The Slovenia Times

Innovation Forum "key in increasing competitiveness"

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Economy Ministry State Secretary Aleš Cantarutti stressed the importance of the event for increasing the competitiveness and economic development of both Slovenia and the EU.

The Economy Ministry aims to introduce various measures in order to improve the business environment, which offers opportunities to innovators, Cantarutti said at the forum.

According to him, the new financial perspective focuses primarily on innovation and R&D. "I hope that we can become even more innovative in the future, not just in the business environment, but also in all everyday challenges," he said.

Irena Meterc of the SPIRIT agency, which is organising the two-day event, said the Slovenian Innovation Forum has become a meeting point of people dedicated to innovation and offers a chance for networking, creating new ideas as well as new business opportunities.

Today's programme included lectures on smart specialisation strategies, opportunities for financing innovative companies, approaches to lean innovation in big companies and forming dynamic teams in times of constant change.

Forum participants also discussed the success of Slovenian companies in their participation in the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research, technological development and innovation.

Igor Milek from the SPIRIT agency said that almost EUR 80m in contracts have been awarded to companies as part of the Horizon 2020 programme.

Almost 1,300 small and medium-sized Slovenian companies have applied, mostly IT companies, followed by energy and transport companies.

Another discussion focused on a study carried out among Slovenian family companies in order to establish whether innovation is hereditary. The participants agreed that it is not, as company founders create more innovations than their successors.

The study showed, however, that tight collaboration between generations and training new workers could bring companies much synergy.

Mentorship was proven to be an effective method, but the most effective was early inclusion of family members in the company's work.

The forum's programme also featured several workshops. One of them, led by Alenka Potočnik, explored the characteristics and steps involved in creating a new, original product.

"If we are open to opportunities, see challenges, we can quickly raise questions, come up with new ideas and become open to new solutions," she said.

Jadranka Jezeršek Turnes, who led a workshop on inclusive and progressive dialogue between science and society, said that Slovenians were very innovative and resourceful people, but had problems executing ideas. She believes this could be solved with increased investments into science.

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