The Maker Movement: A New Avenue for Competition in the EU

Abstract

The growing popularity and increasing impact of the Maker Movement has the potential to modify long-established industrial design, manufacturing and funding processes on a global scale. Characterised by a renewed interest in entrepreneurial activity, Maker communities are becoming commonplace worldwide, shaped by rapid changes in technology and global interconnection. The Maker ethos of tinkering, experimenting, and creating platforms for learning and collaboration, while being crucial for new forms of innovation, raises key questions for EU policy and competiveness. If the EU is to capitalise on this emerging phenomenon and measure itself against both established economies (the US) and emerging economies (Asia and Central America), it must solidify its entrepreneurial advantage: that of the single market.