Innovation - where is the room for improvement?
Special Symposium - Innovations in Food Technology (LMC Congress)
Process & Product Innovation (Food-4b)
Keywords: innovation, research
Evolution has shown that those who adapt win. In modern terms those who innovate win.
Innovation is a buzzword, but innovation is equivocal in a globalized society with much more competition and shorter shelf-lives.
Danish companies are among the most innovative in Europe together with Swedish and German companies. However, there is room for improvement. Almost one fourth of Danish industrial companies rely in part on ideas from customers, suppliers and other users in order to get new ideas. In contrast, as little as 0.6% of the Danish industries gain innovation through contact with research institutions [1]. In addition, 14% of Danish production companies claim that lack of knowledge is causing less innovation [2]. These numbers show that there is potential for gaining a lot of knowledge through further contact with the public scientific world.
One of the reasons that the Danish companies are not profiting a lot more from the public research is that it can be difficult to choose the research area, difficult to find the researchers suited to fit the exact strategy of the company and hard to take the time to follow the research project thoroughly in order to gain most knowledge from the collaboration. Another concern is the difference in culture and mindset in companies compared to public research. However, this difference is actually the reason why new and exciting ideas can arise.
References:
[1]: Danish Innovation Council: Denmark in the Future” (www.startogvaekst)
[2]: Innovation i dansk erhvervsliv 2002-2004” (www.forskningsanalyse.dk)
Presented Thursday 20, 10:15 to 10:20, in session Process & Product Innovation (Food-4b).
