Chris Shipley's Opening of Innovate!Europe 2005

Buenos Dias! Bienvenue! Wilkommen! Welcome! . . . To Innovate!Europe!

I have been waiting for nearly eight years to say that! It was that long ago that I conceived the idea to create a conference to celebrate Europe’s best ICT technologies. Over the past eight years, Europe’s fractured markets have begun to come together. The Internet bubble accelerated European entrepreneurship . . . and then, when that bubble burst, it slowed the pace again.

In eight years, we have talked to thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, public administrators, customers, academics . . . and we have always agreed that the technology in development throughout Europe is first rate, world class.

Yet we have also seen that there are huge gaps between innovation and commercialization. And that, ultimately, is what this conference is about. We will look into that gap to try to understand how to fill it.

We are not alone in this effort. Over eight years, many wonderful people have welcomed me into their confidence and helped define the issues that we will address these next two days. They – like you – have had the vision to see that the challenges in the European Technology Innovation Ecosystem are real, yet can be overcome.

They – like you – know that technology and innovation can be leveraged for great economic benefit.

Among the new supporters of Innovate!Europe is the Government of Aragon, which through the development of technology centers and the creation of venture capital and other programs, is indeed working to transform this beautiful region into a leading information society.

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To see more of what happened at Innovate!Europe, and to contribute to the conversation about European Innovation and Entrepreneurship, visit the White Paper Wiki.