DKK 20 million for new innovation centre

Innovation is a crucial driver for increased Danish competitive power and productivity. For this reason, the Danish Industry Foundation has decided to support the establishment of a new centre, the Centre for Innovation, under the Department of Economics, with DKK 20 million. The centre is placed at CBS, but also involves the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Technological Institute. The centre will benefit the corporate sector, says Peter Møllgaard, Dean of Research at CBS.

"The collaboration between CBS, the University of Southern Denmark, and the Danish Technological Institute will complement CBS’ strong competences within innovation and contribute to results being put into practice in Danish companies”, he says and adds:

"The Danish Industry Foundation's grant for the Centre for Innovation strengthens CBS’ Business in Society strategy, including our special focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. It is a perfect match, and we are excited about this grant”.

The Danish Industry Foundation has chosen to back the establishment of a centre at CBS, which can contribute to the creation of growth through innovation in Danish companies and thus help ensure that we maintain the society and the wealth that we have today, says Mads Lebech, CEO of the Danish Industry Foundation.

"First and foremost, the Centre for Innovation must map the innovation state of Denmark, both as a nation in a global perspective, but also in the individual company, where new trailblazing business models and technology leaps influence the everyday life of many people. The centre's tools will help Danish companies in benchmarking their innovation efforts against similar companies. We hope that tools and new knowledge will add to more self-insight and perhaps even more awareness - for some, maybe even an actual wake-up call," he says.

The Director for the Centre for Innovation will be Anders Sørensen, Professor. Anders Sørensen explains that the centre will be divided into four pillars to maximise the effect for companies. Quantitative studies, interactive studies, tools, and network building.

”The aim of the project is to increase awareness of the company's own innovation efforts, to be able to assess the impact of potential corporate innovation initiatives, and to be able to guide the companies further in the process towards better innovation competences. An important focus point is to identify the most significant barriers for the companies' innovative projects to start breaking them down," says Anders Sørensen and elaborates on the four pillars of the centre:

"We are creating a tool that provides companies with the opportunity to assess actual and potential innovation initiatives; we are carrying out quantitative studies of innovation and corporate performance; we are conducting interactive studies, which generate new knowledge about innovation drivers, innovation barriers and how they are depending on the companies' innovation experience; the centre is also building a network together with the corporate sector to be in a constant dialogue with companies about developing tools, ensuring relevance and usability, and finally, the ability to introduce and implement new tools in the established networks.

For more information, please contact, Professor Anders Sørensen Director of the Centre for Innovation, or Ole Østrup, Communications Manager at the Danish Industry Foundation.