Creating a culture of innovation in Europe

April 13th, 2011

This week is an event hosted in Athens (YES Execom) which brings entrepreneurs together from around Europe to discuss how innovation and entrepreneurship is going to play a key role in how Europe progress’s from our current crisis, exacerbated by the collapse of the banking industry to becoming globally competitive once again.

My presentation will focus on: Entrepreneurship, innovation and the future of the European economy. And I will be making two central points [1] we need to think differently about innovation and the businesses we are trying to create, this requires what I call a non-linear approach, which requires us to creatively design innovative businesses in very different ways. Being literate in tools, software, eco-systems, platforms, processes, legal frameworks, understanding human motivation at a deep social level, for example, are all part of this way of thinking and designing. Here are a couple of presentations that explore this theme (mobile and institutions), (designing for innovation in a non-linear world: presentation 1 – presentation 2).

[2] Creating innovation eco-systems at a national and European wide level is also central to deciding whether we will compete successfully or not. Something which I argue we currently do not do well. This is not something that we can afford to pay lip service to, creating such an eco-system requires serious effort and cooperation.

The event has been convened, by the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Regional Development and Competitiveness.