Professor Dan Shechtman Speaks to 85 Swedish Business Leaders: “I tell my students… don’t dream of exits.”

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN– The Forum for Innovation Management (FIM), a forum within of the Karl-Adam Bonnier Foundation, hosted “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education,” on December 6, 2011 at the historic mansion Nedre Manilla. Some 85 attendees from the Swedish academic, government and business communities listened to keynote speaker Distinguished Technion Professor Dan Shechtman, the 2011 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and expert panelists, discuss the challenges facing many countries in today’s economy ways to improve performance and growth through entrepreneurship.

Matias Bonnier, Chairman of the Karl-Adam Bonnier Foundation welcomed participants and speakers to his ancestral home.

In his introduction Mikolaj Norek, FIM Director, said that like entrepreneurs, Professor Shechtman had to fight for recognition to achieve success since the scientific community did not initially believe in his discovery.

“Entrepreneurship education is vital to the survival and growth of a country’s future especially when natural resources are being depleted at an accelerated rate,” said Prof. Shechtman.

Even as a young academic Prof. Shechtman foresaw the value in educating engineers in this area. For more than 25 years he has taught technological entrepreneurship at the Technion and counts some 10,000 graduates of this course. The course exposed students to both successful and non-successful entrepreneurs and provided training legal, business and marketing professionals who offered real-world advice.

“Israel is unique as our students have completed military service where they are already exposed to some of the most sophisticated high-tech in the world. They are also older and more mature when they start their university studies,” said Prof. Shechtman.

While this may give Israel an advantage, Prof. Shechtman believes that there are similarities in small countries such as Sweden and Israel that can create the cultural environment that can ultimately foster a start-up economy.

He also said that Israel faces the challenge of many start-ups developed with an exit strategy in mind. This does not allow for the creation of larger companies that can be impactful through the production of exportable products, and most importantly in job creation.

The panelists included Prof. Anders Flodström, Former University Chancellor and Head of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education; Maud Olofsson, Former Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Energy, Advisor to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on female entrepreneurship; Prof. Karin Markides, President Chalmers University of Technology; and Prof. Martin Schuurmans, Founding Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Governing Board.

They echoed Prof. Shechtman’s belief that entrepreneurship should start at an early age, even at the Kindergarten level, to create a spirit of entrepreneurship. Matias Bonnier commented that younger students should be active participants in their entrepreneurial education. They should interact, talk and ask questions of their teachers. He added that entrepreneurship is a bridge between societies and nations.

They also suggested that the government take an active role in setting policies that can foster growth in this area.

Tor Bonnier, Chairman of FIM, concluded the meeting with the message that it is clear that the study of entrepreneurship is important to have in any society. “It is important to foster budding entrepreneurs based on our own culture in order to be competitive in a global economy.” he said.

The event was co-created by the Israeli Embassy in Sweden.

FORUM FOR INNOVATION MANAGEMENT (FIM) was established in 1999 as a non-profit activity within the Karl-Adam Bonnier Foundation.

FIM is currently in its twelve year, having organized 60 exclusive seminars bringing together influential representatives such as policy makers and selected representatives from financial, legal and academic institutions as well as practitioners in the corporate and entrepreneurial business sectors. FIM has also published two books in the series of “Swedish Innovation Force” – which summarizes many of the topics discussed at the seminars.

FIM maintains a high standard, attracting a selected audience through tailor made seminars with national and international speakers, and publications with support from Karl-Adam Bonniers Stiftelse (foundation), Vinnova, Företagarna, IVA, and Innovationsbron. Our mission is to increase the awareness of entrepreneurial and innovation issues in the Swedish academic and corporate environments. The forum enables people to cross-pollinate ideas on current and future policies and legislations that will be the foundation of our new national competitive strategy.

Above: Prof’ Shechtman (center) with the panel participants