Susan Watson heads up the organisation Innovate Guernsey, and also until last week headed up the working group leading the States' Digital Greenhouse. She resigned as the closure was announced.
Ms Watson, who has been involved in entrepreneurial projects for more than 15 years, said that any organisation wanting to take over the Digital Greenhouse’s responsibilities needed to be able to recruit the right people, form partnerships, secure sponsorship, charge where appropriate, and move faster to stop doing things that were not delivering enough value.
‘We hope it would keep what’s worked – practical support for founders, be a community for people building something new, help established businesses adopt AI and new technology, and support succession and innovation in existing businesses.’
She added that while some might suggest that an independently operated organisation should not need any public funding, Innovate Guernsey did not think that was realistic.
‘Some of what it needs to deliver will create wider economic and community value but will not be commercially profitable in its own right,’ she said.
Ms Watson said it needed to be recognised that the Digital Greenhouse had some failings.
‘The Digital Greenhouse hasn’t always operated as effectively as it could. Its position inside government has limited its agility, leadership has changed too frequently, some programmes have lost momentum, and it didn’t fully unlock private sector potential to enhance its existing public backing,’ she said.
And it had not done enough to promote its successes, she said.
‘Businesses like Bank Aston, GCSC and CVault have come through the Greenhouse, and it has supported hundreds of members and thousands of one-to-ones, but you’d struggle to know that from the outside.’
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