Date: Thursday 29. january
Time: 8:00 - 10:00
Location: Innoasis and digital
Section 1: Why Canada – Why Now!
Speaker: Hamid Shirazi, Special Advisor, Innovation Norway (Canada)
Hamid brings over 30 years of experience in senior business and managerial roles. He specializes in helping Norwegian companies and clusters with market entry and growth in Canada across high-tech domains. He will discuss how Canada serves as a primary market and a secondary gateway to the wider North American region.
Session Highlights:
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Sector Deep-Dive: Targeted insights for Agritech, Smart Cities, and Energy (Hydrogen, CCS, Electrification).
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Establishing & Selling: Practical advice on navigating local business culture and achieving growth in the Canadian market.
The North American Gateway: Why Canada serves as a strategic "landing page" for future expansion into the United States.
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Academic Credibility: Insights from his DBA in Entrepreneurship (completed in 2024) and his experience lecturing seven international business courses as an adjunct professor.
Section 2: New EU Project Opportunities
Speaker: Kyrre Aas, Senior Advisor, University of Stavanger (UiS)
Kyrre will break down the latest project calls under Horizon Europe, focusing on research and innovation funding from 2026. As the program transitions into its final years, we will look at the strategic priorities for the upcoming work programs:
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Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy, and Mobility): Exploring new calls for net-zero transformations, industrial decarbonization, and smart mobility solutions crucial for Smart City members.
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Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment): Highlighting 2026 funding paths for circular bioeconomy models, food security, and digital transition in agriculture tailored for Agritech members.
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Funding Strategy: Learn how these 2026 calls provide the necessary R&D capital to validate technologies before full commercial scale-up.
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The Canada Integrated Opportunity: As Canada is an Associated Country in Pillar II, cluster members have the unique additional opportunity to include Canadian partners directly in these Cluster 5 and 6 consortia on equal terms.
