Generating good ideas is generally not the bottleneck in the innovation process for companies, the real challenge for them is to successfully commercialise those ideas and this requires their employees to act as entrepreneurs, according to Professor Peter Russo, a renowned entrepreneurship expert. 

Professor Russo is founder and Director of the Strascheg Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the European Business School, Frankfurt, Germany. His research expertise includes innovation management, corporate entrepreneurship and growth management.  He has also held senior positions within the banking and the high-tech industry and has co-founded a number of start-up companies. 

Professor Peter Russo

Professor Russo will share his expertise and insights on this subject at the InterTradeIreland 2010 Innovation Lecture at University College Dublin entitled Corporate Entrepreneurship - the Key to Making Innovation Happen. Organised by NovaUCD, this innovation lecture will take place on Thursday 25 March at 6 pm in the William Jefferson Clinton Auditorium, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4. 

Speaking in advance of his lecture, Professor Russo said, “Effective innovation is the primary source of sustainable competitive advantage in the twenty-first century.  Companies are left with no choice but to innovate, otherwise they will disappear from the market.  Corporate entrepreneurship is a key way to make innovation happen inside established organisations.” He added, “It is not just about generating ideas and building prototypes but about commercialising them in the right way, and this critically important last step in a well-functioning innovation value-chain requires entrepreneurs.” 

The innovation lecture is being delivered as part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme. This Programme, a partnership between InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change at NUI Galway, aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland.

According to Aidan Gough, InterTradeIreland Strategy & Policy Director, “Innovation is critical to the future of both economies, North and South. As markets contract, businesses need to become more innovative in aligning their products and services to market needs and exploiting new opportunities quickly. InterTradeIreland has a key focus on innovation as a means to improve business capability and competitiveness. Professor Russo will provide valuable insights into corporate entrepreneurship as a way to exploit emerging market opportunities.”

Click here for further details on Professor Peter Russo’s innovation lecture entitled Corporate Entrepreneurship – The Key to Making Innovation Happen. All are welcome to attend and the event is free of charge.

The InterTradeIreland 2010 Innovation Lecture at UCD is one of the events taking place during the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 2010 Enterprise Week which runs from 22-26 March.

ENDS

18 March 2010

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Professor Peter Russo is Founder, Director and Chairman of the Strascheg Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the European Business School.  Professor Russo’s academic experience focuses on business administration, marketing, finance and economic law, and his current research interests include innovation management, corporate entrepreneurship and growth management.  Professor Russo’s academic positions include a senior lectureship in Innovation Management at the European Business School and Visiting Professor at Stanford University.  Professor Russo has been heavily involved in a number of start-up companies and has held senior positions within the banking industry and the high-tech industry.  Professor Russo’s latest book, From Idea to Market, is one of the best-selling books in the area of entrepreneurship and innovation. 

The InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. Best international practice in an area of innovation is shared with business leaders, students, academics, knowledge transfer professionals and policy makers in each region via innovation lectures, seminars and master classes. The All-Island Innovation Programme is complemented by a Community of Researchers working on innovation across the island. The aim of this community is to study innovation in several academic disciplines and to progress the development of an all-island knowledge economy via aligning best practice in innovation research with policy-making and its implementation.

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre.  NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with the industry and business communities. NovaUCD as a purpose-built incubation centre also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.