Innovation in Norway must be bought to get new economic development

Norway has a special eye for start-up companies. This nascent love is a result of the authorities’ determined focus on creating a sustainable and robust economy alongside oil. Norwegian political parties all agree on the need for increased innovation in order to maintain the standard of living even after oil runs out.

Yesterday’s solutions are not sufficient for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. We need to think smarter and become more innovative. That is why innovative procurement is an important tool, said Minister of Trade and Industry Røe Isaksen at the launch of the White Paper on Public Procurement. This new, innovative development model will contribute to new growth across a number of sectors and contribute to a diverse and financially sustainable future.

A new initiative to realize this goal is DFØ’s StartOff program. The program’s ambition is to make it easier for start-up companies to become suppliers to the public sector by facilitating a quick and easy procurement process, with smaller detail specifications and shorter development times.

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The Norwegian "startup" ecosystem has come a long way, but the question is whether we have come far enough. Minister of Trade and Industry Nicolai Astrup says in connection with the establishment of StartOff that: «Less than 30 per cent of start-up companies in Norway have a public customer today. At the same time, 80 percent say they want it. It would be exciting with a goal formulation from Astrup here, perhaps something along the lines of 80% of start-up companies having a public customer by 2025?