Innovation Speech 2023: Norway faces several critical choices

The Innovation Speech is held every year to take stock of innovation in Norway. In this year's speech, Haugli highlighted several choices that echo those we faced when Norway became an oil-producing nation.

'Modern Norway has been shaped by how a number of critical turning points were handled. It was not inevitable that Norway's petroleum resources would be managed in the way they were,' says Haugli.

We believe Norway is facing four critical tipping points:

• The capital market has tightened, and more young people are reluctant to create their own jobs. Entrepreneurial activity is now lower than it was in 2019.
• Labour shortages are a major challenge. Unless we reverse this trend, in just over ten years we will reach a point where the working-age population begins to decline in absolute terms.
• Technology is now advancing at breakneck speed. Artificial intelligence brings both concerns and new opportunities for our capacity to innovate.
• The green transition is happening now. In 2021, more foreign capital was invested in industries other than oil and gas.

As part of the Innovation Speech, we provide institutions and businesses with our recommendations on innovation policy. Haugli called for greater commercialisation of research, a more diverse business landscape, a new plan for start-ups and growth, significantly greater investment in green industry, and more support for Norwegian businesses in international markets.

In his speech, he referred to the 1998 romantic comedy Sliding Doors as an example of how choices or events that seem small today can have major consequences in the future.

'When deciding which doors to walk through, we can – and should – make active choices. But time is running out,' Haugli concluded.