Innotour USA Application Submission

Attention: this blog post written more like a joke, as part of application for  European Young Innovators Forum organized contest and had to fit in 500 words :)

There is a mysterious place in USA called Silicon Valley, there the magic of innovation happens... Just get there, say abracadabra and whatever your are trying to do - business or science, technology or social media - will materialize, instantly become worldwide success and, of course, you will become filthy rich… Sadly, this is not entirely true, to make a success out of something people need to work hard anywhere in the world. However, Silicon Valley is a location where one can find a concentration of most (if not all possible) resources, support and recognition needed to create incredible innovations. There has been tons of analysis on Silicon Valley’s success story and many attempts to repeat it  worldwide (also in USA), but nothing ever even came close to original. So how could EU create one? 

Well, whatever theory we would consider (not excluding UFO influence…), one would have to agree that where were right people, in the right place with needed resources (at the right time also, but since time is not under control of anyone lets exclude that). So, all EU needs to do is to initiate gathering of right people, in a good place, with all the resources needed for them to work and live. Sure, it’s not as easy as it sounds… But I can dream about this happening in EU. I think Europe already has all the right people (and resources), but also dispersed and working separately all across the continent (and rest of the world for that matter). So all we have to do know is to pick the right place and start creating EU innovation valley.

That location would need to already bolster innovation and entrepreneurship, have qualified people (for support, administration etc.), be cheap (both labor and living expenses – because it will have to compete with China, India and other developing countries!), be in a good geographical location, also be a “neutral” (due to turbulent Europe’s history, political ambitions etc), and in general a nice place to be in Europe. For this, I would like to suggest Baltic region, to be more specific - Europe’s Geographic center 24km from Vilnius. This location has all the prerequisites previously mentioned: economic zones, education institutions, skilled labor is easily accessible from all Baltic region. Those probably there the main reasons that made Barclays and Western Union open their IT center here, IBM to start planning opening a research center… 

Anyways, wherever EU’s innovation valley starts emerging, knowledge and experience will be very much needed. That’s why I think Innotour USA is a super awesome initiative. If I would be selected, I would blog about and share in social networks every single event, meeting and place visited from the tour. I would make at least 20 presentations about it then I come back to EU and would get on TV at least once. And of course, I would try to connect people from Europe to Silicon Valley, help share best practices between people and organizations.