and support a culture of innovation within their companies
“Companies that prioritise innovation are more flexible, show greater resilience in hard times, and are not afraid of change,” says Nanna Elísa Jakobsdóttir, Business Manager at the Industrial and Intellectual Property Division of the Federation of Icelandic Industries, in the latest podcast from Augnablik í iðnaði (A Moment in Industry) about innovation.
Nanna discusses the importance of innovation in Icelandic industry, government support, and the Federation of Icelandic Industries' vision for the future. Investment in research and development and expert knowledge is key to increased innovation in the Icelandic economy.
Innovation has grown tremendously recently. “Innovation largely takes place in industry, where we are developing products, new technology, and production methods,” says Nanna. However, when the Federation of Icelandic Industries published its innovation policy in 2018, there was still a long way to go. Since then, there has been a significant improvement, and today the export value of the intellectual property industry has reached 214 billion.
However, to achieve success, it is not enough to simply decide to conduct research and development for new technology, products, and production methods. Nanna points out that it is also necessary to support a culture of innovation within companies. To do this, managers need to trust their staff, allow for mistakes, and create space for creativity. The dialogue with the customer and society must also be very strong.