Developing Danish positions of strength was a key focus of the Minister for Business, Industry and Financial Affairs on his first trip to Silicon Valley. With the high ambitions of the Danish Government for the green transition, a visit to Silicon Valley makes a lot of sense right now. The Minister, Simon Kollerup, says:

"It makes a lot of sense to be interested in Silicon Valley. The government seeks to strengthen the connections between science and business by increasing research in technology that supports the development of Danish solutions, which will be crucial for the green transition. Among other things, it is the collaboration between the science and business community I am focusing on during this trip".

On the agenda was new knowledge on collaborative models for breaking down barriers between government, academia and business, and thus having dialogues with a range of experts and practitioners through-out his stay.

Mr. Kollerup also met with successful Danish startups that provided insights into their experience with developing cutting-edge technologies and scaling their businesses. The visit also included a visit to Stanford Buyers Center for Biodesign, which conducts research on innovative design models in the health care space, providing more efficient, people-centered solutions.

Furthermore, the visit allowed time for a round-table discussion with ‘govtech’ stakeholders working to promote innovative solutions to challenges in the public sector through new partnerships with entrepreneurs and the application of new technologies. A priority was also the opportunity to visit a tech-startup seeking new and more resource efficient ways of providing nutritious green products to a growing population.

A part of the Minister’s visit was also dedicated to the Denmark Bridge Summit, under the patronage of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. At the Summit and other networking events Mr. Kollerup discussed digital innovation, sustainable digital solutions and data ethics with high-level Danish and US executives and experts.