Investment In Innovation Shaping Future of European Businesses

  • 2025-02-05

According to experts, innovation is set to be the key focus for European businesses this year. But, why is innovation important? And which areas in particular are seeing the most investment?

Importance of Innovation 

Today, most if not all markets seem incredibly saturated. With this in mind, it is perhaps more important now than ever before for brands to find new and innovative ways to set themselves apart from their competitors. This is something that we have long since seen demonstrated in the iGaming industry. For example, Slingo has become a favorite of players, combining the mechanics of slot games and the rules of bingo for fresh gameplay. Additionally, games like Slingo Racing have incorporated imagery of a 2D horse racing arena. In this game, players place their bets on a horse, which is matched to a color. When that color is matched with a number, the horse advances in the virtual race. This sets the racing-inspired game apart from other Slingo games, and indeed other online casino games. 

It is somewhat unsurprising then, that many European countries and businesses alike are expected to double down on their investments in innovation. In particular, analysts expect that there will be a boom in investments into recently emerging and rapidly growing technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. So, let's take a look at some examples of how these technologies are being embraced. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

According to data from the statistical office of the European Union, the adoption of AI has reached 13.5% across European businesses. The adoption rate is even higher in countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium, which hit 27.6%, 25.1%, and 24.7% respectively. When reviewing the implementation of AI systems within these businesses, the leading reasons for investing in this technology were to streamline operations and processes using written language or text mining, natural speech generation, and speech generation. 

Another report by Finch Capital predicts that over two-thirds of European businesses will invest in AI software by the end of 2025. This research suggests that AI will assist with the growth of software as a service (SaaS), enabling the wider growth of European business technologies. This is particularly the case in areas like tax, finance, and HR, which are seeing AI adoption rates up to 85%. 

Internet of Things (IoT) 

IoT is seeing a growth in investment across a wide range of different industries. For example, Samsara Inc. recently announced an integration with Mobilisights. The collaboration between the brands aims to give European businesses access to vehicle data in a streamlined, hardware-free solution, which could be revolutionary for improving the efficiency of fleet management and logistics operations. 

Elsewhere, Vodafone is set to expand its incorporation of its IoT connectivity into the Oracle Enterprise Communications Platform. This will improve connectivity and provide users with data insights almost in real-time, providing businesses with fast, reliable global cloud-based connectivity. 

And there you have it - just a couple of areas that are predicted to particularly benefit from this investment trend. Investing more in innovative technologies like AI and IoT could signal a new direction and generation of technologies for businesses throughout Europe.