Talent Crunch: Bridging the Gap in Oslo's Innovation Ecosystem

The lack of skilled labor is one of the key barriers for startups to grow and 3 out of 4 tech companies in Oslo struggle to hire the right people. The talent pool is shallow and companies, cities and countries must compete in order to attract the best minds. 

On February 29th, we invite you to join us at The Conduit to get a fresh overview of the current status of the need for talent in Norway's tech industry as well as an outside perspective on how ecosystems must work together to close the gap.

On stage, we have Head of Analysis and Insight at Abelia, Fernanda Winger Eggen, who will present numbers and insights on the talent gap in the tech sector from the newly published “Kompetansebarometer 2023”.  We are also joined by Zara Cunningham, Head of Ecosystems at Rockstart - a global VC-accelerator who will share how they leverage their ecosystem to ensure their portfolio with access to capital, knowledge and talent.

Program:
11:30 - 12:00 - Lunch and registration 
12:00 - 12:10 - Opening words from ​Siw Andersen, CEO, Oslo Business Region and Øyvind ​Såtvedt, ​Ass. Director General at City of Oslo, Department for Culture and Business Development.
12:10 - 12:30 - The Talent gap - Abelia presents fresh numbers from Kompetansebarometeret 2023 and what that means for the tech sector 
12:30 - 12:40 - What about Oslo? What does this mean for the Oslo Ecosystem
12:40 - 13:00 - In conversation: Zara D Cunningham - Head of Ecosystems, Rockstart 
13:00 - 13:30 -Networking and end of program

Meet the speakers:


Fernanda Winger Eggen, Head of Analysis and Insights

Fernanda has recently joined Abelia as head of analysis and insight. She comes from a position as senior economist at Economics Norway. Her experience is mainly related to analysis of the labor market, competence and evaluation of public intervention. Including the need for ICT expertise and incentives for investment in human capital. She has extensive experience with analysis and forecasting of demand for competece, and how technology and the education system can be utilised to meet the demand. Fernanda's specialties are macroeconomics and labor market economics. Fernanda has a secondary position at the University of Oslo as a lecturer, and has different economics courses taught since 2011.


Zara Cunningham, Head of Ecosystems, Rockstart

For the past six years, Zara Cunningham has immersed herself in the startup ecosystem. Her journey began at the Rotterdam School of Management and Keio University in Tokyo where she pursued a master's in social entrepreneurship. Today, she holds the position of Head of Ecosystem at Rockstart, a global VC-accelerator dedicated to empowering purpose-driven founders in Energy, AgriFood, and Emerging Technology. At Rockstart, Zara focuses on developing their ecosystem strategy to ensure support for their startups in areas such as capital access, knowledge, and talent.