Turning ideas into money. Which ideas and whom money?

Romania plays no part in the world technological race. In the last three decades, we have lost the technological leadership role in the oil industry, simply because the communist regime was reluctant to encourage the growth of information technology in general, and personal computers in particular. Sadly, we failed to close the technological gap in the post-communist era. Only one in five Romanian companies currently introduces a new product, service, technology, etc., or brings about innovative business practices. This rate represents half of the European average. We are lagging one decade behind the Czech Republic and Estonia, and two decades behind the rest of the European Union.We did find, however, a number of successful initiatives, rewarded at international innovation and trade shows. Unfortunately, the overall picture is rather bleak; this paper suggests a series of possible solutions aimed at improving it.