Monica Mæland, Minister of Trade and Industry, chose Nyskapingsparken and BTO as her first stop for an input seminar on Gründerplanen. Entrepreneurs, investors and support organisations from across Norway were invited to give their input on what such a plan should include. The Minister had invited twentyfive representatives of the innovation sector to Bergen. Mrs. Mæland received a lot of good advice during the day, and the strengthening of competence and capital were recurring themes.
BTO’s and Nyskapingsparken’s input to Mrs. Mæland was based on the targets of The Association for Innovation Companies in Norway (FIN). FIN represents 35 technology transfer offices (TTO), incubators, business parks and clusters.
BTO gave the Minister the following five key advice:
- Greater focus on entrepreneurship in education (from day-care to Ph.D.)
- Focus on individual entrepreneurs (safety nets, etc.)
- Focus on institutional entrepreneurs like BTO (imagine Olympiatoppen: let the good become even better)
- Encourage all participants in society to invest in entrepreneurs, from volunteers to capitalists
- Dare to think new thoughts! If you want to contribute to innovation in the public sector today, the only way to earn money is by selling your hours. This does not stimulate efficiency,but drives up costs and slows progress. Let participants take part in the rewards of innovation in the public sector, then one has an incentive to be efficient.
The Gründerplanen is expected to be launched in August/September this year.
You can read more about the initiative here.
Pictures:
Main picture: Monica Mæland, The Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, opens the seminar.
Second picture: Anders Haugland (Managing Director of BTO) and Hilde Indresøvde (Head of Nyskapingsparken incubator) welcomes Mrs. Monica Mæland.