Norway strengthens ties between support programmes

The Research Council of Norway, host to the local EUREKA office, has put into place its first policy orientated towards regional actors. A net of small ‘Silicon Valleys’ will be created as a solution to Norwegian companies’ low levels of R&D investment.

Benefiting from a particularly widespread research infrastructure across its different regions, Norway can expect its network of universities and research institutes to expand local innovation ecosystems.

Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, executive director of the innovation division, said: “We have seen that the number of companies participating in international projects funded by European research  programmes is on the rise, while others are finding that working together with a nearby university is what helps them moving forward in their development efforts.”

With this new strategy, the Research Council also promotes a greater co-ordination between regional needs and national and European resources and programmes.