There's more grim news for Europe's efforts to develop a knowledge-based economy. A July 19 European Commission report says investment in research and development in the 25-nation bloc is barely keeping pace with economic growth. That means Europe is unlikely to meet a key goal of 2002's Lisbon Agenda for growth -- boosting R&D outlays from under 2% of Europe-wide gross domestic product to 3% by 2010. The EC says China's R&D spending as a percentage of GDP may equal Europe's by then. Europe also could face a lack of info-tech workers, warns Forrester Research (FORR

) in a July 20 report. Retirement trends and too few new tech grads may cause shortages as soon as 2006. Another problem, says Forrester: Schools teach the wrong skills for today's market. EDITED BY Edited by Michael S. Serrill