The mis-predicted Mayan apocalypse behind us, 2013 has brought renewed hope to Europe. There is a sense that the worst is behind us, a near-death experience in the more than half a century old European project has been averted, just. The Euro is back as one of the world’s most favoured currencies and the European Union is marching forward on key strategic agenda issues like the game-changing,...

The ICT sector is a very fluid and aggressive global market where technology is driving change, in fact it’s driving innovation across all sectors. There’s a huge amount of innovation coming from Russia and across the East. Look to Asia and you’ll see the Japanese ‘eBay’ coming our way which will undoubtedly put pressure on eBay. In the coming years we are going to see some...

SMEs working in the ICT arena  are very aware and started to take advantage of the significant benefits in cloud computing - particularly how it can help drive efficiencies and make products and services available to a wider audience.

I firmly believe that entrepreneurial initiatives are crucial to the growth of European economy. Startups should be able to operate in a supportive environment while pushing their innovative ideas.

A question on a lot on Irish people's minds at the moment is: where next for Ireland?  What areas do we need to focus on to restore competitiveness in the country?

In our second video from this year's Microsoft BizSpark European Summit series, we hear from some of the region’s most promising start-ups.

In our latest video looking at cloud computing today, Henk Kok, Director of Perrit, explains how cloud computing is enabling a competitive European business environment.

Jan Muehlfeit, Chairman of Microsoft Europe, on unlocking human potential through inspiring creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; and improving European competitiveness by re-aligning education programmess and providing support for start-up companies.

The Lisbon Strategy's aim is to make the EU ‘the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010'.