Sammendrag
Currently, there is a debate about the role government should play in a well-functioning innovation system. Some argue government should take a passive role, only intervening in the system when it fails while others argue that government needs to be more active by taking on risk and directly supporting. This debate is particularly relevant for the cleantech industry since many believe that government action is necessary to achieve its full potential. Norway is an interesting country to study since they have a strong history in cleantech but ranks lower than its neighbour, Denmark in terms of cleantech commercialization. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate and identify ways that the Norwegian government could improve the commercialization of cleantech in Norway using publically funded technology-push based initiatives by comparing with Denmark. The theoretical framework used is based on a commercialization process model developed by Vijay Jolly and the triple helix innovation systems model. The commercialization model provided insight into the actual process of commercialization and identified areas where Norway was weak in comparison to Denmark. The triple helix model identified weaknesses about how the initiatives in each country affect the innovation system. The analysis indicates that Norway focuses more on the early stages of the commercialization process and Denmark on the later stages. The most challenging stage for Norway is the demonstration phase. In regards to the triple helix theory, Norway focuses less on supporting the creation of innovation and consensus spaces than Denmark. Furthermore, Denmark targets small and medium enterprises more often than Norway. Additional findings indicate Norway has both a weak industry sphere and a weak home market. The recommendation is that Norway could potentially improve the commercialization of cleantech by having the state take on the role of industry until industry is capable of performing it themselves. Norway could also focus on encouraging the development of more consensus and innovation spaces as well as creating more mechanisms that require collaboration between the three actors and that directly support young SMEs with a demonstrated ambition for growth. Last, new areas of potential research were identified based on conclusion of the findings and recommendations.