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What does it take to build real collaboration in a fragmented world?
This session explores how stronger connections between startups, industry, researchers, and public actors can unlock new solutions to some of our most complex challenges. With the NCS 2035 initiative pushing for long-term thinking and bolder innovation, we look at how large players are opening up - inviting others in to co-create the future.
From strategic partnerships and open challenge areas to global startup exchange programs, we’ll look at what’s already happening - and what’s possible when barriers are lowered and collaboration gets real.
The session wraps with a conversation featuring Hive Autonomy, a startup that took part in the Norway–US startup exchange and has since secured investment to scale their tech across industries.
BUILDING BRIDGES FOR INNOVATION IN AN ERA OF FRAGMENTATION
jez averty
Senior Vice President for Subsurface in Exploration and Production Norway, Equinor
Jez Averty is Senior Vice President for Subsurface in Exploration and Production Norway at Equinor, and Equinor’s Location Manager in Stavanger. With over 30 years in oil and gas across northwest Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North America, Jez brings broad exploration and production experience from roles in London, Oslo, Luanda, Houston, and Stavanger. In recent years, he has become a strong advocate for diversity, inclusion, and mental health, convinced that workplaces that truly embed these values are safer, make better decisions, and create happier teams.
fredrik bringager
CCO, Hive Autonomy
Fredrik is an experienced leader within applications of physical AI and industrial robotics and a co-founder of Hive Autonomy, where he has spent the past year collaborating with some of Europe’s leading industrial companies to develop end-to-end autonomous value chains. He is driven by a strong vision of empowering the next-generation workforce through AI and autonomy, with the goal of ensuring that no worthwhile project is hindered by a lack of skilled labor. While still a student in 2019, he founded his first company and grew it into a multi-million-revenue firm focused on helping Norwegian industry leverage AI-based computer vision. Fredrik holds a master’s degree in robotics engineering, with a specialization in AI and ICT.