The Minister of Trade and Industry in Norway, Sylvia Brustad, recently announced design as one of her focus areas and grants the Norwegian Design Council 10 million NOK to initiate a design driven innovation program.

Even though it is not much, it is a very important sign in Norwegian politics. The politicians might finally have realized something our Nordic neighbours realized years ago. Design is about creating value and not just about styling…

Later this fall, the government will publish a white paper on innovation. In the government’s plan for innovation made in 2003 – design was hardly mentioned. And this was the same year as the Korean government launched their very own five year design strategy to increase the country’s GDP – with great success!

So here we are almost six years later with multinational companies around the world using design as a strategy in sharpening their competitive edge… Have Norwegian politicians finally gotten the point? And will they succeed in forwarding this message to business and industry? When Sylvia Brustad says she believes in design as an innovation driver – does she really mean it?

In an interview, Sylvia Brustad mentions products like the Tripp Trapp chair and Cherrox boot as good examples of design innovations in Norway. These are almost 40 year old products that represent the “old way” of thinking design. Sylvia Brustad needs new examples of design innovations! She needs examples that show the potential in design TODAY – e.g. service innovations that examplify design being used in developing immaterial values – in creating user experiences.

And as she needs new examples – Norwegian designers need the support in creating them. Use the 10 million for this! The Norwegian Design Council should initiate service design projects in our growing service sector just like the Danish government has done. This can improve our services and our design industry – they both need support in evolving….

I believe that the big potential for innovations are not in the Norwegian industry – it’s in the services!

Put that in the white paper on innovation!

Denmark goes to the polls next week. But will the next government really improve our lives? Designers could teach politicians a thing or two about how to run the nation.

There’s less than a week until Denmark goes to the polls to vote for its next government. And like in many other countries today, red is fighting blue.

Each day the nation’s attention is focused on two people – our potential prime ministers – and who is winning the verbal duel. What a waste. Whatever happened to the more important issues, like making life easier and better?

The current government hasn’t made life easier – at least in terms of bureaucracy. They’ve issued a record number of new laws and legislation. They say it’s for our own benefit. But I doubt the average Dane understands them. These new laws just complicate our lives.

Why not let designers deliver some serious service design for the nation? On a local, national and European level, we could create politically unbiased solutions that aim simplify and improve our world.

Yes it’s possible, fairly easy and the impact could be felt far beyond Denmark’s small borders. All we need is political support – and a few good ideas.

My idea number one: simplify the rules for law-making. For example, permit law changes only if it simplifies the existing law and deletes two existing laws.

Number two: improve our education system by involving external experts. Form teams that work intensively on a project basis.

Number three: reduce performance testing to a minimum and delegate. Right now we’re too focused on testing others that we create unnecessary bureaucracy.

An old Chinese saying says: when the wind of change blows, some people build windshields while others build windmills. Let us build windmills. Let us be proactive, sustainable and innovative – and cut the bureaucracy. Because if we want live in a prosperous country, we need solutions that make our lives work.