The Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club joined the Bulgarian Network of the United Nations Global Compact in September 2016. KISMC was awarded a Certificate for joining the Global Compact and committing to promote the Ten principles of Global Compact in its everyday operations. The certificate was received at the National Council meeting on 20th September by Mr. Ognian Trajanov, Chairperson of the Steering Committee. The Global Compact is the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative with over 12 000 organisations involved from 170+ counries. The Compact is a voluntary initiative of the former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, bringing together business and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, cities and UN agencies in a truly global forum to promote sustainable growth and civic responsibility. The ten Principles of the Global Compact are aimed at the implementation of responsible business practices in the field of human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption. The Bulgarian Network of the UN Global Compact, which operates as part of the global network and was officially launched on May 6, 2011 by H.E. Ban Ki-moon – Secretary General of the UN, is an association of companies and NGOs. Reasons for KISMC to join the UN Global Compact One of the main reasons for KISMC to join is to contribute and support one of the Sustainable Development Goals, i.e. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. This objective foresees the following development locally in Bulgaria:
Sustainable Development Goals of the initiative The Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Global Compact strive for improving the world via a collective way. In September 2015 a plan for achieving a better future for all was adopted, i.e. to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect the planet Earth. At the heart of “Agenda 2030” are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. For more information on the Sustainable Goals, please read here The 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact The UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles are derived from: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
During 2013-2015 CSI, in cooperation with the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club, betahaus Sofia and Sofia Tech Park had been organising the so called Mercury - Jupiter Meetings to bridge the gap between scientists and business people in Bulgaria and help them understand each other’s culture. At those meetings groups of scientists and business people talked about their cultures and discussed ways to bridge the gap between each other. For the span of those two years the meetings gathered interest from the Bulgarian community and many attended to get involved in the discussions and look for the best ways to reduce the size of the gap between scientists and businessmen. The Mercury - Jupiter meetings were also attended by guest speakers who would guide the meeting towards a specific topic. The topics of discussions had been related to the experience of the speakers. Below you could see some of the guest speakers during 2013-2015.
'Innovation - a bridge between science and business' at the European Day of the Entrepreneur 201415/10/2014 KISMC organised its own discussion panel during the 12th annual forum "European Day of the Entrepreneur 2014" to promote entrepreneurship in Bulgaria, which takes place within the European SME Week during 16th and October 17th 2014., Inter Expo Center in Sofia.
The panel's title was 'Innovation - a bridge between science and business'. The topics that were covered at the panel were: Open innovation and student internships - an unexpectedly good combination; Corporate entrepreneurship - a catalyst for knowledge and breakthrough innovations; Innovation Management Training. KISMC is grateful for the active participation of representatives of the Innovation Management Academy; MTM College; Team Europe Junior; Business Club Sofia University; Alumni Association, FEBA, Sofia University as well as the interest from school students representing the Private Secondary School Ivan Apostolov and other organisations curious to learn about the connection between education, science and business and what this means for innovation. To bridge the gap between scientists and business people in Bulgaria and help them understand each other’s culture, CSI (Richard Smits) in cooperation with betahaus Sofia, KISMC and Sofia Tech Park organise Mercury - Jupiter Meetings. During those meetings business people and scientists explain to each other their culture and way of work and discuss ways to bridge the gap between them.
In the Global Innovation Index, Bulgaria is 41st out of the 142 countries studied: it is one of the lowest in the EU, but better than all of Bulgaria’s neighbours and better than the world average. However, in one aspect, “University/industry research collaboration”, Bulgaria is far worse than the countries it normally compares itself with. It only scores 114th, 12 places below Burkina Faso! This means that a lot can be gained if we can improve on this aspect. In 1992, the American author John Gray published the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”, where he explained the differences between men and women as cultural differences and concluded that they “seem to be from different planets”. The same may be said of scientists and business people. |
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The Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is a non-profit organisation set up in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2012 to foster knowledge and innovation management across South East Europe. KISMC is supporting the development of the innovation ecosystem in the region by bridging the gap between education, research and business.
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