Glass.AI Powers European Commission and Technopolis Research on the EU's Critical Digital Sectors.
Our AI research capability contributed to the European Commission’s newly published research on deploying the EU’s critical digital capacities beyond 2027.
In collaboration with Technopolis, our AI capability conducted deep, large-scale web research to identify, analyse, and categorise emerging European companies across the EU’s critical digital sectors. These sectors included:
Advanced digital communications and connectivity
Artificial Intelligence
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies
Cloud-Edge-IoT
Cybersecurity and digital identity technologies
Data analytics and data sharing technologies
High Performance Computing
Microelectronics
Next Generation Internet and Extended Reality
Photonics
Quantum Technologies
Robotics
By continuously analysing publicly available information from across the web, our technology created a comprehensive evidence base of innovative companies operating throughout the European ecosystem.
Key findings
Europe has a thriving innovation ecosystem, but scaling remains a challenge. More than 20,000 advanced digital start-ups were identified across the EU in 2025, yet relatively few have grown into large-scale companies or unicorns, highlighting a persistent scale-up gap.
Digital adoption is accelerating, but unevenly. Technologies such as AI, data analytics, cybersecurity and cloud computing are gaining momentum, but deployment varies significantly across sectors and Member States.
Structural barriers continue to slow digital transformation. Limited access to growth capital, skills shortages, fragmented regulations, legacy IT infrastructure and high implementation costs remain major obstacles to widespread adoption of advanced digital technologies.
These data and insights informed the study’s assessment of Europe’s digital landscape, providing evidence on emerging companies, technology trends, and the strength of innovation across strategic digital sectors. Our contribution demonstrates how AI can accelerate research that would otherwise require months of manual effort, while delivering transparent, comprehensive, and reproducible results.
We are delighted that Glass.AI’s technology was used to support this important initiative, helping provide policymakers and consultants with a richer understanding of Europe’s digital innovation ecosystem as they shape future investment priorities beyond 2027.
For more information on this important research, please find the official report here.