The conference opened with an exclusive breakfast meeting where no fewer than three Norwegian ministers were represented: Mr. Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, Minister of Education and Research, Mrs. Elisabeth Aspaker, Minister of EEA and EU Affairs, as well as Minister Mæland.
During the breakfast meeting, Mr. Dieter Hirdes from the Norwegian Centre of Expertise Smart Energy Markets and a recently appointed Member to the Horizon 2020 Advisory Group on Energy, shared his experiences from several major Horizon 2020 projects and presented how the NCE Smart research group is utilizing the Horizon 2020 program to transfer generic knowledge of disruptive digitization technologies from the energy sector to the personalized treatment of cancer.
In his talk, Hirdes emphasized how digitization is paving the way for completely new business models, new actors and new services in diverse industries and resulting in rapid and dramatic changes, as exemplified by the music industry, UBER and AirBnB. He also predicted radical changes to the energy industry within the next few years and encouraged Norwegian industry to engage in the Horizon 2020 program as a unique opportunity to prepare.
Minister of Trade and Industry Monica Mæland, R&I Coordinator Dieter Hirdes, Minister of Education and Research Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, Minister of EEA and EU Affairs Elisabeth Aspaker and Director General of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), Kristin Skogen Lund
