Establishment of a Virtual Innovation Ecosystem

(PROJECT)

The virtual regional innovation ecosystem project was a business network development initiative in 2023, which was managed by VentureNet AS in collaboration with leading innovation ecosystems in the Inland region of Norway (Klosser Innovation AS, Vaager Innovasjon AS, and Skåppå AS) and the University of Inland Norway. The project received co-financing from Innlandet County.

The project built on results of a previous FORREGION project on regional innovation ecosystems and laid groundwork that contributed to establishment of several projects to develop national and Nordic Innovation Ecosystems with a connections to the Inland Region of Norway and Greater Oslo Region.

Project results

This project created a large national and international partner consortium of innovation actors, business actors, research institutions and universities, which led to the establishment of several project consortia since the start of the project, and which submitted 9 applications for collaborative projects to the Research Council, EU ERDF (Interreg), and EU Horizon in 2023 alone.

In addition, work is underway to establish 6 large coordination and innovation/development projects in consortia consisting of, among others, Klosser Innovasjon, Vaager Innovasjon, Skåppå, Smart Innovation Norway, the Norwegian Agency for Digitalisation (Digdir), NCE Heidner, NCE Manufacturing, NCE Smart Energy Markets, Cluster for Applied AI, Norway Health Tech, Rikshospitalet, University of Oxford, University of Oslo, NTNU NORCICS, SINTEF, Institute of Energy Technology (IFE), Norwegian Computing Centre, Inland University College, Østfold University College, several municipalities, private business actors, and foreign innovation actors.

Results are described further below related to the effects and continuation of the project.

1. Replicable ecosystem collaboration model to build stronger regional ecosystems.

• Workshops being planned in 2024 and 2025 with key stakeholders in Innlandet, Oslo, Østfold, Sweden, Spain and Germany to identify/plan key networking events and conferences with stakeholders and sponsors.
• Networking events and conferences from June 2024 to interconnect ecosystems, match businesses and investors.

2. Virtual innovation ecosystem with hubs & nodes for regions and strategic industries.

• Digital Infrastructure: open to integration with external systems and fully customizable.
• Network: 250+ local key stakeholders identified by Siva-incubators; 30+ European regions in partner network.
• Hubs: 10 regional hubs (incl. tourism, career hubs), 6 initial industry hubs, 14 hubs for Innlandsporteføljen.

3. Plan for Events, Conference and Projects to interconnect local/regional ecosystems.

• Conferences: major European “Smart Impact” conference opportunity in 2025-2026.
• 4 “Ecosystem” plans (RIV, Interreg, EIE, Hub-Node)to finance workshops, networking events and conferences.
• 12 R&D plans (IPN, Pilot Helse, RFF, EUH, SFI) with leading R&D institutions in AI and cybersecurity.

Would you like to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in your region?

Contact VentureNet for more information about the project’s results and collaboration opportunities.