Innovation policy news: Norway Aims to Increase Levels of Service Innovations

Submitted by Hannes Selhofer on 16 March, 2011 - 16:29
in
Country: 
Norway

In 2009, a governmental White Paper addressed the need for increased service innovations in Norway. As a result, the Ministry of Trade and Industry established a forum aimed at reviewing and giving recommendations on how current innovation policy could be adapted to foster such service innovations. The forum included representatives from a wide range of players in the Norwegian innovation system including governmental bodies, academics, businesses, labour unions and sectoral federations. The report resulting from the forum's discussion highlights several measures needed in order to prompt service innovation.

File Attachment: 
application/pdf iconNorwegian Innovation Report (2010). [Leo A. Grünfeld, Markus Bugge, Aris Kaloudis (2010): Innovasjon i tjenester. En empirisk analyse av tjenesteinnovasjon i norsk næringsliv og innovasjonspolitikkens utfordringer. MENON-publikasjon nr. 12/2010, Juli 2010]
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Infosector as

Infosector as

Submitted by Hannes Selhofer on 16 March, 2011 - 16:33
Country: 
Norway

Infosector as is a Norwegian service and consultancy company working with innovations and business developments and matchmaking.

See http://www.infosector.no and http://www.ematch.eu.
 

Study of Norwegian Companies Finds that Business Clusters are Irrelevant for Innovation

Submitted by Hannes Selhofer on 21 March, 2011 - 11:15
in
Country: 
Norway

Business clusters could be less relevant as drivers of innovation than has been commonly assumed. The Stavanger Centre for Innovation Research analysed 1,600 companies with more than 10 employees located in the five largest Norwegian city-regions. Rather than national clusters, international cooperation or “global pipelines” were identified as the main drivers of innovation.

File Attachment: 
application/pdf iconFitjar, Rune Dahl / Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés: When local interaction does not suffice: Sources of firm innovation in urban Norway. Paper provided by Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales in its series Working Papers with number 2011-05.
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empirica GmbH

Weak growth in Norwegian R&D spending during 2009

Submitted by Hannes Selhofer on 1 April, 2011 - 17:59
in
Country: 
Norway

A new report has been released showing Norwegian statistics on R&D expenditures in 2009. R&D activities amounted to 41.9 billion NOK (about 5.4 billion EUR) in 2009, constituting 1.76% of GDP. This is a modest increase in absolute spending of about 3.3% (1.4 billion NOK) compared to 2008, and 12.6% (5.3 billion NOK) compared to 2007. Moreover, R&D activity has increased by 2500 person-years compared to 2007, and the government has bypassed the industry as the main funder of R&D activities in Norway.

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Infosector as

Innovation Norway drops ICT as a prioritized sector for R&D funding

Submitted by empirica on 3 May, 2011 - 18:14
in
Country: 
Norway

Innovation Norway is cutting costs as a result of the 2011 state budget. One of the most controversial cost-saving measures is the closure of ICT as a prioritized sector for R&D funding.

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Infosector as

Norway: Governmental report makes suggestions for a new R&D strategy in the energy sector

Submitted by Hannes Selhofer on 15 July, 2011 - 16:37
in
Country: 
Norway

A new governmental report makes suggestions how to adapt and innovate the Norwegian R&D strategy in the field of sustainable energy. The report emphasizes six areas where Norway has competitive advantages which should be exploited to the economic and environmental benefit of the country. In addition, the report suggests to increase government spending in this area by about €106 million to stimulate innovation in the energy sector.

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Infosector as

Norway terminates its largest R&D fund due to low interest rates

Submitted by empirica on 14 October, 2011 - 03:50
in
Country: 
Norway

The Norwegian government decided to terminate its largest R&D fund, because of the low interest rates in recent years which have significantly reduced the fund’s returns. This decision has fuelled the critique of the opposition parties, which had strongly criticised the government’s current R&D policy before.

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Infosector as

Norway: study indicates a lack of innovation focus in government and business

Submitted by empirica on 16 October, 2011 - 05:03
in
Country: 
Norway

A new, comprehensive study by Nordic Innovation warns against a lack of focus on innovation in Norway, both in government and business. The study concludes that Norwegian policy makers as well as business leaders often have a narrow and traditional perception of innovation. At the same time, the identified weaknesses indicate that there is an untapped innovation potential in Norway, if the weaknesses can be addressed and overcome.

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Infosector as

Norway launches 57 million EUR call for proposals for innovation projects

Submitted by empirica on 22 November, 2011 - 11:38
in
Country: 
Norway

Norway has experienced a decline in national R&D expenditure since 2008. In an attempt to reverse the negative trend, the Norwegian Research Council recently launched the largest call for proposals yet.

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Infosector as

Norway reduces required capital stock to establish a Limited Liability Company

Submitted by Robert Koch on 8 February, 2012 - 12:05
in
Country: 
Norway

The Norwegian government has reduced the required capital stock which is needed to establish a Limited Liability Company from 100,000 NOK (about 13,000 EUR) to 30,000 NOK (about 4,000 EUR). The purpose of the amendment is to stimulate entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.

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