Foreign Leaders Attend Digital Patriots Dinner
August 28, 2018
- Author: Bronwyn Flores, CTA
July/August 2018
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CTA’s new International Innovation Scorecard – unveiled at CES 2018 – identifies 13 top-tier Innovation Champion countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. At CTA’s Digital Patriots Dinner, diplomatic representatives from nine of those countries were present to accept their 2018 awards.
Four Ambassadors – Her Excellency Kirsti Helena Kauppi, ambassador of Finland; H.E. Domingos Fezas Vital, ambassador of Portugal; H.E. Dr. Wolfgang A. Waldner, ambassador of Austria (pictured above); and H.E. Hynek Kmonícek, ambassador of the Czech Republic – and five other embassy representatives from Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden dined alongside U.S. policymakers and tech industry representatives at the National Portrait Gallery to recognize global trends in innovation.
“The trend lines are clear – innovation is encouraged where governments are hospitable to new ideas, people enjoy great freedom and clean environments, and innovators are embraced,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Countries’ futures are tied to innovation, because it will bolster economic growth and provide future generations with the jobs they want.”
A Common Thread
Each of the champions encourage innovation via government investments and support for emerging technologies including drones, self-driving vehicles and shortterm rental platforms.
“Finland has long put its most precious possession – its people – first. Investments in education and R&D combined with policies to embrace the digital revolution have been a wise choice,” said Ambassador Kauppi.
Austria earned high marks on research and development for spending more than three percent of its GDP on R&D. Its spending is higher than most other countries, including the U.S. “This recognition is not a coincidence, it is the result of a process,” said Austrian Ambassador Waldner. “Moving innovations from discovery through to commercialization involves numerous actors, and Austria’s government is one of them. Like Americans, we are open to new ideas, and embrace innovators.”
Portugal emerged an Innovation Champion with its thriving startup sector supported by a $200 million investment pledge by the government and annual new business entry rate of 4.62 percent. “Portugal is an old nation that has this unique ability for combining tradition with innovation,” said Ambassador Vital. “This is why I often say we are ‘900 years young.’ As an example of our striving youthfulness and openness to innovation, I would point out our startup sector, which is growing quite significantly with most of the companies focusing on technology and innovation, and some of them having achieved the unicorn status in just over one year after launching.”
And, despite its small size, the Czech Republic has seen big tech success stories, including security firm Avast, which is valued at nearly $4 billion. “For the mid-size open economy of Czechs, innovation is crucial,” said Ambassador Kmonícek. “From nanotechnology to cybersecurity fields, my advice is to go and see [Czech Republic] for yourself. You might find that this country in the heart of Europe is exactly the one thing missing in your life."
The Scorecard uses several objective criteria including whether governments welcome disruptive business models and technologies such as the sharing economy and self-driving vehicles; the friendliness of their tax systems; how well they protect the environment; and issues such as broadband speed and cost. The Scorecard also gauges countries on diversity; the ratio of female-to-male employees in the workplace in key age demographics; immigrants as a share of the national population; and freedom of thought and expression. Visit InternationalScorecard.com.
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