Continental Europe today serves as the core model for regional innovation economies and ecosystems around the world. Key structural elements of this model include family-owned enterprises, public universities, a strong State role, and a focus on traditional industries, especially manufacturing, commerce and agriculture. Silicon Valley, in contrast, is the leading exception globally to the dominant European model. As Europe faces growing competition from China and the US in computing and artificial intelligence (AI), are its traditional science, industry and growth platforms adequate to secure Europe’s future competitiveness, prosperity, sustainability and societal well-being?
This course employs a ‘comparative innovation ecosystems’ approach to deconstruct and analyze in depth the fundamental differences - and similarities - between Continental Europe and Silicon Valley. Particular attention is paid to institutional models; to science, industry, engineering and design traditions and cultures; to group identity, taboo, groupthink, herd behaviors, ‘blind spots’ and dominant narratives; and to system performance criteria.
In exposing students to such ethnographic/cultural anthropology methods of understanding group behaviors and mindsets, the course seeks to move beyond the usual Silicon Valley discussion of ‘startups’, ‘venture capital’, ‘innovation’, ‘founder biographies’ and ‘company culture’ - and past the usual European narratives around ‘digital transformation’ and ‘platforms’ - to understand the deeper underlying institutional structures and social foundations of entrepreneurship and innovation on the Continent and in Northern California. And perhaps also to identify new ways forward for Europe and the United States.