Brussels, 06/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting on 1 March this year, the commissioner responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, and Luigi Gambardelli from ETNO, the association that defends the interests of telecommunications operators in Europe, confirmed the need to continue investment in research and development in the sector of information and communication technology (ICT), in order to ensure recovery of economic growth and jobs in Europe. By way of example, Europe has invested €120 million in the third generation mobile market, allowing that market to develop and generate around €250 billion in revenue, Kroes and Gambardelli state in a joint press release. ICT is at the heart of the European economy, representing a quarter of GDP and half productivity growth in Europe. Research and development in ICT plays a growing role in European research, accounting for 25% of business R&D, the commissioner and ETNO president point out. Given the tangible tension several days earlier between representatives of the telecommunications sector and Neelie Kroes during the conference in Barcelona (see EUROPE 10563), “we think this statement is a good sign that there is still a lot of shared goodwill to work towards a much more digital, forward-looking Europe”, the spokesperson for Neelie Kroes, Ryan Heath, states. (IL/transl.jl)