnosis of network problems, and maintenance costs.
They also are key enablers of distributed energy generation
(for example, district heating and cooling systems and
photovoltaic (PV) panels), which allows for more responsive
demand management and a reduction in transmission and
distribution (TD) losses. The European smart grid market
is projected to be worth more than $82 billion by 2020,
and represents 20.6 percent of the global smart grid
opportunity.xxxiii
Amongst a majority (60 percent) of energy
executives globally, analytics solutions will be the highest-
priority smart grid investment for their company in the
coming years.xxxiv
Similarly, smart metering deployment can help energy
producers manage and analyse high volumes of meter
data more effectively while providing customers with
detailed energy usage data—which in turn, results in
decreased peak energy consumption and electricity bills.
By integrating the meter data management system with
existing utilities network management systems, an energy
company can enhance its outage management processes
with near real-time outage and restoration verification
capabilities.
While new technologies are an important component
of driving energy efficiency, there also needs to be a
fundamental change in industrial, commercial and
residential consumer behaviour to encourage them to
be more proactive about the way they manage their
energy use. From a residential perspective, mobility,
combined with products such as NestTM
home automation
products and services (recently acquired by Google, Inc.),
can help consumers regulate energy use when they are
out of their homes, thus reducing overall consumption.
Of course, there is no single pathway to this ‘new energy
architecture’. However, the most effective approaches all
share several common features, including a long-term
approach to energy policy that helps to support investor
certainty; low-carbon fuel mix with base-load hydro and
nuclear power-generating capacity; and energy efficiency
across industrial, commercial and residential sectors.
73%
61%
60%
53%
52%
Promote energy efficiency
Support and invest in Smart Grids
Support investment in renewables
Support and invest in storage
technologies
Support the development of
new transportation modes
(e.g., Electic car)
Ranked within top 3
Sample base = All respondents (N=513)

32
PUBLIC SERVICES
Public services are a crucial and substantive component
of the EU economy, accounting for more than 50 percent
of GDP across the EU as an average. That gives European
governments’ significant leverage in orchestrating
economic activity as well as creating strong foundations
for competitiveness and growth. However, doing so will
require significant effort, both within public service to
increase productivity, as well as innovation through the
public service to create ripe conditions for businesses and
citizens to thrive.
Political and economic realities such as an aging population,
high unemployment, cyber security, and environment
sustainability—all against the backdrop of fiscal
tightening—are putting enormous pressure on public
services. In addition to this, citizens’ expectations from
their governments have risen significantly in recent years,
encouraged in part, by their experiences with the private
sector, such as banking, consumer goods, media and
entertainment services. Citizens and businesses are
consequently expecting better and more personalised
services, multichannel and ubiquitous access, real-time
information, increased transparency, and participation.
The public service ecosystem is changing dramatically as
well. Disruptive technological trends like social media and
collaboration, mobility, analytics, big data, and cloud are
creating a paradigm shift in how people live, work and
interact. European Governments will need to fully embrace
this if they want to be seen as relevant and in touch
with citizens.
This is also a clear expectation from business leaders. As
shown in the survey carried out for this report, when asked
how confident they are that public services in Europe will
be able to leverage digital technologies to improve the
quality of service to citizens and businesses in the next
three years, 68 percent of respondents were optimistic,
while 32 percent were pessimistic (see Figure 16).
Digital technologies can help public service organisations in
a number of ways. For starters, integrated online portals—
underpinned by cross-agency data sharing and providing a
“onestop shop” experience for all citizens’ requests—such
as taxes, pensions and benefits—can help drive significant
cost efficiencies through self-service and automation,
while providing a much higher quality of service. Such an
improvement would be welcomed by citizens. On a global
level, according to a separate survey in 2012, 46 percent
of citizens would prefer a single website to deal with the
government.xxxv
A significant element of the portal is the
ability for organisations to personalise services to meet
citizens’ specific circumstances and needs.
Figure 16: Digital technologies will support the
improvement of public services.
How confident are you that public services in Europe will be
able to leverage digital technologies to improve the quality
of service to citizens and businesses in the next three years?
At the same time, digital fosters and supports the
transformation of public-services delivery by allowing new
types of partnerships across public, private, and third-sector
actors. Through much stronger integration of data, using
common and open standards and being device- or channel-
agnostic, digital offers fundamental shifts in the interaction
between governments and citizens as well as businesses
to create a seamless experience. For example, in the future,
citizens should be able to access, in real-time, individual
pensions holding through a portal, which could indeed
be co-managed by public and private sector. In this
co-production model, the citizen has access to updated
pensions information, but can also correct and modify
personal data. Digitally skilled officials could be on stand-by
for exception handling, via chat or other remote technologies,
to guide the user through to service fulfilment.
Very optimistic
Optimistic
65%
29%
3%
6%
62%
Pessimistic
Very pessimistic

33
Social networking and mobility provide the platform to
further engage citizens and create participative democracy.
In fact, overall, 64 percent of citizens already use social media
or would like to use it in the future as a means of interacting
with their government (see Figure 17).xxxvi
In return, they call
for Governments to be more responsive and accountable.
Crowdsourcing initiatives encourage citizens to discuss and
debate issues or voice their concerns, exchange information,
petition governments to make improvements in public
services, and even to work together to improve the quality
of life in their communities.
Figure 17: Adoption of social media by citizens.
The co-design and co-delivery of public services with
stronger ownership and participation of recipients of these
services will lead to a repositioning of public services,
whether it is with “government as a platform” or “new
public movement” initiatives, but in any case enabled
by digital. For example, through labour market analytics
solutions governments would be better placed to forecast
future supply and demand of skills and, as a result, be
able to facilitate much higher-quality matching between
vacancies and skills, target investment in educational
programs to address skills shortages, and thereby improve
overall competitiveness of industry. In taxation, such tools
help reduce fraud and errors, identify revenue leakage
opportunities, and reduce costs through streamlined
operations or crossagency collaboration.
Finally, digital technologies can help public service
organisations solve the “public productivity puzzle” and
deliver better outcomes for the same or lower cost. For
instance, a Digital Efficiency Report commissioned by the
UK government found that the average cost of a central
government digital transaction can be almost 20 times
lower than the cost of one done by telephone and 50
times lower than one executed face to face.xxxvii
In Portugal,
an initiative called “Zero Licensing” spearheaded by the
agency for administrative modernization (AMA), was able
to reduce the time to start a business to just one day from
more than 30 days.xxxviii
The impact of efficiency improvement
on the bottom line is significant: One percent annual
productivity gains would amount to cost savings of US$180
billion in France, US$190 billion in Germany, and US$140
billion in the United Kingdom.xxxix
At a macro level, digital can drive significant benefits for
public services organisations. Accenture’s research and
analysis shows that adoption of digital technologies in
government brings substantial benefits to society and
the economy: A 1 percent increase in digitization (in the
economy) correlates with a 0.5 percent gain in gross
domestic product level, and a 2 percent increase in
international trade levels. Increasing digitization also
has a positive impact on addressing social challenges:
A 10-percent increase in digitization correlates with
a drop of 0.9 percent in the unemployment rate.xli
Overall, our research tells us that an enthusiastic
adoption and facilitation of digital technologies could
improve overall productivity, transform the relationship
between citizens and governments and play a major role
in economic growth and competitiveness in Europe.
64%
of citizens stated they already
use social media or would like
to use it in the future to interact
with their government.
Source:Accenture, 2014

34
HEALTHCARE
Healthcare is already a major public-spend item in most
European countries and will become unsustainable if not
urgently addressed. People are living longer and often face
multiple health conditions that require long-term care. In
some countries, a small minority of the population with
serious, long-term medical conditions accounts for more
than half the healthcare budget. Increasingly, life diseases
such as obesity will put pressure on providers as the range
of healthcare requirements becomes even more diverse.xlii
Patients want access to top-quality healthcare, which means
governments will need to make healthcare reformation a
priority if they are to provide equal, accessible and affordable
care. In the current economic climate, they will need to find
ways to not only maintain but improve patient outcomes at
a lower cost.
The answer for Europe lies in transforming the way that
health services are provided and managing legal, business,
credit, political and strategic risks proactively.
Digital tools can play a major role in this effort, as they can
help promote wellness and preventive care to reduce the
incidence of costly treatment for chronic diseases, deliver
better treatment outcomes, and cut overall operating costs.
These tools include remote patient monitoring, proactive
health, fact-based personal analytics and coaching, patient
monitoring and education, disease management, and
home health. Mobile platforms are also enabling, through
smartphones and tablets, the adoption of greater patient
access to healthcare on a “do it yourself” basis, as well as
telemedicine solutions for chronically ill patients.
Technological innovation is also fostering organisational
changes—such as “connected health” and integrated
healthcare service models—that are enabling providers to
deliver more cost-effective services and better quality of
care. In this scenario, health management efficiencies and
improved care integration may be found by integrating
treatments amongst community-based care, primary care,
hospitals, nursing homes and other providers, rather
than silos.
Many telehealth pilot programs, for instance, have reported
success in reducing the number and length of hospital
stays and emergency visits (as well as increasing patient
satisfaction). One of these, a three-year telemonitoring pilot
in the United Kingdom across three sites, has resulted in a
45 percent reduction in mortality rates, a 15 percent cut in
emergency visits, a 20 percent drop in emergency admissions,
and a 14 percent cut in number of bed days of care.xliii
Predictive analytics may potentially enable interventions
ahead of long-term hospital admissions and may ensure
that the right facilities are available to meet future public
needs. Health Information Technology (IT) systems with
telehealth techniques that remotely monitor patients’ vital
signs, may also facilitate new care-models. Innovative
payment structures that reward outcomes rather than
activity may also be prudent.xliv
In Spain, for instance, Osakidetza, the Basque public
health service, deployed a technology solution for chronic
disease management that included patient segmentation,
modelling, self-management, connected patient network,
electronic medical records, telemedicine, and new roles
and responsibilities for homecare, hospitals, and nurses.
This holistic approach to tackling the challenge of chronic
diseases in the Basque Country generated €59.5 million
in cost savings in 2012 (see Figure 18). In addition,
pharmaceutical prescription costs have decreased by
2.5 percent.xlv

35
It is estimated that if Osakidetza’s programme was extended
and applied at the wider European level, it could lead not
only to better services but also to health management-related
cost savings that could amount to €62 billion, or 5 percent
of EU governments’ health spending.xlvi
In Valencia, Spain, digital technologies are the foundation
of a health management solution that enables La Fe Hospital
to address multiple population segments, with a particular
focus on the “top of the population pyramid”— the 17
percent of the patients who drive approximately 60 percent
of the total health system’s expenditure. Use of predictive
analytics along with case management could help a
region like Valencia reduce its total health expenditures
by approximately 10 percent.
Transitions in healthcare delivery will bring with them their
own new challenges for public and private healthcare
providers and payers, which may include cost pressures
relating to advances in healthcare technology, or regulations
protecting patient information. Digital technology is,
however, a key lever that could help to lower costs and
help improve the productivity of Europe’s healthcare systems.
Digital health information is a critical requirement, and “one
patient, one medical record,” must become the industry’s
mantra. Through connecting the fragmented healthcare
information, a single view of the patient becomes possible
allowing for efficient allocation of resources required for
quality care and effective cost management to reduce
overall country spend.
Figure 18: Cost savings in chronic disease management
in the Basque public health service in 2012.
59.5 million
in health cost savings through
Patient Segmentation
Modelling
Self-Management
Connected Patient Network
Electronic Medical Records
Telemedicine
New roles and responsibilies for
homecare, hospitals, and nurses
Source:Accenture client experience

37
As the preceding sections have demonstrated, digital technologies
offer tremendous potential for organizations to dramatically improve
their performance and the overall economy of the region. This is
something the European Commission recognized in adopting the
Digital Agenda for Europe, as part of its Europe 2020 growth and
jobs strategy.
Yet the only way the EU can realize the promise of digital as an accelerator for
competitiveness and growth, is if businesses—large and small—and governments
work closely together to create an environment in which digital technologies can
flourish. To that end, we have identified a number of key actions businesses and
governments should take to help pave the way for increased development and
deployment of the digital technologies that are crucial to improving their own and
the region’s competitiveness.
Of course, the EU is made up of many countries, industries and businesses all starting
at vastly different points of the journey, which means a “one size fits all” strategy is
neither advisable nor practical. Combined with this, countries and industries are
emerging from the recent crisis at different speeds with some needing to do more to
accelerate their progress towards adopting best practice. And there are a number of
important challenges that need to be addressed, by both businesses and governments,
to seize the opportunity and create a foundation for renewed growth and prosperity.

38
BUSINESS RECOMMENDATIONS
As an economy’s competitiveness is, amongst other things,
an aggregate of the competitiveness of its businesses,
business leaders in the EU have a defining stake in creating
prosperity through transforming existing businesses into
digital businesses and creating new digital enterprises. We
refer to a digital business as one that achieves growth and
results by creating unique customer experiences through
new combinations of information, business resources, and
digital technologies.xlvii
In pursuing their own strategies for renewal in a digital
world, companies in the EU should concentrate on using
digital technologies in two critical ways. The first is to
increase productivity and internal efficiency to reduce costs.
This includes improved process efficiency, better asset
utilization to optimise production and inventory costs, a
more responsive organisation to reduce the cost to serve
and implementing new cost models like self-service, and
reduced time spent on non-selling activities. The second
is to generate new levels of innovation and growth by
better serving customers and consumers demanding new
products, services, and better experiences. This includes
defining digital business strategies that target new business
outcomes, the development of new and improved products
and services, new and optimised channels to customers,
efficient expansion into new markets, and new pricing and
earnings models to maximise profitability.
A digital business can create revenue and results by using
innovative strategies, products, processes, and experiences.
Being digital requires the adoption of four key principles:
• Growth tends to come through customer experiences
and relationships that adapt to their customer dynamics
and demands.
• Operational results can be delivered via new combinations
of information, processes, channels, and workforce
abilities that leverage new high-performance business
and operating models.
• Information is at the centre of the business model. It is
usually the basis for differentiating customer experiences
and the fuel for more efficient operations that deliver
these experiences.
• IT infrastructures become digital platforms. Companies
may not be able to realise digital ambitions if they continue
to be shackled by the cost, complexity, and limited capacity
of their legacy infrastructures. A digital business platform
supports a diverse set of customer and operational
requirements with a single set of resources.

39
In addition, success in digital requires businesses to develop
eight foundational digital capabilities:
• Strategy and governance, which focuses on how the
company develops strategy that is aligned within business
functions; evaluates opportunities to generate new areas
of growth throughout the business; and makes, evaluates,
and enforces decisions across the enterprise.
• Organisation and collaboration, which involves how the
company organises resources and responsibilities to achieve
business goals; fosters collaboration among teams in
their daily work; and builds the capacity to enhance the
workforce and its abilities.
• Customer experience and interaction, which includes
how the enterprise interacts with its customers and
incorporates digital solutions in creating unique and
marketmaking experiences.
• Technology and platforms, which concerns how the
enterprise leverages digital technologies and platforms
to generate business results.
• Information and insights, which targets how the company
leverages information in products, services, experiences,
and company decisions.
• Growth and innovation, which considers the agility with
which the enterprise uses innovation and operations to
define new and uniquely valuable products and services
and take them to market.
• Operations and ecosystem, which concentrates on the
efficiency and effectiveness of operations and the
business ecosystem.
• Security and privacy, which involves how well the
company controls and secures business and customer
data, information, and intellectual property.
Critically, executives need to recognize that an organisation
that simply applies new digital technologies to existing
products and services is not the same as a digital business.
These applications can represent important steps forward.
However, they will not be sufficient to capture the digital
growth opportunity or address disruption from more
digitally sophisticated competitors. Companies should
identify the new customer-driven outcomes that digital
makes possible, consider how their business and operating
models need to change to deliver these new outcomes,
and then define the combination of digital and traditional
technologies, operations, and information required to
realise these outcomes.

40
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
In parallel, EU governments, policy makers and businesses
must help create the vision and put in place the enablers
for the digital transformation of the economy, to drive
productivity, innovation and growth and accelerate a return
to competitiveness. This includes improving the regulatory
environment for digital uptake, addressing the digital
skills’ issue, and fostering growth and innovation through
entrepreneurship.
IMPROVING THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT FOR
DIGITAL UPTAKE
As highlighted earlier in the report, 41 percent of executives
surveyed believe smarter regulation will make Europe more
competitive.21
When it comes to digital, this means addressing the current
fragmented regulatory environment faced by businesses
operating across the EU, which is preventing the uptake of
digital technologies and solutions, at scale, and thus limits
the full potential of the digital single market. It has been
estimated that Europe could gain 4 percent of GDP by fully
developing the digital single market by 2020 (based on
2010 figures).xlviii
If we look at the adoption of cloud computing in the EU,
the current regulatory—and particularly data protection—
framework poses several barriers, for both cloud users
and providers. A lack of harmonised requirements across
the EU means that cloud users—and by extension their
cloud service providers-are subject to many country-specific
data protection and data security obligations, with many
countries placing restrictions on data location. The
associated compliance and liability concerns mean that the
cloud market in the EU is not reaching its full potential or
scale, thus limiting the benefits of cloud, including lower
IT costs and flexibility in IT usage, greater speed, and the
ability to fully leverage new and innovative technologies
and services.
In addition, in today’s globalised and data-driven world,
traditional regulatory approaches are being challenged,
as the evolution of technology outpaces the regulatory
response.
Europe therefore needs to adopt a strategic approach to
regulation that recognises the blurring of both geographic
and industrial boundaries and leaves room for innovation,
while ensuring the protection of personal data.
The promise of digital is based on the ability to gather, store
and analyse various types of data so organisations can make
better decisions about key aspects of their business, to drive
productivity and the development of new business models.
By modernizing and harmonizing rules to protect personal
data and streamlining compliance, policy makers can enable
businesses and consumers to leverage the full benefits of
new data and technology-based products and services.
Finally, in addition to adopting data-friendly policies,
policy makers must put in place a supporting regulatory
environment for investment in technology, innovation and
digital infrastructure, which are the backbone of the digital
transformation of the economy and essential ingredients to
the success of innovative entrepreneurs. The harmonisation
of rules in the communications markets is equally critical to
enabling players with operations in multiple EU countries
to capture the full potential of cross-country synergies, the
development of pan-European IT platforms and services.
For example, the allocation of radio spectrum and the
harmonisation of its management across the EU level are
essential to supporting investment in wireless broadband
networks.
21
Appendix: Q5

41
ADDRESSING THE DIGITAL SKILLS ISSUE
The region continues to struggle with a widening digital
skills gap that will impact the ability of EU businesses and
governments to leverage the digital opportunity. Jobs growth
in the Information and Computer Technology (ICT) sector is
forecast to run at 7.6 percent in the next decade, more than
double the overall rate of job creation forecast.xlix
The EU
produces nearly 1 million science, technology, engineering
and maths (STEM) tertiary education graduates every year,
almost double the number in the United Statesl
but far
behind emerging countries such as China (1.7 million) and
India (nearly 1.2 million).li
Yet the number of graduates in
Europe is not sufficient to close the gap between skills
supply and demand. According to the European Commission,
if nothing is done to change the situation, about 900,000
vacancies may go unfilled in EU by 2015, which will greatly
reduce the opportunity for growth and for the digital
transformation that is required in Europe’s economy.lii
At the same time, unemployment remains stubbornly high
and there is the real possibility that digital disruption, while
accelerating economic growth and competitiveness, will
displace workers due to automation and changing skill
requirements.
Solutions for these two complementary problems must be
linked, targeting relevant technical and vocational training
while employing digital platforms and tools, such as online
learning through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)
and Open Educational Resources, which will improve and
accelerate access to the right skills while providing the
unemployed or those in danger of losing their job the skills
to gain or maintain employment. These initiatives should
be promoted and implemented across the 28 EU member
states. While the dropout rate for MOOC is high and
standards may not be quite so rigorous, such courses are
still a very cost-effective way of reaching people who
may otherwise not have access to such training. There
are a number of examples of successful partnerships
among governments, businesses, educational institutions,
and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are
providing these groups with the opportunity to get and
maintain the necessary skills.
EU governments, businesses and educational institutions
also need to forecast future skills needs and make
targeted investments in new educational and training
policies to continuously up-skill and re-skill existing and
future employees to address structural changes in skills
requirements. Other initiatives should include the joint
development of innovative educational partnerships among
governments, businesses and educational institutions, aimed
at increasing the employability of non-STEM students
through the development of courses and apprenticeships
that help students develop and use digital skills in a
professional environment.
Policies that enhance the mobility of qualified talent within,
and into, the EU, and promoting older workers to remain in
the work force must also be part of the solution. This includes
reexamining the framework for the recognition of skills
across the EU to enhance the quality of information available
to potential recruiters; promoting the development of
language skills; and providing incentives to remain in the
workforce longer. One successful example is the development
of a new intermediary “YourEncore,” which focuses on
engaging a growing segment of experienced talent:
retirees and provides short-term solutions to skills needs
YourEncore, Inc. maintains a network of specialists – retired
scientists and engineers – who are called on to work on
projects at more than 50 companies, such as Procter
Gamble Company, Eli Lilly and Company, and General Mills,
Inc. One “YourEncore” Expert, a retired chemical engineer
who had spent 35 years specialising in colour for Eastman
Kodak Company, helped a consumer products client solve
a colour challenge with a new hair-care product.liii

42
FOSTERING GROWTH AND INNOVATION THROUGH
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Innovation and entrepreneurship are vital to competitiveness
and job creation. The EU is no different, with many young
and innovative businesses already contributing the majority
of employment growth in the region. In fact, 40 percent
of executives surveyed believe that innovation and the
creation of new products and services will lead to greater
competitiveness in Europe and are looking to EU governments
and policy makers to make a concerted efforts to attract
and retain inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs—
particularly those that are young and digitally proficient.
Appropriate steps must therefore be taken to develop and
nurture the current and coming generations of entrepreneurs
that will play a central role in Europe’s recovery through
the launch and development of new business models, the
creation of new products and services and innovative
partnerships between large and small companies.
Some current actions in place to help entrepreneurs are
still valid and should continue to be an area of focus.
Policy makers should further promote the delivery of public
advisory services, such as those regarding tax or fiscal
matters, and simplified online administrative processes,
while strengthening “second chance” policies to promote a
higher acceptance of failure—such as adapting bankruptcy
rules to the new unstable business environment to make
it easier for businesses to start, grow, and further flourish.
Amid these on-going initiatives, however, European
governments should consider two other efforts that could
help create a more entrepreneurial culture: virtual clusters
and non-traditional sources of funding.
While many factors contribute to entrepreneurial success,
one of the biggest—and hardest to measure—is the ability
to consort with other entrepreneurs in a cluster, the most
famous of which is Silicon Valley. Having other like-minded
individuals nearby who can serve as both a sounding board
for new ideas and a support group when times get tough
is something that has been proven valuable to entrepreneurs
time and again. There are a number of examples of
cluster development in Europe, including those in London,
Berlin, and Paris,liv
yet, while entrepreneurs value clusters,
oftentimes geographic barriers can make it difficult for
many to join them.lv
Thus, virtual clusters, supported by
digital technologies, can bring together educators, large
and small businesses, and talent—wherever they are in the
world, to accelerate the pace of innovation and job creation.
Governments and businesses need to support the further
development of virtual clusters in the EU. By collaborating
via virtual clusters, entrepreneurs gain access to new markets,
specific skills, expensive technologies, funding, economies
of scale, and the possibility to eventually sell one’s business
to a collaboration partner. Large companies will benefit
from greater exposure to a wide range of innovation that
may potentially disrupt their markets, gain access to a new
talent pool, and indirectly stimulate internal entrepreneurship
among their own employees.lvi
Virtual clusters, supported
by digital technologies, can bring together all these players
to accelerate the pace of innovation and job creation.
Entrepreneurs also need money to make their ideas a reality;
therefore, greater strides toward fostering access to non-
traditional sources of financing must be made. The EU should
continue to explore ways to facilitate access to traditional
sources of financing such as private loans, credits, and
public support—which was a major issue for 34 percent
of European executives, not only entrepreneurs—and
complement those with efforts to promote non-traditional,
innovative and digital forms of financing such as crowd
funding.
Crowd funding in the region has already become more
widespread, growing in 2012 by an estimated 65 percent
over 2011 for a total of €735 million.lvii
This figure is all
the more important given the shrinking European venture
capital market, as crowd funding helps bridge the finance
gap for small firms with innovative projects. The EU,
together with national governments, should further explore
opportunities to support the development of crowd funding,
including how EU and other traditional public funding can
be better utilised in this area, as outlined in the European
Commission Communication, “Unleashing the potential of
Crowdfunding in the European Union.”lviii

THE REALITY IS THAT WITH-
OUT SIGNIFICANT POLICY
CHANGES TO STIMULATE THE
DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
OF ENTREPRENEURS, THE EU
WILL BE DEPRIVING ITSELF OF
ONE OF THE MOST PROVEN
DRIVERS OF COMPETITIVENESS,
GROWTH AND JOB CREATION.
43

44
THE NEED TO MEASURE PROGRESS
AND IMPACT—A DIGITAL INTENSITY
INDEX
Of course, one of the keys to effectively capitalizing on the
potential of digital technologies to accelerate competitiveness
and growth in the EU is to understand where one is and
how far one still needs to go from a business, government
and policy-making perspective.
In addition, businesses need to assess their current position
and set out a roadmap of initiatives and targets for
integrating digital technologies into processes, products,
and services—all of which can be tracked. Accenture has
recently measured the progress of large German companies
in leveraging digital technologies, using an Accenture-
developed digital index that measured progress in three
areas: development of a digital strategy aligned to the
overall corporate strategy; digital product and service
innovation; and digital enablement and automation of
the organisation.
The research found there are a number of large, high-
growth businesses that are already well advanced in
leveraging digital technologies (see Figure 19).lix
One such
company is BMW Group, a traditional industry leader that
has developed a comprehensive digital transformation
strategy and is aggressively pursuing new digital-based
offerings. For instance, via its BMW i Mobility Services,lx
the
company launched “DriveNow,” a car-sharing service that
teams BMW, MINI, and Sixt AG to enable users to rent cars
flexibly, when and where they need them. Billing is on a
per-minute basis, and fuel costs and parking charges in
public car parks are included. Users can locate available cars
using the app, website, or on the street, and a chip in the
customer’s driving license acts as an electronic key. Another
example of a BMW i Mobility service is “ParkatmyHouse.
com,” an online marketplace that brings together owners
of private parking spaces and people in search of parking.
In the public sector, Accenture’s recent digital government
research evaluated progress in digital services implementation
across 10 countries—Brazil, Germany, India, Norway, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), the United Kingdom and the United States.lxi
This Citizens Service Experience index is based on a
combination of weighted quantitative and qualitative
measures in three key areas: the voice of citizens related
to the role of their governments in providing excellence in
services; the level to which a government has developed
an online presence; and the extent to which government
agencies manage interactions with their customers—
citizens and businesses—and deliver service in an integrated
way. Using this index, Accenture was able to assign an
overall score on digital service progress for each country.
Singapore emerged as the overall leader (7.4), followed
by Norway (7.3), and the UAE (6.7). South Korea (6.0),
Saudi Arabia (5.9), the United States (5.9) and the
United Kingdom (5.7) formed the middle pack, and India
(5.4), Germany (4.7) and Brazil (4.3) followed.lxii
Finally, the European Commission, as part of its Digital
Agenda for Europe, measures and publishes an annual
scorecard of progress toward the adoption of digital
technology and services across EU member states.lxiii
While
this is an important and positive initiative, it does not
measure the impact of digital on the factors that influence
competitiveness—at an EU, national or industry level.
As part of Accenture’s research programme on European
Competitiveness, and as a contribution to the discussion
on how digital technologies can accelerate competitiveness
and growth across the EU and its industries, it will develop
a methodology for measuring the impact of digital on
European competitiveness—both from a country and
industry perspective—against which progress can be
measured over time.

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