According to its 2011 “EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard” report, the European Commission has announced that R&D investment by top EU firms increased by 6.1% in 2010, compared with a 2.6% drop in 2009. However, EU companies lag behind their rivals in the US and some Asian economies.
Whilst R&D growth amongst German companies averaged 8.1%, UK companies averaged around 5.8% and French companies 3.8%. Individual tech companies singled out included the UK’s Autonomy, the Netherland’s TomTom and France’s Gameloft. Ironically Autonomy has been taken over by US giant HP and TomTom has seen its profits plunge.
As a contract developer and manager I’ve worked in a wide range of enterprises in a variety of countries where I’ve encountered everything from great work, awful work, bizarre work, all the way down to quasi-legal work. If you think that you recognise your own organisation within my articles then you’re undoubtedly wrong, where you work isn’t that unique.
