Resistance to change is the biggest obstacle to innovation in Bulgaria

Resistance to change is the biggest obstacle to innovation in Bulgaria. There are many examples of this, the most recent being the energy transition. However, despite the fear, transformation is guaranteed – whatever we do and however hard we fight, it will happen. But in order to take advantage of it and turn it into progress, efforts are needed, including at the political level. These were some of the conclusions from the discussion INnovations for INdustry: TRANSFORMERS during the Economic.bg business forum – ALL IN, organized in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and BRAIT.

Bulgarians really want something to happen, but they are afraid that it won't."

With this typical Bulgarian expression, entrepreneur and investor Elvin Guri, who has over 20 years of experience, commented on the implementation of innovations in Bulgaria. He gave examples of successes, including in areas such as robotics, where the country has become an important exporter of industrial products with high added value.

The big downside that Guri pointed out is the lack of enough Bulgarian companies that can compete at the regional and global level. And for this, we need efforts and resources that are directed toward good companies.

This is where we need to focus most of our efforts. And this comes with a little political and economic consensus among the country's elite on the direction it should take. Today, we lack this," Guri pointed out.

According to him, the nomination of Ekaterina Zaharieva as European Commissioner for Startups and Innovation is not only a great responsibility, but also a chance for Bulgaria to show a lot.

Consensus is also needed to encourage investment.

I believe that it is really important for politicians to listen to business and what it needs in order to grow and encourage innovation," commented German economic attaché Moritz Seiler.

He gave the example of his native Germany, which he said is undergoing its biggest transformation in 100 years thanks to changes in the energy system. The enormous efforts being made now have a clear future goal – for Europe's largest economy to become a leading player in the field of green technologies – a market that, according to industry estimates, will be valued at €15 trillion by 2030.

Good examples

The difference between technological inventions and innovations lies in the mindset of the people who ultimately use them. True entrepreneurs are those who are able to take technological inventions and find ways to apply them intelligently to the problems of everyday life.

Similar to the successes in robotics, ALL IN showed more examples of entrepreneurship and transformation of traditional industry. Such is the case with Philip Morris Bulgaria – a company that puts the consumer at the center and follows a bold vision – a smoke-free future.

The method is the smoke-free alternative IQOS, which, a decade after its launch, is now present in 90 markets around the world, and in Bulgaria, 400,000 people have already switched to IQOS.

However, the road to this has been long and invariably involves science.

We are investing heavily in research and development so that we can find a better alternative to cigarettes," said Denis Strobykin, the new general manager of Philip Morris Bulgaria.

In numbers, this represents: investments in R&D developments of alternatives to tobacco smoke amounting to $12.5 billion worldwide; and a team of about 1,500 employees working on this in Switzerland and Singapore.

We knew the world was going to change. We knew we had to make a positive change in our industry. We knew it couldn't go on like this,” Strobykin added.

And innovation doesn't stop at R&D centers. It continues in marketing teams and every other part of the company because, as a consumer-oriented company, its transformation encompasses every cell.

We need to become much more innovative at every level, not just in terms of how we develop the product. We also need to be innovative in how we educate consumers, because overcoming resistance to change is actually a huge challenge," adds Strobykin.

It is difficult to find a more visible transformation of a sector than aviation. It encompasses not only airplanes, but also many other businesses related to the entire experience of air travel. And if 30 years ago, wheeled suitcases were a glimpse of the future, so were electronic check-in and automatic boarding pass readers.

At the ALL IN event, we looked at the future of Sofia Airport with its innovations, both visible and invisible to the naked eye.

Among the invisible ones, for example, is digital passenger flow monitoring to minimize queues in the new commercial areas and maximize revenue. The same approach will be applied in the food court and around the gates.

We are working to make Sofia Airport super competitive," summarized SOF Connect Director Jesus Caballero, who two weeks ago presented the vision for the new third terminal at the capital's airport.

All this is part of the goal to turn the airport into “something that does not exist in Europe” – a 5-star regional airport.

All this requires technology and a well-thought-out design that can be adapted to the needs of both airlines and passengers.

A major challenge

The demographic crisis was highlighted as one of the major problems facing the future of Bulgaria and Europe as a whole.

It is a disaster because no one is discussing solutions," Guri said.

This whole process will have to be linked to more investment in health and education – especially vocational training and retraining.

People who have been left behind because of the transition or those whose foreign employers are leaving will need retraining and repositioning in their professional lives.

And the vision for 2050 is...

...based on science and thinking about the planet. The dreams are for decarbonisation, space travel and breakthroughs in biotechnology that will improve our lives.

Translated with DeepL.