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Introduction
Thank you.
On behalf of the Danish society: Thank you. To the universities and the Confederation of Danish Industry for setting up this event. And to all of you for being here.
When I got this invitation I quickly accepted – because events such as this one is something we in the Danish Government is eager to support. To illustrate why, let me tell you a short story – and if some of you know it – well, I have been in politics for 30 years, so please bear with me.
The story of the post-it
It is about this one – the post-it. Do you know how it saw the light of day?
In 1968, a man named Spencer Silver working at 3M was trying to invent a super strong adhedsive – and came up way short: Instead, he had developed an adhesive that would not stick.
For years, Silver – unsuccessfully – tried to find some use for his weak glue.
Then, finally, one of Silvers colleagues at 3M named Art Fry heard of it. When practising for church choir, Fry used little pieces of paper to mark the hymns they were going to sing. But come Sunday, the bookmarks had all fallen out. So you see, Fry was a frustrated man. Imagine that, with hymns and all.
When Fry heard of Silver’s glue, he saw the use where no one else did. Silver’s weak adhedsive was added to Fry’s bookmarks and the post-it was born – 12 years after.
Today, post-its are so iconic, I have had a hard time imagining an office without them.
The universities and the business sector can help each other
Why am I bringing up this old corporate legend?
Because Silver was not the first and will not be the last who have had trouble translating a brilliant invention into business. Stories like the post-it-story form the backdrop of today’s event: Sometimes, the person with the invention does not know how to use or market it – and sometimes, the person who knows how to use or market it is not aware of the invention.
If the right minds meet, new products might rise.
And, as many of you know, bringing a new product to the market really is no easy thing. Not only does it take deep knowledge of the underlying invention – you also have to know your business smarts.
So I am glad to see the universities and the business sector joining forces at today’s IP Fair.
And I cannot help but think that the fair holds great potential to companies and investors:
Every year, vast sums are spend on research – in 2017 the state budget alone allocated 21.5 billion Danish kroner to research – or around 3 billion euros. Some of it is turned into basic research, which might never lead to anything of economic value – that is how it should be with scientific research.
But some of it is turned into ideas that could lead to valuable solutions to everyday problems.
So drawing on the universities’ discoveries can simply be good business.
The researchers at our universities might, on the other hand, learn from the businesses and investors.
Getting help transforming their idea into an actual product – and even market it.
Be inspired to take their research to a new direction.
Or maybe even realise alternative ways of using their invention. And if all that does not happen today – still, it is an excellent opportunity to forge new relations that might come in handy later on.
Closing
But I seem to be preaching to the choir here.
In essence, I simply want to express my support for events such as this – and my hope that you will spread the message. So we will see even more cooperation between universities and businesses in the future. And so we will not have to wait for over a decade – like 3M had to – before great ideas are brought to the market.
Someone here today just might be “the one” – so go on out – share your ideas – have a great fair.
And thank you for the attention.