On 12 June 2013, ARC Fund and Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria, held an ‘Innovation Business Club’ event on ‘Stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship in Bulgaria and the US’, with a guest of honour and keynote speaker Marcie Ries, the Ambassador of the US to Bulgaria.
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Coordinator of Innovation.bg expert group, opened the event by highlighting ARC Fund’s efforts to promote technology transfer and innovation cooperation over the years through organising the annual Innovative Enterprise of the Year Award, Innovation.bg policy report, and National Innovation Forum. He pointed to the US as the key partner in developing innovation in Bulgaria.
Ambassador Marcie Ries, emphasized in her presentation the importance of establishing a dynamic business atmosphere in order to attract foreign investment to Bulgaria, which in turn is crucial for economic growth. She underscored the central role that local businesses must play in this process. In an effort to promote innovation in Bulgaria and bilateral cooperation in this area, the US embassy will run a four week mentoring programme, during which US experts will share their know-how and experience in 4 key areas of business development:
- venture capital and angel investors;
- business – science link;
- entrepreneurship and education;
- start-up businesses and market entry.
Amb. Ries gave examples of US policies aimed at fostering business innovation, such as federal financing for new businesses, tax credits and easier access to funding for science, research and development. She noted that government policies have been focused on the promotion of key sectors, such as clean technology, education, biotechnology, healthcare and nanotechnology. The Ambassador identified the disconnect between different communities developing new technologies, the lack of venture capital for start-up companies and the weak protection of intellectual property rights as major obstacles for innovation in Bulgaria.
Mr. Angel Milev, Coordinator of the Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria, moderated the subsequent discussion and emphasized the importance of the involvement of business leaders, academics, students and inventors in the development of innovative products. During the discussion business leaders and academics made suggestions about different ways to boost the development of innovation in Bulgaria, particularly by collaborating with the US embassy in Bulgaria.
Mr. Ivaylo Penchev, CEO and co-founder of Walltopia, an Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2012, opened the discussion by stating that innovation is a combination of entrepreneurship and science. He suggested that efforts should be made to get children interested in the field of science from a young age, by establishing an interactive science museum similar to the ‘Exploratorium’ in San Francisco in the US. Mr. Ognian Traianov, CEO of ‘Technologica’ agreed with Mr. Penchev on the need to develop Bulgaria’s education system, which is currently not producing enough science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates and could lead to a long term trend of low-value added production in Bulgaria’s economy. He also supported the idea of involving children in science from an early age and helping them find a career in this sphere. In this relation Mr. Emil Georgiev, executive director of DeConi, a marketing agency, briefly presented a practical example of engaging children with new ideas: a public campaign, which has reached over 80,000 children, through an interactive ‘Green eco’ bus travelling around the country.
Mr. Peter Mitev, co-founder of Chaos Group, a software company, identified a key problem for Bulgaria’s innovation prospects: the disconnect between universities and businesses. He implied that students are often demotivated during their studies, as they don’t see any real career paths, in which they can apply their knowledge. He noted that Bulgaria would greatly benefit from learning from the US experience in connecting universities and businesses. Professor Bistra Boeva, from the University of National and World Economy, emphasised the importance of developing a strong public-private partnership between universities and businesses, which are often reluctant to cooperate with academic institutions. Furthermore, she pointed out that life-long learning is somewhat overlooked in Bulgaria, which means that knowledge and skills of the current labour force are outdated, while changing career is very difficult due to the lack of training facilities. Mr. Borislav Toshev, representative of ‘Pantеley Toshev Ltd’ also supported the idea of establishing stronger links between universities and businesses.
In her concluding remarks Amb. Ries welcomed the ideas presented by the participants in relation to developing ways to make children more interested in science and emphasised the importance of educating more teachers in this field. Finally she reiterated the US embassy’s commitment to organise a strong link between the US and Bulgaria to provide mentorship and career prospects in the field of technology innovations.
For more information:
tel: 02/ 973 3000
e-mail: angel.milev(at)online(dot)bg
