Telenor's Innovation Prize awarded Øystein Foros and Bjørn Hansen
The pair won the Prize for their groundbreaking efforts to develop business models and analyses of competitive regimes in today's marketplace, in which the telecoms, Internet and media industries converge. The Prize was presented to the winners by Executive Vice President at Telenor, Hilde Tonne, on Wednesday 17 October, at the Technoport Awards in Trondheim, Norway.
Øystein Foros
Bjørn Hansen
The role of innovation in the development of the communications society
Telenor's Innovation Prize aims to emphasise the importance of research and innovation in the development of the modern communications society. The jury had prepared the following theme for this year's award:
"The development of business models, roles and competitive regimes in light of the convergence that is taking place in the mobile, communications and media industries".
"This year's award underscores Telenor's strong focus on innovation. We are pleased to see that the development of innovative business models is recognised in this way. At Telenor, we are clearly seeing how our focus on innovation plays a decisive role with respect to our development in markets around the world," says Hilde Tonne.
Pioneers within business models
Over a ten-year period, the two winners have been pioneers in generating new initiatives, in the theoretical field as well as in practice, relating to network businesses such as Telenor, with the new competitive regimes as the backdrop. At a very early stage, they recognised the importance of the Internet, but were never dazzled by the so-called 'new economy'. They were also able to defend their claims and contributed significantly as Telenor made many right choices during these turbulent times. It is the view of the jury that the two researchers have achieved striking results, and further, that they have a bright future ahead of them.
"Through their models the two prize winners have contributed significantly to bring out the added value of Internet based networks. This is a key contribution to the Nordic telecommunications industry," says Vice President Berit Svendsen at Telenor.
User driven demand
Since the Norwegian telecommunications monopoly was dissolved, the competition in the market has contributed strongly to give users new and improved services at lower cost. Today, nearly everyone carries a mobile handset, and customers are offered much more than just voice services. New players have entered the market, and traditional players assume new roles. User demand is key to bring new products to the marketplace.
In addition, the Internet also represents a major shift in the industry. The Internet has created expectations among most people that the Internet should offer content free-of-charge. At the same time that users are fighting for free access to web content, both large and small content providers are struggling to protect their own copyrights.
International jury
Telenor's Research and Innovation Prize was established to reward efforts to promote innovation within IT and telecommunications, and comprises technology and services as well as economic and market conditions.
The Prize consists of a diploma and a sum of NOK 250 000, and may be presented to individuals or teams within the Nordic countries. The jury is international, with members from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the UK, and is chaired by Berit Svendsen. Each jury member provides a substantiated ranking of the candidates, before a winner is selected based on a joint, overall evaluation. The jury's decision in 2007 was unanimous.
For more information about Telenor's Research and Innovation Award please visit our Innovation site
For more information, please contact:
Eunike Ditlefsen, Head of Information at Telenor, Tel: +47 909 23556
E-mail: eunike.ditlefsen@telenor.com