The European App Economy

The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), the world’s leading association for mobile app developers, released a new study showing that the app economy, including apps running on smartphones and tablets, has contributed nearly 800,000 jobs to the EU economy in just five years.

The app economy has exploded since the first app stores were launched in 2008. In addition to job creation, the study – sponsored by ACT, and conducted by Plum Consulting and Vision Mobile – found that across the EU the app economy represents more than €10bn in revenues and nearly one quarter of the global production of app-related products and services.

The study also outlines a number of areas where governments in Europe can make a difference and support the further growth of the app economy, including:

• facilitating access to government data for developers, eg mapping, meteorological and real-time public transport data as well as information on community-level services;
• enhancing connectivity by making more spectrum available for wireless services;
• advancing the European single market in intellectual property and communications;
• embracing app-driven innovation across all sectors, such as health, education, enterprise and lifestyle, and
• ensuring a flexible and supportive business environment for start-ups and entrepreneurs.