The workshop in brief - PRO INNO Europe

Until now 11 ‘inventors’ have found a commercial partner or have set up a business
based on their idea. The programme is seen to be very useful to stimulate creativity
and offer inventors of every kind and background the opportunity to share their idea
or invention with others.
Viewer ratings show the success to address the general public: Almost 3 million of
Flemish population have seen at least 1x15 minutes, i.e. 51 % of total population.
Especially women & young viewers stated to be stimulated by the programme to be
creative.
The design of similar programmes has to consider, that viewers find in-depth
information as “boring”, and they want more “show, humour and drama”. To address
a big audience, information about innovation, technology, entrepreneurship has to be
limited. Creativity and innovation professionals were often criticising the lack of
breakthrough innovations amongst the inventions. Therefore the right expectations
have to be set with policy makers funding such a programme and with the
professional world.
It is useful to complement this programme with additional measures (“spin-offs”), like
e.g. items on IPR & journey from idea to realty in news programmes, items on
innovations in children’s programmes, articles on candidates in newspapers, on-line
content with contest or a contest at schools etc.
Jack Lang (University of Cambridge) presented the basic driving factors behind the
“Cambridge Phenomenon” in order to create a supportive climate for innovation.
Cambridge is one of the most successful European high tech clusters, with about
1500 companies over $20Bn in value created and attracting over 8% of EU VC
investment. The underlying assumption is, that people want to be entrepreneurs, but
are often stopped by the system. Governments may stop innovation rather than
encourage it by misguided actions.
It is essential to recognise that innovation and entrepreneurship are driven by people.
A positive innovation climate takes into account the needs of entrepreneurs and
reduces the risks, e.g. by providing security in case of failure (sabbaticals, part time
appointments, spin outs, in-house incubators, “intrepreneurs”). Esteem and positive
attitudes towards entrepreneurship play a crucial role. The advantages of becoming
an entrepreneur like e.g. personal growth, prospect of personal wealth etc. have to
be accepted.
06.10.2008 Page 21 of 34 INNO-Views WS 04 Output final