Are we cloning Silicon Valley?
The Red Herring 100 Europe conference has come and gone. Did the IT industry reap any benefits from it? Renè Colin Magri speaks to Farley Duvall, managing director of Red Herring Europe. Entrepreneurs from across Europe came to Malta for the event.
The Red Herring 100 Europe conference has come and gone. Did the IT industry reap any benefits from it? Renè Colin Magri speaks to Farley Duvall, managing director of Red Herring Europe.
Entrepreneurs from across Europe came to Malta for the event. Part of Red Herring's mission is to showcase the industry and opportunities for investment in different parts of the globe to potential investors and to the global IT community. This yearly event attracts under one roof hundreds of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology enthusiasts from around Europe when discussions are held on the trends affecting the industry; hundreds of companies showcase their innovations to investors looking for the next home run; and where the host country usually gets a fantastic opportunity to showcase itself.
All the usual ingredients were in place; with one exception: the Maltese IT community was underrepresented, bar for representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Malta Enterprise and MITTS and the author. However, the IT Ministry and SmartCity - the most pronounced of Malta's efforts in becoming an IT hub in the Mediterranean - were not present. This is how Mr Duvall, who was also responsible for organising the event, put it: "It's puzzling that the local authorities, SmartCity and others that we approached did not participate fully in this event".
As if to strike a contrast, he noted that Sweden, which ranks on top in terms of competitiveness and innovation, is looking forward to
the event that Red Herring will be holding there in the coming months. Sweden will in fact host ETRE, an event bigger in scale than that held in Malta, attracting over 600 participants from more than 40 countries.
There were no companies from Malta among the 100 that won an accolade from Red Herring, even if GFI Software was a finalist.
Mr Duvall noted that Europe has been trying for decades to try to emulate Silicon Valley. "There is no one single place on the planet, with the exception of Israel, where there is such a concentration of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs."
How did Israel do it?
It is very clear that Israel has a very close relationship with the United States and with California, in particular. Indeed, countless Israeli companies have moved their headquarters to Silicon Valley while keeping their R&D facilities at home.
Mr Duvall makes a challenging proposition. "Malta could send some of its brightest entrepreneurs to work with companies in Silicon Valley and, on their return, they can put their experience to good use in the local context". This would be vital for the creation of a "champion" as that attracts venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs and big companies to the island, where things are happening in the sector.
Mr Duvall unavoidably stresses the importance of education. The education system needs to be working in tandem with the industry to be able to make a compelling proposition and where companies the likes of SAP and others would be able to influence curriculums, offer doctorate opportunities and propel the innovation engine.
A place like SmartCity, where things are within walking distance from each other, an institution of higher learning could prove to be an essential element.
Also, there should be more focus on entrepreneurship at the University: perhaps a professorship and degree courses specifically focusing on certain skill sets, with postings in Israel, Kista (Sweden) and other places where a confluence of educational institutions and the industry has been in existence for decades.
Should the above materialise, Malta has a great chance of being a centre for innovation and research. Malta could very much capitalise on its size in order to make the necessary changes rapidly. Over the last decades, Ireland managed to make the country what it is today: one of the most prosperous countries in Europe thanks to the intelligent manner in which Dell and other big corporations were attracting and by creating clusters around them.
The discussion than moves on to other matters: Europe lacks in comparison to the US on many grounds. Most of all, fragmentation, culturally, linguistically and suchlike, slow things considerably compared to, say, Silicon Valley with its speed-of-light modus operandi. Yet, on the other hand, such fragmentation could serve as a catalyst for innovation, as it happens in more diverse settings, and could make for regional specialisation. An example would be Nordic Europe's infatuation with mobile technology.
A much subtler reason is the "culture of failure", in Europe much more pronounced than in the US. In Europe, if their business goes south, entrepreneurs will have to carry that stigma for the rest of their career whereas their American counterparts are in a better position to start again. In the case of Malta, the fear of failing is even more present given the small size of the island.
If we are really serious in putting the island on the technology map, we should not miss opportunities like the Red Herring event to showcase the island more aggressively with our main comparative proposition. It's up to us to make it happen. Larger and well-positioned countries are more aggressive with their strategies. Maybe a closer look at the Nordics would prove to be a good start.
• Mr Magri is a business development and talent acquisition consultant.
Entrepreneurs from across Europe came to Malta for the event. Part of Red Herring's mission is to showcase the industry and opportunities for investment in different parts of the globe to potential investors and to the global IT community. This yearly event attracts under one roof hundreds of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology enthusiasts from around Europe when discussions are held on the trends affecting the industry; hundreds of companies showcase their innovations to investors looking for the next home run; and where the host country usually gets a fantastic opportunity to showcase itself.
All the usual ingredients were in place; with one exception: the Maltese IT community was underrepresented, bar for representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Malta Enterprise and MITTS and the author. However, the IT Ministry and SmartCity - the most pronounced of Malta's efforts in becoming an IT hub in the Mediterranean - were not present. This is how Mr Duvall, who was also responsible for organising the event, put it: "It's puzzling that the local authorities, SmartCity and others that we approached did not participate fully in this event".
As if to strike a contrast, he noted that Sweden, which ranks on top in terms of competitiveness and innovation, is looking forward to
the event that Red Herring will be holding there in the coming months. Sweden will in fact host ETRE, an event bigger in scale than that held in Malta, attracting over 600 participants from more than 40 countries.
There were no companies from Malta among the 100 that won an accolade from Red Herring, even if GFI Software was a finalist.
Mr Duvall noted that Europe has been trying for decades to try to emulate Silicon Valley. "There is no one single place on the planet, with the exception of Israel, where there is such a concentration of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs."
How did Israel do it?
It is very clear that Israel has a very close relationship with the United States and with California, in particular. Indeed, countless Israeli companies have moved their headquarters to Silicon Valley while keeping their R&D facilities at home.
Mr Duvall makes a challenging proposition. "Malta could send some of its brightest entrepreneurs to work with companies in Silicon Valley and, on their return, they can put their experience to good use in the local context". This would be vital for the creation of a "champion" as that attracts venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs and big companies to the island, where things are happening in the sector.
Mr Duvall unavoidably stresses the importance of education. The education system needs to be working in tandem with the industry to be able to make a compelling proposition and where companies the likes of SAP and others would be able to influence curriculums, offer doctorate opportunities and propel the innovation engine.
A place like SmartCity, where things are within walking distance from each other, an institution of higher learning could prove to be an essential element.
Also, there should be more focus on entrepreneurship at the University: perhaps a professorship and degree courses specifically focusing on certain skill sets, with postings in Israel, Kista (Sweden) and other places where a confluence of educational institutions and the industry has been in existence for decades.
Should the above materialise, Malta has a great chance of being a centre for innovation and research. Malta could very much capitalise on its size in order to make the necessary changes rapidly. Over the last decades, Ireland managed to make the country what it is today: one of the most prosperous countries in Europe thanks to the intelligent manner in which Dell and other big corporations were attracting and by creating clusters around them.
The discussion than moves on to other matters: Europe lacks in comparison to the US on many grounds. Most of all, fragmentation, culturally, linguistically and suchlike, slow things considerably compared to, say, Silicon Valley with its speed-of-light modus operandi. Yet, on the other hand, such fragmentation could serve as a catalyst for innovation, as it happens in more diverse settings, and could make for regional specialisation. An example would be Nordic Europe's infatuation with mobile technology.
A much subtler reason is the "culture of failure", in Europe much more pronounced than in the US. In Europe, if their business goes south, entrepreneurs will have to carry that stigma for the rest of their career whereas their American counterparts are in a better position to start again. In the case of Malta, the fear of failing is even more present given the small size of the island.
If we are really serious in putting the island on the technology map, we should not miss opportunities like the Red Herring event to showcase the island more aggressively with our main comparative proposition. It's up to us to make it happen. Larger and well-positioned countries are more aggressive with their strategies. Maybe a closer look at the Nordics would prove to be a good start.
• Mr Magri is a business development and talent acquisition consultant.