Innovation Norway is a state-owned company and a national development bank.

The company's programs and services are intended to stimulate entrepreneurship in Norway. Its head office is in Oslo, and an office in each of the Norwegian counties. It also has offices in 30 countries around the world. The company has over 500 employees worldwide[1] and has supported maritime transportation,[2] biotechnology,[3] thin film,[4] and alternative fuel.[5]

History

Innovation Norway was formed in 2004 through the merger of four governmental organizations. These organizations were:

The “Sommarøy” controversy

In the summer of 2019 Innovation Norway were involved in the production of a spoof news story about the island Sommarøy. The story claimed that due to long days in the summer and long nights during winter, inhabitants didn't have the need to follow international conventions of time. The aim of the spoof news story was to advertise Northern Norway.[6] The advert was originally presented as a legitimate news story, and its multiple false claims were only discovered after the story had been disseminated world wide. The company was strongly criticized for their promotional strategy.[7][8][9] Innovation Norway has since issued an apology regretting their lack of transparency and vowing to scrutinize their routines.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Innovation Norway employees". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  2. ^ Tudem, Ulf (2012-02-13). "Marine Design: Air Supported Vessels Impress". MarineLink. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  3. ^ "Targovax Secures NOK 13 Million Series A Funding for TGO1 Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Development". Targovax. 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  4. ^ Chai, Cameron (2012-02-13). "Thin Film, PARC Receive FlexTech Alliance Award for Printed Non-Volatile Memory Device". AZoNetwork. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
  5. ^ "UK teams up with Norway for £2m biofuels projects". BusinessGreen. 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  6. ^ Larsen, Martin Hall (2019-06-06). "Øysamfunn vil kvitte seg med tiden: – Klokken skaper bare stress". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  7. ^ Larsen, Martin Hall (2019-06-25). "Klokkeløse Sommarøy lurte "hele" verden". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  8. ^ Nikel, David. "Norway's 'Time-Free' Island Was Just An Elaborate PR Stunt". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  9. ^ "Norwegische Staatsbehörde verbreitet Fake-News, um Tourismus anzukurbeln". stern.de (in German). 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  10. ^ "Innovasjon Norge beklager Sommarøy-saken". www.innovasjonnorge.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2020-11-28.

External links

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