FORA, the unit of business research and analysis within the National Agency for Enterprise and Construction, concludes in an as yet unpublished analysis that Denmark is among the best countries in the world at exploiting the market for strategic design, writes Børsen.

"Businesses are competing more and more on innovation. They are simply surviving on innovation and internally it may be difficult to find the creative force," states Jørgen Rosted, Director of Development at FORA.

"So when new innovation departments are to be developed or built, they will have to find their expertise externally. This is where the design competencies enter as a new strategic competence. The designers have to participate in the teams that are working on designing new concepts and Danish businesses have realised this."

Things are already going very well and according to FORA's analyses Denmark is currently heading the field.

"We have made a major analysis of this market and it appears that the Danish businesses which are moving forward and earning money have all brought these competencies into their businesses," adds Jørgen Rosted.

Among these businesses, FORA has examined how many have grown after having embraced these design competencies and how many design businesses have been created. Comparisons were then made with San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago and other European countries.

Continues Jørgen Rosted: "From this comparison, it is evident that there are two essential players in the world - San Francisco and Denmark. If one takes a look at Europe, virtually no other country has adopted this strategic design model. Phillips' development department, with 200 employers, is more or less the only one that has adopted the model. All other businesses are lagging behind Denmark and are now negotiating with Danish businesses to access this know-how."

The picture matches the industry's own conception of the market. Managing director Kigge Hvid of Index Award 2007 is not surprised at FORA's analysis.

"It is no surprise to me that the analysis is positive. Since 2002, when Index Award started, we have experienced an increasing interest in design and innovation. Businesses have simply realised that design should be used correctly," explains Kigge Hvid.