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![2025 Competitiveness
Progress Report
The EU is well positioned in
CO2 capture technologies […].
However when it comes to CO2
transport, storage, and the full
value chain, Europe lags behind
[…]
A closer look at CCS](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/02alboraeusubnationaltechnologicalpotentialcomplexity-251027080631-8ba7d7f4/75/Assessing-technological-potential-from-EU-to-subnational-level-through-economic-complexity-Albora-32-2048.jpg)
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Assessing technological potential from EU to subnational level through economic complexity -Albora
Presentation by Giambattista Albora, Scientific Researcher, Joint Research Centre, European Commission at the 26th OECD Spatial Productivity Lab meeting "Smart moves: How data can help discover what regions could be great at" held online on 23 October 2025. More info: https://oe.cd/6dd
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Assessing technological potential from EU to subnational level through economic complexity -Albora
- 1. Assessing Technological Potential fromEU to Subnational Level through Economic Complexity JRC.B6: Industrial Strategy, Skills and Technology Transfer Bernardo Caldarola, Dario Diodato, Lorenzo Napolitano, Carla Sciarra JRC.B5: Circular Economy and Sustainable Industry Giambattista Albora, Robert Marschinski
- 2. Overview Authors: Giambattista Albora,Bernardo Caldarola, Robert Marschinski Topic: Policy brief introducing a novel approach to assess EU competitiveness Technology: 15 net-zero technologies Level: EU-level Authors: Giambattista Albora, Bernardo Caldarola, Dario Diodato, Lorenzo Napolitano, Carla Sciarra Topic: DG RTD commissioned study using the same methodology Technology: Advanced Materials Level: Regional-level 1 2
- 3. Competitiveness in net-zero technologies:Insights from patents and economic complexity
- 4. Introduction A key challengefor the EU is to close the innovation gap with other countries such as China and US. To this end, it is crucial for the EU to identify technologies and sectors that: 1. are of industrial and strategic relevance, and 2. offer the potential for the EU to become a globally competitive player
- 5. Introduction A key challengefor the EU is to close the innovation gap with other countries such as China and US. To this end, it is crucial for the EU to identify technologies and sectors that: 1. are of industrial and strategic relevance, and 2. offer the potential for the EU to become a globally competitive player Focusing on the 15 net-zero technologies outlined in the Net-Zero Industry Act we assess where the EU holds a strong base of technological capabilities. The analysis presented in our policy brief addresses this second point.
- 6. A regulation adoptedby the EU in 2024 that aims to strengthen EU manufacturing of clean technologies and accelerate the transition to climate neutrality by 2030 Net-Zero Industry Act NET-ZERO TECHNOLOGIES Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy Solar Photovoltaic Heat Pumps Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Solar Thermal Sustainable Biogas Geothermal Energy Technologies Battery/Storage Technologies Industrial Heat Recovery Sustainable Alternative Fuels Nuclear Fission Hydrogen Technologies Electricity Grid Technologies Hydropower Ocean Energy Technologies
- 7. Methodology To analyse patent abstractsto identify innovations in net-zero technologies Patent Share Percentage of patents associated with a technology coming from a country To infer from countries’ patent activity, which ones possess the best capabilities Relatedness How aligned a country’s capabilities are with a net- zero technology Natural Language Processing Economic Complexity How is it used? Derived Indicator
- 8. Patent Share andTechnological Capability How strong a country is in a technology today based on patent activity How strong a country could potentially be in a technology based on its current capabilities Patent Share Relatedness
- 9. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Values on both axis are normalized dividing by the value of the best performing country EU Patent Share (Normalized) EU Relatedness (Normalized)
- 10. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Technologies in which the EU has both a low patent activity and weak capabilities. Competitiveness in these areas is unlikely to be achieved. Missed Opportunities EU Relatedness (Normalized) EU Patent Share (Normalized)
- 11. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share BATTERIES EU Patent Share (Normalized) EU Relatedness (Normalized)
- 12. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Technologies in which the EU has both a high patent activity and strong capabilities. This is where EU is performing well. Leaders Technologies EU Relatedness (Normalized) EU Patent Share (Normalized)
- 13. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Technologies in which the EU shows a high patent activity that is not supported by strong capabilities. These technologies may be “artificially kept alive” through investments Zombies Technologies EU Relatedness (Normalized) EU Patent Share (Normalized)
- 14. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Technologies in which the EU has a low patent activity but shows strong capabilities. Here we see the highest potential for improvement. Seeds Technologies EU Relatedness (Normalized) EU Patent Share (Normalized)
- 15. Country-Level Analysis Country-Level Relatedness Studyingthe capabilities at the country- level allows us to identify which member states are the most promising for technology development EU Patent Share (Normalized) EU Relatedness (Normalized)
- 16. Assessing the EU’s competitivenessin advanced materials at the regional level
- 17. Patent data fromPATSTAT include the personal addresses of inventors. We use these addresses to assign each patent to a NUTS2 region. Limitation: the inventor’s address does not always correspond to the location where the invention was actually developed (e.g. company headquarters, lab, or university site). From inventor addresses to regional data
- 18. Results Thin Films, Coatings& Surfaces 2D & Nanomaterials
- 19. Where should apolicymaker act? • In regions with high relatedness, where investments are more likely to succeed, but where the technology might develop naturally anyway? • Or in regions with low relatedness, where public intervention could make a real difference, but the risk of failure is higher? Where should policymakers intervene?
- 20. Example: Carbon Captureand Storage Country-Level Relatedness EU as a whole is weak in Carbon Capture and Storage. France has high relatedness, Germany/Netherlands/Italy/Spain medium, others low. Should we invest where success is most likely, where improvement is realistic, or where capacity is missing but most needed? EU Patent Share (Normalized) EU Relatedness (Normalized)
- 21. Thank you © EuropeanUnion 2020 Unless otherwise noted the reuse of this presentation is authorised under the CC BY 4.0 license. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the EU, permission may need to be sought directly from the respective right holders. Slide xx: element concerned, source: e.g. Fotolia.com; Slide xx: element concerned, source: e.g. iStock.com
- 22. Example: Batteries Batteries appearas a missed opportunity, investing there may be unlikely to succeed based on relatedness. Yet, they are a strategic and essential technology, so policymakers are reluctant to give up EU Patent Share (Normalized) EU Relatedness (Normalized)
- 23.
- 24. NLP to analysepatents Technology: Hydrogen Technology Abstract 1: Fuel cells efficiently convert hydrogen into electricity Abstract 2: Electrolyzers are devices that use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen Abstract 3: Tomato cultivation requires well-drained soil and plenty of sunlight Bert4Patents t: (x0,y0) v1: (x1,y1) v2: (x2,y2) v3: (x3,y3)
- 25. NLP to analysepatents Hydrogen technologies focus on producing, storing, and using hydrogen as a clean energy source. Electrolysis splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity. Storage methods include compressed gas and liquid hydrogen. Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, emitting only water vapor, making them suitable for clean energy in transportation and power generation. These technologies aim to enhance efficiency and support a low-carbon economy. Abstract 1434593 Abstract 2435245 Abstract 3234541 … Bert4Patents Abstract Affinity with Hydrogen Tech. 1405213 0.92 7394028 0.89 … … 5345767 0.14 9384050 0.09
- 26. NLP to analysepatents Hydrogen technologies focus on producing, storing, and using hydrogen as a clean energy source. Electrolysis splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity. Storage methods include compressed gas and liquid hydrogen. Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, emitting only water vapor, making them suitable for clean energy in transportation and power generation. These technologies aim to enhance efficiency and support a low-carbon economy. Abstract 1434593 Abstract 2435245 Abstract 3234541 … Bert4Patents Abstract Affinity with Hydrogen Tech. 1405213 0.92 7394028 0.89 … … 5345767 0.14 9384050 0.09 Patent Share
- 27. Technological Capability CTRY 1 CTRY4 CTRY 3 CTRY 2 CTRY 5 CTRY 6 The CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification) is an international system used to categorize and facilitate the search of patent documents based on their technical features Each patent is assigned one or more CPC codes, which are alphanumeric labels identifying its specific technological fields
- 28.
- 29. Technological Capability … 2000 2001 2016 Hydrogen Technology … … 2005 2006 2021 5 years 5years 5 years XGBOOST Technological Capability
- 30. EU Tech. Capabilityvs Patent Share Colours indicates how EU competitiveness in each technology was assessed in the 2025 Competitiveness Progress Report: Opportunities to boost EU clean tech
- 31. A closer lookat CCS
- 32. 2025 Competitiveness Progress Report TheEU is well positioned in CO2 capture technologies […]. However when it comes to CO2 transport, storage, and the full value chain, Europe lags behind […] A closer look at CCS
- 33. Country-Level Analysis Country-Level TechnologicalCapability Studying the capabilities at the country- level allows us to identify which member states are the most promising for technology development
- 34.
- 35. A closer lookat Hydrogen Generation
- 36. China’s dominance inPV production China's surpassing of the EU in terms of technological capability can be considered an early indicator of its surpassing in terms of photovoltaic production