Nordic innovations in Silicon Valley
“Nordic Green II is a gateway for Nordic companies looking for opportunity in the US and a place where US innovators can learn about how to get involved with the latest innovations coming out of this world leading region” says Alex Portilla from the Innovation Center Denmark in Silicon Valley.
Nordic technology. Floating Powerplants A/S is among the Nordic companies who will showcase their technology at the Nordic Green II conference April 27-28. (Photo: Floating Powerplant)
What is Nordic Green II?
Nordic Green II is a follow up on the successful Nordic Green conference in 2008, and is an opportunity to introduce and re-unite the most promising innovators and thought leaders from the Nordic region and the San Francisco Bay Area. Nordic Green II is a 2 day conference, which gives attendees the opportunity to hear from established businesses and emerging entrepreneurs from Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Estonia and the United States as they discuss the latest innovation, future opportunities and challenges in transitioning to more sustainable solutions in the energy, IT, water, building and transportation sectors. There will also be exhibitors who will showcase their products and services, and be able to tell about their hands on experience with green technology and the many possibilities within this field.
Over many years Nordic companies have developed valuable expertise in green technology which has led to competitive advantages in many areas. However with such a great opportunity lying ahead, competition is intensifying as innovation within the sector accelerates. Nordic Green ll is a gateway for Nordic companies looking for opportunity in the US and a place where US innovators can learn about how to get involved with the latest innovations coming out of this world leading region.
Why arrange a Nordic green technology conference in California?
Decades ago, the Nordic region made a commitment to "go green" through forward thinking policy and a strong commitment to R&D that has led to a resource efficient society and spawned some of the world’s leading companies in solar, wind, biofuels, sustainable buildings, water management and other areas. As the rest of the world has followed and aimed their priorities toward developing more sustainable energy, transportation and water systems, the Nordic region continues to be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurial activity in developing green technology solutions.
The reason for arranging this event in California and in Silicon Valley specifically is that the policy makers in California and the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and technology companies are very interested in and very advanced in producing green technology as well as implementing green policies and solutions into everyday life. California has long been at the forefront not only of technology development and investment in green technology, but also has been leading the way politically with some of the most progressive and ambitious air, water and climate policies in the US and the world.
"Green" is at the center of the economic recovery in the United States and federal political and regulatory frameworks are being put into place that will fuel rapid expansion of green technologies. 2010 promises to be a very important year as the economy rebounds and credit and capital begin to flow once again.
From Nordic Green 2008 (Photo: Nordic Green)
Who will attend this conference?
The event features keynotes from prominent thought leaders, company showcases and exhibitions, cutting edge research and high-level discussions on the most promising emerging green technologies and new entrepreneurial opportunities in California and the Nordic region.
In attendance will be US and Nordic investors, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers and other service providers who are looking for partners and new opportunities to further collaboration between the US the Nordic Region.
What can Nordic and American technology companies learn from each other?
Through its continued focus on research and demonstration and unique models of public-private partnership, the Nordic region has positioned itself as a development site and real world test bed for deployment of advanced technology solutions; including fuel cells, microgrids, electric vehicle infrastructure, 2nd generation biomass conversion, intelligent energy efficient buildings, green data centers and more.
Nordic Green II is a unique opportunity to learn from the pioneers that contributed to the green revolution in the Nordics and to gain exposure to the latest emerging technology coming out of the region. U.S. technology companies can learn how to tap into green expertise and demonstrate new technology in large-scale pilots through public-private partnerships in the Nordic region.
US and California based companies have been led global innovation in many different technology areas such as computers, the internet and web 2.0. Now Silicon Valley is taking aim tackling some of the most pressing challenges and large opportunities in energy, water, buildings and climate change mitigation and other key sectors. In the recent years increased focus on clean technology has led to billions of dollars in investment and new innovation in the field.
NGII will hopefully foster some successful and interesting partnerships between companies and organizations who are creating innovative solutions to key challenges facing the world today.
In your experience is there a growing interest in how the Nordic countries handles the challenges concerning energy and the environment?
As mentioned above the Nordic regions started to focus on "going green" decades ago and have a continued focus on R&D within this field. Also the Nordic regions have continued focus on research and demonstration and unique models of public-private partnership and in this way have positioned itself as a development site and real world test bed for deployment of advanced technology solutions. Therefore we find that there is a great interest in how the Nordic countries handles the challenges of energy and environment, and how we have managed to get the world’s leading companies in solar, wind, biofuels, sustainable buildings, water management, ect.
More information about the Nordic Green II here.
