Why is it that we cannot predict the technological future? Is the destruction of the old truly an inevitable companion to the birth of the new? Are our reservations about new technologies justified? How will artificial intelligence reshape economic competition among nations? Can the state have any meaningful active role in innovation at all? Why has Europe fallen behind in the innovation race? And why does an invisible iron curtain still exist, one that keeps Central and Eastern Europe from competing with new startups in the global innovation arena? What can we learn from the success of Silicon Valley, Estonia, Israel, or Singapore?These questions continue to captivate economists, policymakers, and the wider public alike because the past 250 years have clearly shown that the countries that made it into the club of the wealthy were those at the forefront of technological innovation, while the others remained confined in the low- or middle-income trap.Through a comprehensive exploration encompassing illuminating examples and statistical analysis, Zoltan Csefalvay examines the connections between free competition, the digital economy, technological progress, and innovation, and how their complex dynamics lead to success in the competition among nations.Prof. Dr. Zoltan Csefalvay heads the Centre for Next Technological Futures at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (Budapest), where he gives lectures and conducts research on digitalisation, robotisation, and artificial intelligence in Europe. Previously, he worked as a senior researcher at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Seville (2019 2020). He served as the Hungarian ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris (2014 2018) and as Minister of State for Economic Strategy in Hungary (2010 2014). He was Professor of Economic Geography at Andrassy University Budapest (2002 2010) and Professor at Kodolanyi Janos University in Hungary for more than two decades. As a research fellow, he worked in Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Heidelberg, and Cardiff. He is the author of 15 books and more than 80 articles in edited books and peer-reviewed journals in English, German, and Hungarian. He recently published his latest book FREEDOM, INNOVATION, PROSPERITY: The Secrets of Success in the Digital Era about the impact of the current wave of new technologies on business, society, and geopolitics.
