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RESEARCH • INNOVATION • GROWTH No 2 2011 

 

people 

 

International and academic 

exchange stimulate growth 

CHALLENGES 

TO STIMULATE 

RESEARCH 

 

 

Materials science 

revitalises commodities 

Future Healthcare 

and Information Technology 3.0 

WATER FROM AIR ENERGY DENSITY RESEARCHING IN SWEDEN

EDITORIAL 

Challenges 

drive 

innovation 

Innovation is increasingly 

recognised as a key determinant 

of competitiveness, prosperity 

and sustainable development. 

Sweden is frequently ranked among 

the most innovative countries in the 

world and is also home to many large 

and successful multinational 

companies. As a proportion 

of its GDP, Sweden is also a 

world leader for investing 

in research and development. 

VINNOVA has identified 

four areas, or challenges, as 

starting points for future 

initiatives that will serve as drivers of 

innovation and sustainable growth: 

Information Society 3.0, Future 

healthcare, Competitive production 

and Sustainable attractive cities. 

This magazine presents two of 

these challenges and other examples 

of research and innovation conducted 

in Sweden with the support 

of VINNOVA and other 

research funding agencies. 

We hope it will be of 

interest to innovation 

actors around the world. 

Pleasant reading! 

Charlotte Brogren, 

Director General VINNOVA 

CONTENTS 

06 MATERIALS SCIENCE 

With both short- and long-term potential, 

material science – which investigates the relationship 

between the structure of materials and 

their observable properties – is enjoying a strong 

position in various industries within Sweden. 

From super-strong paper to lightweight boats, the 

applications for this field are endless. 

10 FUTURE HEALTHCARE 

The growing need for efficient healthcare solutions 

and services is prevalent in both established 

and growing economies worldwide. A variety of 

different factors have set the bar high for future 

care services, technical and medical solutions and 

efficient production. Early results are promising 

thanks in large measure to partnerships between 

industry, academia and research institutes. 

15 RESEARCHER EXCHANGE 

While there are more female researchers today 

than ever before, the research world remains rife 

with gender disparity. The VINNMER programme, 

an initiative inaugurated by VINNOVA, seeks to 

create gender balance in leadership roles for female 

researchers in academia, research institutes and 

industry. 

Publisher Charlotte Brogren, VINNOVA 

Editors Sanna Berg, VINNOVA Anders 

Nordner and Linas Alsenas, Appelberg 

Art Directors Ersan Curuklu and 

Markus Ljungblom, Appelberg 

Print Edita Västra Aros 

Paper Arctic Volume 

Cover photo Javier Larrea 

Address www.VINNOVA.se 

Phone +46 8 473 30 00 

ISSN 1650 – 3120 

Translation Jonathan Dellar 

19 INFORMATION SOCIETY 3.0 

The aim of VINNOVA’s vision for the Information 

Society 3.0 is not only to gain a competitive 

advantage internationally for Sweden, but to 

improve the world in which we live. Based on 

these challenges, investments are being made in 

needs-driven innovation and effective systems. 

2 VINNOVA-CUTTING EDGE No 2 2011

VINNOVA 

- bridging research and resources 

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO 

FAMOUS SWEDISH INNOVATIONS 

Innovation is essential for meeting economic and social challenges and 

ensuring prosperity and quality of life. VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental 

Agency for Innovation Systems, is investing in research to 

strengthen Sweden’s innovative capacity for competitiveness, sustainable 

development and growth. 

VINNOVA’s efforts range from programmes 

for R&D projects in small 

companies and universities, to 

long-term development of strong 

research and innovation environments 

that attract R&D investment and expertise 

from around the world. 

Most of these efforts are based on co-financing 

with industry, academia and the public sector 

to ensure maximum relevance and impact. 

Thus, VINNOVA works closely with companies, 

research environments and public actors as key 

drivers of innovation. VINNOVA has identified 

four areas, or challenges, as starting points for 

future initiatives that will serve as drivers of 

innovation and sustainable growth: Information 

society 3.0, Future healthcare, Competitive 

production and Sustainable attractive cities. 

VINNOVA’s opportunities for contributing to 

sustainable growth in Sweden are increasingly 

dependent on advanced international collaboration. 

A unique collaboration with China has been 

initiated for future mobile systems and VINNOVA 

has a bilateral programme with China’s Ministry 

of Science and Technology. Elsewhere, efforts 

are underway in India within the healthcare field 

and there is collaboration with the US on traffic 

safety research and in Japan on multidisciplinary 

biotechnology. These are just a few examples. 

VINNOVA has also been commissioned by the 

government to promote Swedish participation 

in R&D projects under the EU’s Framework 

Programmes. 

TO ENSURE THE QUALITY of its endeavours, 

VINNOVA systematically evaluates and analyses its 

efforts to ensure that they are making an impact 

and generating significant socio-economic value. 

For example, impact analyses have shown that 

public investment in traffic safety research saves 

thousands of lives and billions of Swedish kronor 

annually. 

At the same time, these analyses have also 

strengthened the Swedish automotive industry. The 

knowledge gained through this and other impact 

analyses provides a basis for policy efforts and a 

foundation for directing new investment towards 

areas where it will have the greatest impact. • 

THE PROPELLER – JOHN ERICSSON 

In 1839, Swedish inventor John 

Ericsson introduced practical 

screw propulsion. The screw 

propeller had greater efficiency, 

was more compact and required a less complex 

power transmission system than its rivals. In 

addition to the propeller, Ericsson also invented 

the hot air engine and a solar machine. Ericsson 

realised the majority of his inventions in England 

and the USA. 

THE ZIPPER – GIDEON SUNDBÄCK 

In 1914, Gideon Sundbäck patented 

the classic zipper consisting 

of two cotton ribbons with metal 

teeth and a slider that closes and 

opens the zipper. The zipper has basically looked 

the same ever since. Sundbäck worked as an 

electrical engineer and had an international 

career eventually working for Westinghouse in 

the USA. 

THE TETRA CLASSIC – ERIK WALLENBERG 

In 1944, researcher Erik Wallenberg 

invented a paper carton in the 

shape of a triangular pyramid used 

for storing and transporting milk. 

The product, called Tetra Classic, was patented 

and became the starting point for Tetra Pak, the 

global packaging company established in 1951 

by Ruben Rausing. 

THE PACEMAKER – RUNE ELMQVIST 

On October 1958, the first successful 

pacemaker was implanted 

in a human body at Karolinska 

Institutet in Stockholm. The innovator 

was Rune Elmqvist, engineer and doctor. 

Elmqvist was development manager at Elema- 

Schönander which today is a part of St. Jude 

Medical, a global company developing medical 

technology and services. 

VINNOVA-CUTTING EDGE No 2 2011 

3

IN SHORT 

Swedish invention 

SOLVES WATER PROBLEM 

Uppsala-based company Airwatergreen has 

developed a patent-pending technology which 

can cost-effectively condense water out of 

air. A version of the Airwaterwell product is 

currently being tested in Uppsala University's 

library. 

Today’s limited supply of fresh water sources 

is a problem. With Airwaterwell, fresh water 

can be produced anywhere, with just air and 

sunlight. 

The technology is simple, which translates 

into a long service life and cheap manufacturing 

costs. It can also be packaged in 

various ways. For example, it can be used as 

a humidifier or sold for water production to 

private individuals and homeowners. Within 

two years, Airwatergreen may have developed 

the technology to construct a large-scale 

demonstration plant. 

SWEDISH OYSTERS 

HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL 

Kent 

Berntsson 

THE SWEDISH COAST is ideal 

for cultivating the Rolls-Royce of 

oysters, the Flat Oyster. France, 

Holland and Spain farmed these 

delicacies up until the 1950s, but 

when parasites wiped out their entire stock 

they turned instead to Giant Pacific Oysters 

from Japan. The low water temperatures in 

Sweden make it hard for parasites to take 

hold, so the Flat Oysters there have managed 

to avoid infection. 

European demand for the scarce Flat Oyster 

is very great. Fortunately, the waters off Bohuslän 

on Sweden's west coast have high salt 

content levels and are uncommonly nutritious, 

so the oysters grow quickly. 

“Our conditions are unique; the water contains 

nutrients and phytoplankton, which means 

we can produce 50,000 tonnes of oysters 

or mussels per year,” says Kent Berntsson, 

Production Manager and one of the founders of 

oyster cultivators Ostrea. “The potential exports 

are worth billions of Swedish crowns.” 

One challenge to cultivation is the great 

variation in the sea’s production of larvae, so 

Ostrea has built a special hatchery. Breeding 

oysters are brought from the seas off the Koster 

Islands to propagating tanks here. However, 

the process is very delicate and only 0.25 percent 

of the larvae become full-sized oysters. 

Ostrea wants to change this. If it is to succeed, 

it will require greater control over the saltwater 

and food in the hatchery. The company 

anticipates that the larvae that have been put 

out will yield half a million oysters by 2014. Due 

to its measures this year, Ostrea is estimating 

a harvest of 3 million oysters in 2015, at which 

point a further 40 people will need to be hired. 

PHOTO: GETTYIMAGES 

PHOTO: OSTREA 

4 

VINNOVA-CUTTING EDGE No 2 2011

Future boat imitates dolphin flipper 

Compared with a propeller that revolves rapidly at high 

revs, a dolphin’s flippers go back and forth at a relatively 

slow rate. Using this energy-efficient process, a dolphin 

can top 30 knots at one horsepower. Now this principle is 

being transferred to boat engines that are being driven by 

flippers instead of a propeller. 

“If we can get this working as well as it does in nature, 

there’ll be a whole new industry with loads of jobs,” says 

Johan Lund, CEO of Dolprop Industries. “Our challenge is 

to show that it really works.” 

Dolprop was formed in 2007 and last year received a 

grant from VINNOVA. Backed up by a patented invention, 

it is now a case of developing the technology all the way to 

the finished product. 

The company has constructed a test pool on Ekerö 

island in Sweden’s Lake Mälaren. In the 5 m x 2.5 m cylindrical 

pool, water streams around a permanent rig. Here, 

drive devices in different materials, sizes and designs 

are tested out. Stage one is to develop electric-powered 

outboards for smaller motorboats and sail craft. 

At a time when increasing numbers of people are 

searching for environmentally friendly alternatives, 

Lund believes there is a market for small, highperformance 

electric motors. If all goes 

according to plan, the first of them 

will be launched onto the market 

in 2012. 

Illustration Thomas Jemt 

BENEFITS OF FLIPPER DRIVE 

SAFER: Propeller accidents are avoided as the propeller is replaced with a soft flipper. 

QUIETER: The noise created by a propeller rotating at a high speed disappears. Dolprop’s patented Fluke 

Propulsion Device replaces the propeller with a flipper. 

MICROWAVES SHRINK FOOD WASTE 

Food waste is bulky and can smell bad if not 

dealt with properly. Correct handling is a challenge 

on ships and oil platforms where space 

is limited and there are few opportunities to 

dispose of the waste. It was these conditions 

that led Stena Metall, in partnership with 

the industrial company GISIP, to develop a 

microwave-based technology for the rapid drying 

and sterilisation of food waste. 

Using microwave ovens the size of fridges, the 

aim is to reduce the weight of the waste by 85 

percent. GISIP has conducted a pilot project and 

the results are positive. 

”The principle is the same as with a normal 

microwave oven,” says Carina Pettersson, project 

manager at Stena Metall. “The difference is we 

are using a vacuum process in which the water is 

condensed out and the waste dries rapidly and 

effectively.” 

By-products of the process include an odourless 

powder that can be used as fuel, fertiliser 

and animal fodder, and excess warmth that can 

be used for heating. 

NDER 

INNOVATION 

& GENDER 

Dried food waste is turn into fish fodder. 

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK 

INNOVATION 

& GENDER 

INNOVATION is really about questioning what is 

taken for granted – challenging the norm – and 

finding new pathways to things. In challenging 

the norm, we need a critical perspective and 

undoubtedly a gender perspective can be helpful. 

Read more: www.VINNOVA.se/InnovationGender 


5

MATERIALS SCIENCE // 

NEW MATERIALS 

create competitive industry 

As the challenge to Swedish export products from recently industrialised 

countries gets tougher, companies must find new 

competitive advantages. This is where materials science can 

play a vital role. BY ÅKE R MALM PHOTO ISTOCKPHOTO 

The picture of Sweden’s position in 

materials science is also true of its 

basic industry. 

“We are strong in steel and cellulose 

materials,” says Professor Lars Berglund, 

head of the Royal Institue of Technology's 

Biocomposites Research Division. 

He leads a long-term project seeking to 

develop new materials based on forest products. 

The objective is to strengthen the Swedish 

forest industry’s position when competing with 

countries offering raw materials based on fastgrowing 

woods. 

“If your products are very simple, it’s easier 

for eucalyptus to compete,” he says. “If you add 

knowledge and technology, it’s a different matter.” 

THE PROJECT RESULTS include super-strong 

paper and something called aerogel, an incredibly 

light material useful as thermal insulation. 

Both are based on nanotechnology in which the 

researchers manipulate material structure at just 

above the atomic level. 

“Nanostructured material is a very important 

area,” Berglund says. “It’s incredibly knowledgeintensive, 

and we’re able to make great strides 

with properties.” 

Materials science has enjoyed a strong position 

within the Swedish engineering industry, 

but Berglund feels companies are moving more 

in the direction of applications and less towards 

new development. He also sees a structural 

change, with smaller companies taking 

an increasingly larger role. These are high-tech 

companies with niche knowledge, such as in the 

biomedical field. 

IN THE SHORT-TERM, materials science is about 

finding new applications or products for existing 

materials. Perhaps steel in a vehicle can be 

replaced with composites to save weight and 

fuel, or constituents made from renewable raw 

materials can substitute for plastic. 

An example is the research project Lightweight 

Construction Applications at Sea (LÄSS) 

which was started in order to strengthen the 

Swedish shipbuilding industry. Amongst other 

things, it has helped Kockums, the marine construction 

firm, develop competitive vessels and 

marine superstructures in composite materials. 

“It’s not a matter of us teaching Kockums how 

to build ships,” says Tommy Hertzberg of the SP 

Technical Research Institute of Sweden, which 

has been coordinating the project. “However, 

LÄSS has shown what is important and helped 

influence the authorities, Swedish Maritime 

Administration and others.” 

So in the field of materials science, to which 

countries should Sweden measure itself? According 

to Lars Berglund, the Asian countries 

are rapidly gaining ground, but the strongest 

research milieus are still in the US. 

“They don’t have individual materials science 

departments dealing solely with metals or plastics,” 

Berglund says. “Rather, they have multidisciplinary 

departments covering all types of 

materials. We don’t have that in Sweden.” 

IN BRIEF 

Materials science is the creation and application 

of knowledge that relates composition and 

materials processes to the structure, properties 

and functions of the material. 

6 


Nanocellulose creating new packaging 

Nanocellulose allows plastic and aluminium to be replaced with 

renewable materials in some packaging. The knowledge centre 

BiMaC Innovation is currently working on scaling up production 

to an industrial level. 

BY ÅKE R MALM 

PHOTOS ISTOCKPHOTO, BIMAC 

PAPER HAS TWO important properties that 

limit its use in packaging: it cannot be moulded 

because it is not ductile, and it absorbs water. 

Thus fluids are often packed in plastic bottles or 

cartons with protective layers of polythene and 

aluminium, materials that are not renewable. 

BiMaC Innovation is developing methods to 

replace these with nanomaterial-based barriers, 

alternatives that are also biodegradable. 

“The focus is on the borderland between new 

and traditional packaging materials,” says Professor 

Tom Lindström, program director at BiMaC 

Innovation. 

This substance known as nanocellulose has a 

key role in changing the properties of paper in 

various ways. In simple terms, nanocellulose can 

be described as fibres broken down into their 

constituents, or fibrils, which are then concentrated 

into a form of gel. Using this as an additive, 

the researchers at BiMaC have shaped paper into 

three-dimensional shapes just like a bottle. Other 

projects have shown how nanocellulose can be 

used to create barrier layers against oxygen and 

water vapour or for making a foam that serves the 

same protective function as styrofoam. 

“There is major industrial interest in the nanocellulose 

development,” says Lindström. “At the 

moment, it’s most intense in the forest industry.” 

The demonstrator project is now concluded 

and the pilot plant for producing 100 kg of nanocellulose 

a day has ben put into operation at the 

research institute Innventia, where Lindström 

also works. 

“We’re quite busy making a commercial nanocellulose 

product,” he says. 

LINDSTRÖM BELIEVES that within two or three 

years it may be possible to start projects for 

major plants. At the same time, he is attempting 

to partner Innventia and BiMaC Innovation 

with industry under the umbrella of a larger EU 

project. The objective is to build a factory that can 

produce 2,000 tonnes of nanocellulose per year. 

“We want applications that can be integrated 

into pulp and paper factories,” Lindström says. 

ASSIGNMENT: 

Stopping bacteria in hygiene products 

BY ÅKE R MALM PHOTO HÅKAN FLANK 

IN BRIEF 

PURPOSE: To develop antibacterial cellulose 

fibres for use mainly in hygiene products. 

PARTICIPANTS: The Department of Fibre and 

Polymer Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology, 

BASF, SCA and Karolinska Institutet. 

RESEARCHERS at Royal Institute of Technology 

in Stockholm (KTH) have developed 

a new method of coating cellulose fibres 

with antibacterial polymers. Benefits should 

include better hygiene products. 

SCA had the fibres, BASF the antibacterial 

polymers, and the researchers at KTH the 

ideas and ambition to bring them together. 

This was the basis of a research project 

which, with VINNOVA’s support, will yield 

new antibacterial materials. 

“If you can find the right concept the 

market is enormous, especially in the 

hygiene sector,” says Monica Ek. She and 

Lars Wågberg are jointly leading the project 

at KTH’s Department of Fibre and Polymer 

Technology. 

Developed in partnership with doctoral 

student Josefin Illergård, their method is 

based on attaching antibacterial polymers 

to cellulose fibres in a water-based medium, 

without the dangerous solvents that had 

previously been necessary. 

“We’ve done a lot of work on the choice 

of polymers, designing their appearance – 

and with antibacterial testing,” says Ek. 

The result is a patent describing which 

polymers should be used to obtain the 

antibacterial effect. Work is now under way 

to discover exactly what causes it whilst trials 

involving real products have begun. 

“The clever thing about this method is 

that if we can get it to work, it can be used in 

many different types of material,” says Ek. 

“It may even work on textiles as well.” 

In the long run, this means antibacterial 

polymers may find uses beyond the hygiene 

field. Perhaps in sports clothing or wound 

dressings, areas that currently use other 

agents against bacteria. 

“The current commercial market mainly 

consists of silver products, but the problem 

with silver is that it doesn’t stay put and can 

leak out,” says Ek. 

VINNOVA-CUTTING VINNOVA-NYTT EDGE OKTOBER No 2 2010 2011 

7

MATERIALS SCIENCE // 

Light marine materials 

GET HEFTIER ROLE 

The LÄSS research project has 

broken new ground for the use 

of aluminium and composites 

in marine designs. This is as 

much a matter of materials science 

as classification law. 

BY ÅKE R MALM 

PHOTO KOCKUMS 

“Cut the weight by at least 30 percent.” That 

was one of the objectives when Tommy Hertzberg 

at the SP Technical Research Institute 

of Sweden started a research project in 2005 - 

Lightweight Construction Applications at Sea, 

or LÄSS - to increase the use of light materials 

within the shipbuilding industry. The aim was to 

give Swedish companies competitive advantages 

through increased knowledge of aluminium 

composites in vessel design. Its advantages included 

a drastic reduction in the fuel consumption 

of a vessel. 

THE WORK WAS based on several different types 

of vessel, including a car ship with an aluminium 

superstructure and a high-speed ferry made 

entirely of composites. 

“Basically, this meant we designed the vessels 

for these lightweight materials,” says Hertzberg. 

“Then we demonstrated how much could be 

saved, how much it cost and the scale of its environmental 

impact.” 

Maritime construction is mainly governed by 

various regulations, with compliance controlled 

by classification companies such as Lloyds 

and Det Norske Veritas (DNV). In addition to 

material strength, the rules lay down major requirements 

for fire resistance. The fire properties of 

aluminium were already documented, but not 

those of the composite material, so this required 

large-scale fire testing. 

“We verified their suitability, and various 

certificates now exist that indicate that these 

materials can be used in construction,” Hertzberg 

says. 

When LÄSS concluded in 2008, the analysis 

showed that the typical weight reduction due to 

changing construction materials was 50 percent 

or more. The payback period for investment in 

lightweight materials varies depending on the 

type of vessel, but in all cases studied by LÄSS it 

was estimated at less than five years. 

THE RESULTS OF LÄSS are now starting to be 

visible in the form of various partnerships in the 

industry, such as the Composite Superstructure 

Concept. This is a joint venture in which marine 

and naval technology company Kockums and 

the Swedish company DIAB are collaborating 

with Thermal Ceramics in England. Kockums 

can also point to a very definite example – at 

Östersjön. 

“We recently delivered the first working craft 

in the world built of carbon fibre and classified 

under DNV’s rules,” says Lars Tedehammar, 

senior vice-president for Kockums Surface Vessel 

Division. 

THE CLIENT IS Fintry Marine Design in Switzerland 

and the vessel, of the CarboCat type, is 

now in service at the windfarm off Rostock. 

According to the initial reports to Tedehammar, 

the fuel consumption is around half that of a 

corresponding aluminium design. 

IN BRIEF 

PURPOSE: To increase knowledge of light 

materials in marine construction; to increase 

the competitiveness of the Swedish shipping 

industry; to make shipping more efficient. 

PARTICIPANTS: Universities, research bodies, 

shipbuilders, shipping companies, materials 

manufacturers, authorities and classification 

companies. Thirty participants in total. 

8 


IN SHORT 

Green 

POWER 

Illustration Alexander Rauscher 

A battery consisting only of combustible material 

and which could be virtually any shape or size 

may become a reality in the future. The Nanotechnology 

and Functional Materials Department 

of the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University 

has been working for a long time with cellulose 

from green algae in its biotechnology work. During 

a project in which Professor Maria Strømme 

and her research colleagues investigated the 

behaviour of algae cellulose in water, they found 

that the cellulose could also serve as a constituent 

of batteries. 

Separator 

Filter paper saturated with 

elektrolyte 

Anode 

Conductive paper 

made of algae cellulose 

Collector 

Graphite foil 

Cathode 

Conductive paper 

made of algae cellulose 

Green algae cellulose has a large surface area 

which has good electrochemical properties when 

coated with a conductive polymer. The algae battery 

is very environmentally friendly, as it consists 

solely of nanostructured cellulose from green 

algaes, a conductive polymer and a saltwater 

electrolyte. 

In September 2011, tests of the first prototype of 

the algae battery commenced in an environmentally 

friendly TV remote developed by Motorola. 

Glass facades generate electricity. 

LEAVES 

OF GLASS 

NLAB SOLAR is developing solar cells for 

buildings to imitate a plant’s way of converting 

sunlight into energy. But instead of chlorophyll, 

titanium dioxide is used by transparent 

solar cells to convert the sun’s rays into electricity. 

The objective is to cover the glass facades 

of buildings with these cells to generate 

electricity and protect against harmful rays. 

NLAB Solar’s cells are a further development 

of technology originally produced by Michael 

Grätzel in Switzerland. While a variety of 

manufacturers around the world are currently 

producing ‘Grätzel solar cells,’ NLAB’s cells 

are equipped with an additional reflective layer 

inside. This difference means that NLAB’s 

solar cells are significantly more efficient than 

those of their competitors. Previously, the best 

cells had an efficiency of just over 10 percent, 

and those intended for covering glass facades 

on buildings seldom put out more than three 

or four percent of the incident solar energy. 

“We’ve succeeded in turbo-charging our solar 

cells,” says Giovanni Fili, CEO of NLAB Solar. 

“Because of their reflective surface, the efficiency 

of our transparent cells is 37 percent 

higher than those of our competitors.” 

According to Fili, the company has overcome 

its main obstacles in terms of solar cell 

technology and is concentrating instead on 

optimising the industrial process. 

“Thanks to the support we have received from 

VINNOVA’s programme ‘Green nanotechnology 

for the environmental field,’ we have been 

able to put the theoretical knowledge we’ve 

have had for many years into a technology that 

works industrially,” says Fili. “The support has 

also brought increased interest from industry, 

and we’ve been able to get a large grant from 

the European Union to build a production 

plant; we’ll soon show that industrial production 

of facade glass with built-in solar cells is 

possible.” 


9

FUTURE HEALTHCARE // 

A range of different factors have set 

the bar high for future care services, 

technical and medical solutions and 

efficient production, and they must 

not be developed at the expense of 

the environment. 

BY KATARINA AHLFORT 

PHOTO JAVIER LARREA/SCANPIX 

HEA 

FUTURE 10 VINNOVA-NYTT VINNOVA-CUTTING OKTOBER EDGE 2010 No 2 2011

VVINNOVA HAS IDENTIFIED four areas, 

or challenges, as starting points 

for future initiatives. One of these 

challenges - Future Healthcare - may 

be extremely important to Swedish competitiveness 

internationally. 

“Some future care needs are directly linked 

to demographics,” says Maria Landgren, chief 

strategy officer within health at VINNOVA. “In 

the west of Sweden, we have a growing number 

of elderly and sick people, as well as more 

elderly people who are healthy but in need of 

more primary care.” 

As the number of younger people available 

for gainful employment decreases, the need for 

efficiency within healthcare grows. 

“We have to run care in a smarter fashion, 

perhaps by starting with the patient’s needs, 

using innovative IT solutions, new work 

processes or new solutions for smarter home 

healthcare,” says Landgren. 

Growing economies such as Brazil are also 

finding a greater demand for efficient healthcare 

services and an ever-increasing need for 

new solutions in the care field. 

THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY sees major opportunities 

for exporting Swedish healthcare 

innovations. 

“For example, our advanced infrastructure 

gives us a bird’s-eye view of the care situation,” 

Landgren says. “This includes our care quality 

register which holds personal and register data 

on the national population.” 

The register makes it possible to demonstrate 

the effectiveness of different care 

measures. Furthermore, Swedes generally have 

a positive attitude towards participating in research 

studies, and the healthcare industry has 

an IT maturity considered important in this 

context. However, there is still major untapped 

potential. 

EXAMPLES OF SWEDISH solutions within 

health and fitness are stem cell pharmacies, 

oats and rye in food products and robots in 

healthcare. 

“Above all, through the challenge, we are 

working preventively so that fewer people get 

sick or have accidents,” Landgren says. “This 

includes innovations for things like increased 

traffic safety. Sweden is among those countries 

with the lowest number of fatal traffic accidents 

in the world, thanks in large measure to Swedish 

innovations such as airbags, safer traffic 

crossings and other smart traffic solutions.” 

By cross-linking different sectors and 

research areas, VINNOVA is working broadly 

within four challenge areas. 

“For example, the healthcare challenge is 

linked to sustainable cities by the fact that 

emissions and noise can cause illness, which 

in turn is directly linked to the environmental 

issue,” says Landgren. 

“To date, health and environmental issues 

have not come together in new innovations, but 

we can see major potential here for collaborating 

in future research projects.” 

THCARE 

4CHALLENGES 

TO STIMULATE 

RESEARCH 

These four challenges will 

serve as drivers of innovation 

and sustainable growth: 

1 Future healthcare 

2 Competitive production 

3 Sustainable attractive cities 

4 Information society 3.0. 

Based on these challenges, 

investments are being made 

in needs-driven research, 

innovation and effective innovation 

systems. 

The challenges are drafted 

according to societal needs 

and demands. 

They are interdisciplinary 

between several industries, 

sectors and research fields 

and have the aim of discovering 

new growth potential. 

The initiatives should encourage 

inter-industrial and 

inter-sectoral collaborations 

between various actors. 

FURTHER READING: 

The largest product development 

unit in the Nordic region. 

Virtual worlds for pathologists 

and doctors. 

VINNOVA-CUTTING VINNOVA-NYTT EDGE OKTOBER No 2 2010 2011 

11

FUTURE HEALTHCARE // 

Where good ideas 

become products 

WORKING TOGETHER. 

The Actileg stair machine 

originated with SLL Innovation. 

Care provider and care 

recipient step together whilst 

talking. The result is mental as 

well as physical stimulation. 

INNOVATIVE 

PRODUCTS 

Examples of products 

already on the market that 

have contributed to the 

development of SLL Innovation 

include: 

• The Clean Lift system for 

sterile surgical washing. 

• The Actileg tandem stair 

machine for activation 

of blood circulation in 

elderly people. 

• The Respine mobile back 

support for people with 

whiplash injuries. 

• Stickstop, used by 

healthcare personnel for 

injections. 

Every day, healthcare staff think of good ideas for how their daily work can be 

simplified. These ideas are transformed into products by SLL Innovation. 


PHOTO ROLF ANDERSSON ILLUSTRATION RESPINE 

”T 

HROUGH SLL INNOVATION, we aim to convert 

staff members’ ideas into new, innovative 

products that improve care,” says Olof 

Hillborg, development manager of the project 

at Danderyd Hospital outside Stockholm. All healthcare 

staff in Stockholm County Council who have an idea for 

improving the workplace can contact SLL Innovation. 

The project is a collaboration between Danderyd Hospital, 

Karolinska University Hospital and Healthcare Provision, 

Stockholm County. 

“We are also working with entrepreneurs and companies 

in the medical technology field who want to tap the clinical 

expertise in healthcare,” says Hillborg. 

The County Council covers half the costs for healthcare 

employees developing new ideas for innovations. 

What has been the staff response within healthcare? 

“Terrific,” says Hillborg. “A lot of people are coming 

to us with their ideas. The staff think it’s fantastic to get 

feedback and support from their employer.” 

So far, SLL Innovation has sold some 10 prototypes to 

medical technology companies, and the sales are gradually 

supplying financial compensation to both the hospital and 

the individual inventor. 

Six products are already on the market and some 10 innovations 

are heading for launch. 

“We see enormous export opportunities where Swedish 

healthcare products are concerned,” Hillborg says. “The 

quality of our healthcare system is considered among the 

best in the world, so obviously products from here have 

high potential.” 

His hopes for the future are to be able to extend the 

project and develop more innovations by having more 

project employees and thereby being able to accept more 

healthcare innovators throughout Sweden. 

“Through SLL Innovation, we have been able to build 

up the largest product development unit in the Nordic region,” 

Hillborg says. “We have 45,000 healthcare employees 

in Stockholm alone.” 

PROBLEM SOLVER. Respine’s 

portable neck support for people 

with neck and back problems. 


KNIFELESS SURGERY 

Introducing the Swedish-innovated 

visualisation table for 

use in virtual post-mortems and 

preoperative planning. 


PHOTOS SECTRA 

AFTER IMAGING BY computed 

tomography/MRI, a body can be 

examined on the visualisation table 

using detailed 3-D X-ray images. 

Doctors are now able to make diagnoses and 

carry out non-invasive post-mortems using the 

visualisation table. 

The table provides a three-dimensional overview 

of X-ray data enabling a doctor to make a 

detailed examination quickly and simply. 

By simply touching the screen the user can 

interact with 3-D volume rendering, and layers 

of skin and muscle can be hidden or shown as 

required. 

IMAGES CAN BE ZOOMED and rotated. By dragging 

a finger across the screen, it is possible to 

"cut" through sections of the body with a virtual 

scalpel. The visualisation table also allows groups 

of doctors to carry out complex examinations and 

manage large volumes of information without 

delay. 

Doctors from Linköping and Norrköping, 

in partnership with the medical technology 

company Sectra, have succeeded in transforming 

their complex innovation into a finished product 

for the clinical market in less than two years. 

Introduced in 2010 at the Radiological Society 

of North America fair in Chicago, the table is 

generally known as a “virtual visualisation table” 

and is used for post-mortems as well as medical 

analyses on living people. 

Which of the visualisation 

table’s applications has 

aroused the greatest interest? 

"The capability for rapid 

three-dimensional overview of 

Ulf Elmhester patient cases before the surgical 

team goes into theatre,” says Per Elmhester, 

product manager at Sectra. “This in turn reduces 

VIRTUAL WORLD. Using X-ray data and advanced 

image processing, examinations and post-mortems 

on bodies can be conducted on the visualisation table. 

risk to the patient as the team of doctors is better 

prepared." 

Are virtual medical images as reliable as 

traditional examination or post-mortem? 

“The images are just as reliable, albeit different,” 

Elmhester says. “Advanced visualisation 

means we can compensate to some extent for the 

information the doctor gets through odour and 

touch during a post-mortem, but naturally this 

information can’t be duplicated. However, during 

a digital examination it’s easier to detect details 

such as the entry angles of weapons like a knife 

or bullet. Also, examination by visualisation table 

means material evidence remains intact.” 

What is the future vision for the project? 

“We’re continuing to have a close dialogue 

with our reference groups in research and the 

medical profession to develop the visualisation 

table as new users arise," says Elmhester. 

VISUALISATION TABLE 

• The touch-screen measures 46 inches and 

displays three-dimensional images of living or 

deceased people. 

• Its purpose is to facilitate doctors’ daily clinical 

work in surgery and pathology. 

• Thanks in large measure to a partnership 

between industry, academia and research 

institutes, the project has received an early 

launch abroad. 

• Partnered with medical technology company 

Sectra, researchers created the finished 

product for the clinical market in less than two 

years. 

VINNOVA-CUTTING EDGE No 2 2011 13

IN SHORT 

RAPID DETECTION 

of resistant bacteria 

PHOTO: ROBOTDALEN 

SUBSTITUTE FOR CULTURING. Q-linea’s instrument can detect antibiotic-resistant bacteria in just 

three hours, a huge improvement on the traditional three-day detection method. 

ABOUT 10 BILLION courses of antibiotic 

treatment are given around the world each year. 

This intensive use of antibiotic therapy has resulted 

in antibiotic resistance in many bacteria 

(human pathogens). Part of the solution is to 

simply reduce the number of needless treatments. 

That’s where Q-linea comes in. 

Johan Widén, project manager of Q-linea, says, 

“With an investment of slightly more than five 

billion Swedish kronor in a development project, 

we can deliver an instrument to determine 

whether bacteria are resistant by detecting an 

incredibly small amount of DNA.” 

In combination with advanced molecular biological 

analysis, Q-linea’s patented technology 

is now opening up opportunities to change the 

treatment of patients. With this instrument, it 

is possible to quickly determine the need for 

antibiotic treatment and thus reduce unnecessary 

prescriptions. The analysis shows what 

sorts of antibiotics are required, thus reducing 

the number of incorrect penicillin treatments. 

PHOTO Q-LINEA 

ROBOTS SUPPORT HUMAN HEALTH 

Robots have long been important to large industrial 

companies. Now Robotdalen (Robot Valley), one of the 

efforts under VINNOVA’s VINNVÄXT programme, wants to 

take robot technology into undeveloped spheres, such as 

health robotics. 

The vision is to establish Robotdalen as a world-leading region 

for research, development and manufacturing within 

robotics, with an effective system for pushing innovations 

from concept to successful product. 

“Health robotics as an area has long gone unresearched, but 

the developments we’re seeing now are fantastic,” says Erik 

Lundqvist, General Manager of Robotdalen. “The challenges 

for society are increasing as the number of elderly people 

rises. If our healthcare systems are to cope with this increasing 

demand, we have to find ways of using technology to help 

people stay independent well into old age.” 

Swedish companies are not the only ones attracted to 

Robotdalen. Thanks to the opportunity the partnership 

offers to develop and test robots in the health sector, today 

there are also American and Japanese companies located 

in Robotdalen's home of Mälardalen, Sweden. 

www.robotdalen.se 

VINNOVA TAKES UP UN 

TRAFFIC SAFETY EFFORT 

EVERY YEAR, more than 1.3 million people die in traffic. 

Road accidents are a major and increasing cause of 

death around the world. For this reason, the UN adopted 

a 10-year focus on traffic safety earlier this year. In Sweden, 

the Swedish Transport Administration, Chalmers 

and VINNOVA have jointly decided to establish a Vision 

Zero Academy. 

Sweden is a world leader in traffic safety with just 2.8 

deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. This is a result of 

long-term, systematic traffic safety work, with major 

investments in measures such as median barriers, improved 

safety for children and vulnerable road users, and 

measures to prevent drunk driving. 

Vision Zero Academy can be developed into a global 

knowledge node, further strengthening Sweden’s leadership 

in the field. An international Vision Zero conference 

will be held in Sweden in 2012. 

MORE TRANSPLANTS 

with lung cleaning machine 

AT THE MOMENT, it is not unusual for seriously ill people 

to die waiting for a suitable lung donor. The problem is 

not simply a lack of organs but the fact that available ones 

may be damaged and unusable. Lungs are the hardest 

organs to find; 80 percent of all donated lungs normally 

have to be discarded due to inferior quality. 

Medical technology company Vivoline has 

developed a method for cleaning lungs, 

enabling more transplants to be carried out. 

“The method we’ve just begun commercialising 

is based on Professor Stig Steen’s 

research,” explains Peter Sebelius, CEO of 

Vivoline. “He discovered how to clean lungs 

and remove harmful fluid accumulations 

years ago, but a breakthrough for the technology 

was delayed because the method was 

too complex in practical terms. It relied on a heart-lung 

machine that was intended for other purposes.” 

Through a partnership between Steen and Vivoline, an entirely 

new machine is now on the market. Custom-built for 

cleaning lungs, it is much simpler for medical staff to use. 

www.vivoline.se 


EXCHANGE // 

CROSS-BORDER. 

Researchers with international 

experience in academia 

as well as industry are the 

VINNMER programme’s target 

group. 

MOBILITY 

FUELLING PROGRESS 

The VINNMER programme, an initiative inaugurated by VINNOVA, 

seeks to create gender balance in leadership roles for female researchers 

in academia, research institutes and industry. 


ILLUSTRATION SHUTTERSTOCK 

Through the VINNMER programme, 

managers of organisations, faculties 

and industry have the chance early 

on to detect and engage with female 

researchers who may become future leaders. 

“Due in no small measure to the high proportion 

of men in leadership functions, we need 

more diversity in researcher qualification services,” 

says Erik Litborn, Programme Manager 

of VINNMER at VINNOVA. “We also want to see 

greater representation of other cultures, competences 

and experience.” 

THOSE RESEARCHERS selected for the programme 

get half their salary paid by VINNMER and the 

remainder by the company or organisation that 

they are associated with, for a period of three 

years.“In academia, we seldom see long-term 

plans for researchers’ continued activity once 

the research funding ends,” continues Litborn. 

“Through this investment, early-stage research is 

combined with career development.” 

According to the programme board, a prerequisite 

for participation is that the employer also 

holds a continuous dialogue with the individual 

about future plans and appropriate career moves. 

“I’m hoping the programme will lead to more 

competent researchers being able to have careers 

and that the participants will serve to inspire 

and lead other researchers,” says Ulf Wahlberg, 

Vice President of Industry and Research Relations 

at Ericsson and a member of the VINNMER 

programme board. 

WAHLBERG STRESSES that the programme 

also provides industry with access to enhanced 

competence through strong research milieus, 

exceptional leaders and more young researchers 

choosing research careers. 

“Ultimately, it strengthens the international 

competitiveness of Sweden and Swedish businesses,” 

he says. 

International interest in the programme is 

substantial. The Norwegian counterpart to VIN- 

NOVA has virtually copied the programme design 

and in Austria, according to Litborn, a number of 

similar projects are underway. 

VINNMER is one of the first national programmes 

sponsored through the EU’s Marie 

Curie Actions research programme. 

Marie Curie Actions has contributed EUR 5 

million to the programme, spread over four years. 

The partnership means that, for the programme’s 

duration, the European Commission will provide 

40 percent of the funds granted in around 40 of 

the 100 or so current VINNMER projects. 

The Commission uses a peer-review system 

for a traditional evaluation of the programme, 

taking a scientific and administrative approach. 

ALAN CRAIG and Silvia Dürmeier, Programme 

Managers of the European Commission’s Research 

Executive Agency, recently visited Sweden 

to learn more about the programme. 

Craig confirmed that VINNMER is working 

well, in particular because calls for proposals are 

made in sufficient time for the money to be put to 

optimum use. 

“It’s a very positive thing that the emphasis 

is on encouraging women, a group underrepresented 

in research, to invest in a scientific career,” 

said Dürmeier. 


EXCHANGE // 

Career boost 

follows research exchange 

How can we produce packaging for 

milk and soured milk with high waterrepellent 

properties? This was one 

of the questions underlying Rauni 

Seppänen’s research project. 

BY ANNICA HULTH 

PHOTO JENNY GAULITZ 

“W 

e’ve had a very good, smooth partnership,” 

says Rauni Seppänen of VINNMER, former 

researcher at the Institute for Surface 

Chemistry (YKI) in Stockholm. 

Having completed several years’ research 

at YKI, Seppänen wanted to learn more about the physical 

structure of cardboard packaging. For example, what 

happens when liquid penetrates at the edges where the 

packaging opens? 

One way of finding out is to use X-ray tomography; 

this gives highly realistic, three-dimensional images of the 

paper’s structure. 

The X-ray equipment was located at Jyväskylä University 

in Finland. Four companies were linked to the project: two 

cardboard manufacturers and two chemical companies. 

Once at Jyväskylä, Seppänen met a doctoral student who 

wanted to get involved in the studies and after the two got 

to know each other, the project really took off. 

“There was a real snowball effect. She’s a physicist and 

I’m a surface chemist, so this was a meeting of two worlds. 

She’s now passed her doctorate and is planning to continue 

her research at YKI,” says Seppänen. 

Thanks to this project, Seppänen spent three months at 

Tokyo University studying surface treatment of cellulose 

fibres. 

In December, Seppänen moved from the strictly academic 

world and started work as a research and development 

specialist at Holmen Paper. Fresh challenges await her 

in this industry, like developing paper that works optimally 

in the printing process. Her research goes on. 

“Once a researcher, always a researcher. Now I’m the 

customer, the one commissioning research. Obviously, I’ll 

benefit from my experience at YKI,” she concludes. 

CAREERIST. After many years as a 

researcher at the Institute of Surface 

Chemistry, Rauni Seppänen 

has taken the step into industry. 

PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY 

PURPOSE: To increase understanding of the 

importance of surface chemistry and structure 

in food packaging made of cardboard. 

PARTICIPANTS: Institute of Surface 

Chemistry, Jyväskylä University, Tokyo 

University, Korsnäs, Stora Enso, Hercules and 

Kemira. 

FUNDING: Contributions were made through 

VINNMER (half salary for three years), Jyväskylä 

University (research instruments and 

a doctoral student) and companies (cash and 

benefits). 


Through her research, Nazanin Emami can help increase 

the life of orthopaedic implants. 

LESS PAIN 

and lower care costs 

BIOTRIBOLOGY. Wear, lubrication 

and friction in hip and knee 

joints are the primary interests of 

Nazanin Emami and her 

research group. 


PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK 

In 2007 when Nazanin Emami, a lector 

at Luleå University of Technology, did 

her post-doctorate in biotribology in 

Australia 2007, she wondered how many 

of her future ambitions would be realised. 

“We are reducing human suffering as well 

as saving billions of kronor in care costs by 

developing more sustainable implant materials. 

This means many patients can avoid repeated, 

serious operations,” says Emami.“I applied to the 

VINNMER programme and when I was eventually 

successful, many of my Australian colleagues 

observed that ‘Sweden is a wonderful country for 

researchers,’” she says. 

BUT THE COMPETITION amongst programme 

applicants was stiff. 

“The VINNMER grant paid 50 percent of my 

salary; in other words 50 percent freedom to do 

research for a three-year period. That’s a freedom 

normally only available to research assistants. As 

a senior researcher, there’s seldom such a scope,” 

says Emami. 

Biotribology research aims to reduce friction 

and improve lubrication for implants in the body. 

“For over 40 years, hip and knee implant 

surgery has been one of the greatest orthopaedic 

success stories. But implants that ought to last a 

lifetime are in reality only lasting around 15 years,” 

she says. 

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, implant changes are generally 

required and that means comprehensive 

surgeries. 

“We hope to be to reduce the number of 

painful procedures. The primary target group for 

my research is younger patients, such as teenagers 

who have been injured in car accidents or people 

in their 40s affected by rheumatic problems. They 

should be able to jump and bounce around and 

have an active life.” 

Emami’s research has already resulted in four 

“Implants which 

ought to last a 

lifetime in reality 

are lasting only 10 to 15 

years.” 

Nazanin Emami 

new jobs as she has employed three doctoral 

students into the research group. 

“We’re well underway where it concerns 

strengthening polymeric materials with nanoparticles,” 

she says. “Of the four others in the 

group three are women, which is a positive thing 

given the otherwise male-dominated tribology 

research group at Luleå University of Technology.” 

The research is multidisciplinary; the researchers 

at Luleå are collaborating with medical 

orthopaedists both in Sweden and abroad. The 

programme has confirmed the group’s initiatives 

in the field of biotribology and has made it possible 

to build bridges, with research institutes in 

Australia, Portugal and Great Britain participating 

in sub-projects. 

IMPLANTS 

• At Luleå University of Technology, three 

projects are under way within the field of 

biotribology. The emphasis is on hip and 

knee implants. 

• Projects are being conducted in partnership 

with the Center for Medical Technology and 

Physics at Luleå University, Leeds University 

in Great Britain, the University of Aveiro 

in Portugal and a number of companies. 


17

IN SHORT 

RESEARCH 

GOES VIRAL 

The biotech company Vironova 

deals almost exclusively with viruses. 

It has developed a special method for 

automatic analysis of different types 

of viruses and other nanoparticles, 

which, it is hoped, will contribute to 

the development of more effective 

drugs against the flu and herpes. 

“In recent years, we’ve been aware 

of a much greater interest in viruses; 

both those that are potentially dangerous 

and those which produce more 

common symptoms of illness,” says 

Heather Marshall-Heyman, Project 

Coordinator at Vironova. 

Vironova was born when its founder, 

Mohammed Homman, was conducting 

research at Karolinska Institutet 

in Sweden. Homman realised that 

there was a need for the digitisation 

and automatic identification of 

viruses. 

The company’s 15 employees are 

involved in a number of research projects; 

clients include pharmaceutical 

companies, which mostly purchase 

virus safety and nanoparticle analysis 

services. 

Vironova also collaborates with a 

range of European researchers linked 

to academic institutions and companies. 

For example, Vironova’s researchers 

are leading the Minitema project 

under the European Commission’s 

Eurostars programme. The project’s 

objective is to develop the world’s 

first portable transmission electron 

microscope for identifying viruses 

and characterising other biological 

nanoparticles. This project ranked 

second out of 110 eligible Eurostars 

applications from companies and 

universities around Europe. 

“For a small company like Vironova, 

it’s very important to have financial 

support,” says Marshall-Heyman. 

“But it’s not just the money that helps 

us. Thanks to VINNOVA’s knowledgeable 

staff we’ve gained valuable 

advice which has helped us develop 

our projects.” 

RESEARCHING, 

LIVING AND 

WORKING IN 

SWEDEN 

NEW WEBSITE FACILITATES 

RESEARCHERS’ MOBILITY 

The new website EURAXESS Sweden aims 

to make researcher mobility easier in Europe. It 

contains information for researchers moving to 

Sweden, such as explanations of visa procedures, 

tax and social insurance issues and how to live 

and work in Sweden. There is also information 

about research posts advertised by universities 

and research faculties in the country. A separate 

section has information on fellowships and grants 

and aims to help researchers find research funding 

in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. 

This new website is part of the European network 

EURAXESS established by the European Commission 

and consisting of 200 centres in more 

than 30 countries. All services provided through 

EURAXESS are free of charge. In Sweden, 

EURAXESS is located at VINNOVA in partnership 

with the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish 

Council for Working Life and Social Research and 

the Swedish Research Council Formas. 

www.euraxess.se 


INFORMATION SOCIETY 3.0 // 

Contributing to a better world and creating more 

jobs are at the centre of VINNOVA’s vision for the 

challenge of Information Society 3.0. 

BY LISA BJERRE PHOTO ISTOCKPHOTO, APPLE 

FUTURE 3.0 

”C 

reating growth in Sweden 

and a better world 

— this is essentially the 

thrust of VINNOVA’s four 

challenges.” So says Peter Eriksson, 

VINNOVA’s chief strategy officer for 

industrial development. 

For the Information Society 3.0 

challenge, a better world may find 

expression by building an identity or 

by digitalising physical products. 

THIS SIMPLIFIES everyday life and 

improves the environment. But 

Eriksson really doesn’t want to say 

too much.“Information Society 3.0 is 

an open invitation,” he says. “It’s not 

our role to talk about what should be 

done.” 

The projects that VINNOVA will focus 

on are initiatives in which several parties 

that do not normally cooperate are 

required to work together. The idea is 

to bring together resources and actors 

to create something new. 

“We’re looking for ideas that would 

be very good if implemented but that 

are difficult to implement today,” says 

Eriksson. Although Eriksson does not 

want to steer the ideas, he offers an 

example of how Information Society 

3.0 can work with other challenges 

identified by VINNOVA, such as Future 

Healthcare. “Where can I find the 

nearest outpatient care provider in 

Sweden?” he asks. “I can’t currently 

get an answer to that question, but 

imagine if I could find it in a mobile 

application. There are many services 

that ought to exist but don’t yet.” 

A SUCCESSFUL INFORMATION Society 

3.0 should not only make the world a 

better place, it should also strengthen 

Sweden’s competitiveness. Eriksson 

believes that Sweden is a good test 

market and that the country is about 

the right size to succeed in linking 

together various actors. Business 

ideas that succeed here also have good 

prospects of being exported. 

“When it comes to using digital 

services, Sweden tops the list. We’re in 

a good position and it’s easier to win 

when you’re already far ahead. Now it’s 

about utilising our position.” 

This outlook is confirmed by Ilia 

Katardjiev, a professor at the 

WISENET research centre supported 

by VINNOVA. 

“WISENET is a basis for new export 

companies looking after our research 

results,” Katardjiev says. “We are working 

with small companies that have 

good growth opportunities. We’ll be 

creating a lot of jobs.” 

4 CHALLENGES TO STIMULATE RESEARCH 

These four challenges will serve as drivers of innovation and sustainable growth: 

1 Future healthcare 2 Competitive production 3 Sustainable attractive cities 4 Information society 3.0 

Based on these challenges, investments are being made in needs-driven reseacrh innovation and in effective innovation systems. 

The challenges are drafted according to societal need and demand. They are interdisciplinary between several industries, sectors 

and research fields and have the aim of discovering new growth potential. 

The initiatives should encourage inter-industrial and inter-sectoral collaborations between various actors. 

› 

VINNOVA-CUTTING VINNOVA-NYTT EDGE OKTOBER No 2 2010 2011 19


The researchers at Mobile Life 

Centre take games seriously. New 

business opportunities are hiding 

underneath the enjoyment. 

BY LISA BJERRE 

PHOTOS ISTOCKPHOTO 

TEXT ANDERS NORDNER 

Information Society 3.0 is one of four 

challenges VINNOVA will be working 

on in the next few years. The following 

are predictions made by VINNOVA 

Chief Strategy Officer Jonas Wallberg 

about the effects of information and 

communications technology (ICT) 

in various areas at different times in 

future. 

SERIOUS 

about 

GAMES 

ICT – CURRENT AND FUTURE ›› ›› 

IN 10 YEARS’ TIME: 

ICT is used increasingly to mitigate or 

avoid undesirable effects and to help 

and support people. 

Ex 1. Services emerge that allow you to 

use your mobile phone to set the washing 

machine for a washload to be ready 

when you get home, check that the coffee 

machine has been switched off and 

ensure the freezer door is closed. 

Ex 2. Using communication services 

and close-proximity physical sensors, 

you can monitor your own health and 

send data, perhaps to a healthcare 

centre. Robots are an increasingly 

important home health aid. 

Ex 3. Vehicles have systems to reduce 

the harmful effects of accidents, such 

as automatic braking for road obstacles 

and elevating bonnets to avoid personal 

injury in collisions between cars and 

pedestrians. 


ICT developments are 

used to repair humans 

and automate certain functions in 

society which we currently have to 

control for ourselves. 

Ex 1. When we leave home, the coffee 

machine goes off and the freezer 

door closes. The washing machine 

starts up when the electricity is cheap 

or when the electricity service 


MOBILE LIFE CENTRE 

WORKS WITH: Design-orientated research in 

mobile services. 

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 35 

START YEAR: 2007. VINNOVA funding up to 

2017. 

Democracy, streamlining and revolution. 

IT and the Internet can be used 

for many meaningful ends, but perhaps 

the thing closest to our hearts is 

having fun. 

“If you look at the products that have been 

successful in recent years, you can see how people 

are bored and doing everything possible to have 

more fun. It’s about socialising and about amusements, 

entertainments and games.” 

These are the words of Oskar Juhlin, head of 

Mobile Life, the VINN Excellence centre supported 

by VINNOVA. The purpose of the centre 

is to help Swedish industry develop this type 

of mobile technology and to understand the 

consumers’ interests. 

“I can’t emphasise how important it is that we 

understand this, but in Sweden we find it difficult 

supplier considers it suitable to avoid 

demand spikes in residential areas. 

Ex 2. Electronics are integrated with 

human functions, such as prostheses or 

portable miniaturised aid systems, such 

as dialysis equipment. 

Ex 3. Using sensors, vehicle systems 

can predict a collision and prepare the 

vehicle to mitigate its effects as far as 

possible. 

›› 

to take non-serious things seriously. 

They’re often way down our 

agenda.” 

“If we underestimate games 

and the somewhat nebulous 

(from an external perspective) 

Oskar Juhlin 

activities in which mobile users 

engage, we miss a great many business opportunities,” 

Juhlin says, citing Facebook and the 

games developer Zynga as examples. Amongst 

other things, Zynga is behind the globally successful 

Facebook game FarmVille. 

GAMES ARE WORTH taking seriously because 

they can generate successful business. “We have 

to understand what’s important in people’s lives,” 

says Juhlin. 

One area to which Mobile Life has devoted its 


Imagination and vision merge. 

Information and communications 

technology helps increase our capacity 

and our experiences. Our 

consciousness is on computer 

and maybe we can make security 

backups of our minds. 

Ex 1.ICT helps 

optimise energy 

consumption and various ways of recycling 

and utilising people’s movements 

or temperature differences to 

extract energy. 

Ex 2. The computational 

capacity of computers has 

reached a level allowing us to 

understand how the brain 

functions. Maybe we can 

cure diseases related 

efforts is 'unique games. 'These are mobile games 

based on your situation and the people you meet 

— a kind of role-play held outdoors, with experiences 

enhanced by technology. When you look at 

your mobile, elements of your surroundings are 

included in the game. Mobile Life has collaborated 

on this project with Nokia and games firm 

Company P. 

ANOTHER AREA THAT engaged the researchers 

was using GPS to study the interaction between 

hunters and dogs. The idea was to use what was 

learned to develop mobile services that all pet 

owners could enjoy. 

“We want to increase the interaction and 

make having a dog more fun,” Juhlin says. “Our 

perspective is to make services people want, not 

ones they ought to have.” 

to brain injuries. Stem cell research 

means that many diseases can be cured 

using the body’s own solutions. 

Ex 3. Now that sensors and technology 

are making vehicles much safer for 

passengers, they can be made lighter to 

save energy, materials and space. 


21


When thirsty 

soil speaks 

Spanish farmers can save water with Swedish wireless technology. 

Sweden's contribution has made a great impression 

internationally. BY LISA BJERRE PHOTO ISTOCKPHOTO 

APRIZE-WINNING project in wireless 

technology from the Swedish 

Institute of Computer Science 

(SICS) has gained a life of its own 

despite having ended. The reason: it resulted in 

one of the world’s leading systems for wireless 

sensor networks. 

“In Spain, an agricultural product has been on 

the market for a year and a Swedish company 

has built applications that are selling in Sweden 

and on the continent,” explains Olle Olsson, a 

researcher at SICS and project leader of European 

Sensor Network Architecture (ESNA). 

From 2005-2009, ESNA developed the Contiki 

operating system into a powerful platform, enabling 

wireless sensor nodes (small computers) to 

communicate with one another. 

“When the project started up, this was a new 

technology that people didn’t know how to relate 

to,” Olsson says. “But today we’re at the centre of 

developments." 

ESNA’s Swedish arm has received financial 

support from VINNOVA and has been run in 

cooperation with partners around Europe. One 

application that has been taken to market comes 

from Spain and involves a local company that 

has developed a product for monitoring crop 

irrigation. 

“Spain has a challenging climate for farming, 

and water is in short supply,” Olsson says. “So 

far, the problem has been a lack of precision, and 

water has been wasted.” 

BY PUTTING OUT small sensor nodes, farmers 

can measure the humidity and salinity in the 

ground and thus know how much water and 

fertiliser the field needs. 

“The result is more environmentally friendly 

agriculture, an increase in the quality of crops and 

a reduction in costs,” says Olsson. 

Contiki is now available all over the world as 

open-source code. This is possible because the 

system has been built with existing standard 

technology and supports key communications 

standards. 

“We want to get away from ‘black arts’ systems 

understood only by a small number of ‘magicians’ 

and instead create a system based on engineering,” 

says Olsson. • 

IN BRIEF 

• ESNA has received a gold medal as one 

of the most innovative projects within the 

research programme Information Technology 

for European Advancement. 

• The Contiki operating system is standardbased 

and built around the C language and 

Internet protocols. This distinguishes Contiki 

from similar systems for wireless sensor 

networks. Contiki is also distributed freely as 

open-source code. 

• 21 partners from six European countries took 

part in ESNA, four of them major companies, 

including ABB in Sweden. Eleven partners 

were small and medium-sized enterprises, 

five of them Swedish. 


IN SHORT 

A CONTEMPORARY 

crystal ball 

Can we analyse the future? 

SAFE AND HAPPY WITH IT 

THE MENTAL AND physical health of elderly people 

living at home and suffering from social and physical 

isolation is being improved through the IT project AGNES. 

“Through the computer-controlled network, elderly 

people can feel safer, be more independent and have more 

social contact with the outside world,” says Eva Lindh Waterworth, 

project manager and professor at the Department 

of Informatics at Umeå University. 

AGNES is a social network resembling Facebook, with 

the elderly in digital contact with family and those close 

to them. In turn, the computer network is linked to various 

aids in the user’s home. The computer can also be remotely 

activated in the room through a wireless 'box'. By knocking 

on the box, automatic computer contact is established with 

someone close. If residents need emergency help, they can 

raise the alarm by shaking the box. 

MORE EFFECTIVE ANTENNAE TESTING 

Within a few years it is estimated 

there will be 50 million mobile units 

containing wireless communication 

technology. So far it has been difficult 

to assess the functionality of antennae, 

which has a direct effect on range, 

data speed and battery life. Gothenburg 

company Bluetest has produced 

a solution which does this quickly, 

simply and cheaply. 

Until Bluetest came on the scene, the 

dominant technology involved large 

rooms covered in soft cones which 

effectively absorbed all disruptive 

echoes. 

About 10 years ago Professor Per- 

Simon Kildal at Chalmers University of 

Technology in Sweden first suggested 

that it would be better to test smaller 

antennae in an environment that was 

the antithesis of echoless rooms. The 

equipment that used these antennae 

was typically intended for environments 

where reflections and disruptions were 

the rule rather than the exception, so 

it had to be possible to evaluate the 

products under similar conditions. 

Measurements of device functionality 

can now be made in a tenth of the time 

and at significantly lower cost. 

THIS IS THE QUESTION being asked by Recorded 

Future, a company that has developed an analysis tool 

for advanced Internet searches. Using time as a crucial 

factor, it becomes possible to predict future events. The 

founders had their idea when they realised nobody was 

analysing time on the Internet. 

The programme carries out a semantic analysis of texts 

on the Internet about a person or event, with time as a 

determining factor. At the same time, it keeps track of the 

structure for gathering the right kind of information and 

assessing its reliability based on its frequency of appearance 

and where it was found. So far, the system has been 

used mostly in finance, where it searches blogs and other 

sources and draws conclusions about events, such as actions 

that might influence a company’s share price. 

Customers of Recorded Future are mostly abroad, but 

continued growth in Sweden is still a goal. The founders 

have also started up Spotfire, a company that has developed 

a system for graphic display of large volumes of data. 

Systems for processing and presenting this type of data 

have become something of a Swedish speciality. According 

to the founders of Recorded Future, this is because 

Sweden has good training and research in interaction 

design and computational linguistics. 

SAVING ENERGY FROM A DISTANCE 

CONSUMERS WHO CAN SEE right away how much energy 

they are consuming are more likely to reduce their consumption. 

This was one of the ideas behind Green IT Homes, a 

system in which users can see the carbon dioxide output of 

their dwellings and be able to control energy-hungry domestic 

equipment via mobile phone or computer. 

The system has been developed by the consultancy companies 

Elicit and IMCG, the Finnish business development 

company Posintra and the Interactive Institute. Green IT Homes 

provides the opportunity to control and monitor home energy 

consumption. It is also possible to simulate the impact of a 

planned change on energy consumption. 

Users can determine their own energy levels for their houses. 

For example, the heat can easily be lowered a few degrees if a 

person is going to be away for a longer period. Calculations and 

simulations of energy consumption take place on a server. In 

future, energy companies will be able to use this to deliver the 

right amount of energy at the best possible price. 


MARINE 

POWER IS 

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES 

SOLAR 

POWER 

THE SWEDISH Center for 

Renewable Electric Energy 

Conversion (CFE) at the 

Ångström Laboratory in 

Uppsala, Sweden, believes future electrical 

energy will come from waves and water 

currents. By refining the sun’s rays into 

a form with greater power and energy, 

nature has already done most of the work. 

Mats Leijon, Professor of Electricity 

at Uppsala University and CFE’s project 

director, explains: “When the sun illuminates 

the Earth, its energy is converted 

into winds which have higher power and 

energy content. The winds then set the 

water in motion, which further increases 

the energy density. So wave power is a 

form of solar energy, refined over several 

stages – and with the advantage of being 

exploitable whether or not the sun is 

shining.” 

Research at CFE is aimed toward finding 

practical solutions that improve the efficiency 

of electrical energy production 

from renewable sources. 

“If we use the right energy production 

sources, we can get renewable electricity 

that is cheap, environmentally friendly 

and efficient,” says Leijon. “This would 

mean that society and each of us would 

have money to spare for everything else 

we want to do.” 

In recent years, companies have 

been formed around three areas of CFE’s 

research to move technology from the 

laboratory to commercial products. The 

company Seabased is currently testing 

wave power off Lysekil, Sweden, and 

vertical-rotor wind power in Falkenberg, 

Sweden. Marine current generation is 

currently tested at Söderfors in Dalälven, 

Sweden, by Uppsala University. 

24 VINNOVA-NYTT OKTOBER 2010

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