Silje Bareksten, MSc
Silje Bareksten, MSc is Head of Sustainability and Technology at Nor-Shipping and Future Council Member at the World Economic Forum.
Silje has a background in the commercialization of technology and cutting-edge research from leading science and technology environments in Norway and abroad. In addition to working with entrepreneurship, collaboration strategies, and innovation management in the public sector, Silje has spent time at the knowledge transfer group at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and completed courses in space science with the International Space University (ISU) and ESA, the European Space Agency.
She has experience in finance, shipping, and marketing, and has specialized in business development and strategic management. Lately, she has functioned as Head of Smart City in Oslo, utilizing her broad background in and understanding of technology to support the city of Oslo’s positioning as a smart city.
She works closely with the Oslo Start-up ecosystem, and is passionate about promoting Oslo startups and creating circular, smart, and sustainable city models and solutions.
Silje earned her Master’s Degree of Science (MSc) in Science and Technology with Specialization in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2014 at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree of Science (BSc) in Marketing at BI Norwegian Business School in 2010. Silje also holds a number of certifications, among others are Licenced Practitioner of NLP, Associate Certified Coach Training with Norsk Coach Akademi, and Management in Communication from Telecom ParisTech.
Silje is also a volunteer at NOAH for Animal Welfare and at Kirkens Bymisjon in the Poverty Alleviation program where she is working at the emergency shelter in Old Town Oslo — a collaboration between The City Church Aid and the Norwegian Red Cross that offers homeless travelers in Oslo temporary shelter.
Silje started her career as a barista and contributor to starting up the ice cream bar Cielo. From there she moved on to working on management, accounting, insurance consulting, logistic consulting, and many more. She cofounded Sans IT Solutions, and became a member of the Advisory Board at Elv Technology.
With all this experience she later became Innovation and Technology Manager at Invent2 and has since 2008 worked freelance as a public speaker on networking, relationship building, and personal branding. Her relational skills have resulted in a broad network, and experience within industries such as marketing, finance, information technology, and shipping. Silje is a extrovert and adventurous girl, with a taste for action and challenge constantly leading her towards new and exciting opportunities.
In January 2017, Silje became the Head of Smart City at Oslo Business Region. She became a Member of the Board at Meshcrafts AS, and went on to become the Future Council Member at WEF and Head of Sustainability and Technology at Nor-Shipping in October 2018.
Silje says about herself “I am sustainability advocate, tech enthusiast & public speaker. Westcoast girl gone Oslopolitan”
Read her contributions at Oslo Business Region, her article Accelerating Smart City: the Oslo model, and read her Medium contributions.
Read about Silje at Techstars Blog in Mentor Spotlight. View the recent news about Silje starting her work at Nor-Shipping.
Visit her LinkedIn profile and her LinkedIn activity. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Visit her World Economic Forum page.