Sweden “can teach the USA about inclusive innovation”
Sweden’s position as a world leader in innovation that can teach the United States about socially inclusive growth depends largely on its strong welfare system, stable model for consensus government and universities that are engaged in cooperation with industry, a Times Higher Education the event heard.
The THE Innovation and Impact Summit is organized by the KTH University of Technology in Stockholm.
Sigbritt Karlsson, CEO of KTH, said at the event that Stockholm “was seen as one of the most successful hubs for innovation and tech start-ups in the world”, after being described as the “unicorn factory”, ranked second in the world after Silicon Valley for its number of start-ups valued at over $ 1 billion (£ 788 million).
Factors that “explain the success” include “the high welfare system in Sweden”, which meant that people “dare to take risks that you may not want in other countries”, said Professor Karlsson.
The nation also has “strong institutions and universities” where cooperation with industry was “in our DNA”.
And Sweden was “one of the few countries” that had a rule of “professor privilege”, which gives academics “the right to their results, not the university”, she continued.
At KTH, “the majority of our research has a clear significance for sustainable development”, and it is important that, for example, engineers and architects learn about sustainability in their fields, says Professor Karlsson.
The event also heard about partnership between KTH and the Swedish-based truck and bus manufacturer Scaniawhich started in 2011, where the university “helps Skåne to prepare for the future” in areas such as “connection, electrification and digitization”, among other things through joint development of courses.
Christian Levin, President and CEO of Scania, member of KTH’s board and alumnus of the university, highlighted the crucial role that trucks play in the global economy, “like it or not”, which creates a critical priority for Skåne in carbon dioxide emissions .
At the same time as Scania has factories around the world, its research and development is based on its campus outside Stockholm, where the company “together with KTH” has “built an exciting innovative environment”, said Levin. More than half of its engineers work with software and more than 50 percent of the research and development budget goes to electrified vehicles, he added.
“The collaboration with KTH is the main source for us to attract new engineers to the company”, as well as to help “retrain and upgrade” existing employees, he continued.
Diego Pavia, CEO of the energy innovation company EIT InnoEnergy, highlighted how Sweden has built a true ecosystem for innovation. He said that of the company’s 27 shareholders, 13 are universities, among them KTH – which had to get an exemption from the Swedish parliament to make that investment in 2010.
“Twelve years ago, the word innovation, people did not know how to spell it,” but KTH was “brave enough to join the party,” he added.
The company has created a master’s school with KTH, which offers courses in sustainable energy, which has produced 1,800 alumni, he said at the event.
Regarding how the Swedish innovation ecosystem was created, Pavia said that the Swedish and EU governments had sent “important signals” by introducing emission rules that meant that the banks were willing to lend to green technology companies, with carbon dioxide emissions from the steel industry an example, which shows lenders that there “will be a market for renewable energy sources”.
Speaking to the American public about how the Trump presidency had weakened the American leadership in innovation, Pavia said: “Your latest president was good news for Europe.” For example, China, whose relations with the United States deteriorated during the Trump presidency, now sought Europe for research and innovation on battery technology, he added.
Referring to Swedish neutrality, Pavia said that the nation’s innovation culture had benefited from the fact that Sweden “did not have two wars” during the 20th century and has had “very stable government”.
The nation has “culture and values that can not be replicated everywhere but we can learn from” in terms of “cooperation to continue to grow the economy”, he added.
Levin said that the goal of Swedish innovation was not “the unicorn who employs very few people” and generates enormous wealth for the few, but to build companies that “also create welfare, which means many jobs”.
He highlighted the social gaps revealed by the recent French presidential election, which he claimed could be counteracted by “this creation of welfare and jobs” through innovation.
“Europe has a proud tradition [here] and we can be the leaders and show the United States how to do this in a smart way, says Levin.