1.5 million jobs through digital entrepreneurship
The European Commission is launching the Watify website together with ICT stakeholders to promote digital entrepreneurship by eliminating “the fear of turning ideas into reality”.
In a statement, the Commission said: “Many people with great ideas refrain from entrepreneurship because of their doubts. There are as many people wanting to start a business in Europe as there are in the United States, yet we see a significantly lower level of involvement in start-ups on this side of the Atlantic.”
Only 6% of the adult population of Europe is engaged in a new business, compared with 13% in the USA. It is estimated that 1.5 million jobs would be created in the EU internet economy if the Union mirrors the entrepreneurship performance of the USA or Sweden.
The Watify website aims to assist established companies in all industry sectors by showing that there are a number of opportunities to transform their business using digital technologies, taking away any doubts they might have, and stimulate them into taking action. The initiative will be run throughout Europe for two years.
The Commission said it recognises the key role that digital technologies can play in improving the business landscape in Europe. The Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs provides a solid foundation in setting the scene and passing a strong political message to achieve the goal of making the digital single market a reality.
Supporting Watify is the Startup Europe initiative, which was launched to strengthen the business environment for web and ICT entrepreneurs in Europe. It aims to reinforce the links between people, businesses and associations who grow the start-up ecosystem, including the Web Investors Forum and the Accelerator Assembly. Startup Europe also celebrates new and innovative start-ups and helps them to scale up and gives them access to funding under Horizon 2020.
