Why Italy should cooperate with GE to boost innovation in Europe
Rome needs to share GE committment to push Europe to build a Single Market for Innovation
We cannot have innovation without research. The American multinational General Electric is totally aware of that, and this is the main reason why during the celebrations for the 10th Anniversary of its Global Research Center in Europe the company confirmed its intention to invest 18.5 Million Euro in a New Research Program Funding Scheme.
GE Global Research Europe was opened by Jeff Immelt, Chairman and Ceo of GE, near Munich (Germany) in 2004. Since then, the facility has grown from a cluster of labs to a highly diversified industrial research center that successfully developed cutting-edge technology to support the European and global market. Initially focusing on energy and healthcare technology, the scope of research programs has expanded significantly to include renewable energy and energy systems, to composite materials manufacturing to propulsion technologies and turbomachinery. Today, the European Research Center, which employs 250 people in total, is home to scientists from over 40 countries.
"For ten years, GE's Global Research Center in Munich has been inventing things that build, power, move and cure the world," said Dr.-Ing. Carlos Härtel, Director GE Global Research Europe. "Our success is due to the strong partnerships with European academic institutes, the great talent pool in the region, the close cooperation with customers and the complementary specialist teams and centers of excellence built by other GE businesses that allow us to maximize joint opportunities. Our long term goal is to strengthen these partnerships through strategic collaborative agreements and to continue to develop cutting-edge research that will deliver value to our customers and society at large."
The reason why Italy should try its best to strengthen its cooperation with GE is not only related to the prestige of playing an active rome in this research hub or to the job opportunities that its relaunch will create. What Italy should try to do is joining GE committment to push Europe to build a Single Market for Innovation, an ecosystem to reduce bureaucracy, allow and facilitate greater cross border co-operation and promote the development and mobility of talent and skills and the recognition of qualifications.
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