Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT

2.4 SWEDEN
2.4.1 VINNVÄXT
Name of program
Country
Contact details
Internet
VINNVÄXT
Sweden
Vinnova
Göran Andersson
Program Manager
Mäster Samuelsgatan 56
SE-101 58 Stockholm
Tel.: +46 8 473 30 83
Email: goran.andersson@vinnova.se
www.vinnova.se/en/activities/vinnvaxt
2.4.1.1 Objectives and Rationale of the Program
The overall objective of the VINNVÄXT program is to promote
sustainable growth in regions by developing competitive
research and innovation environments within specific
growth fields. Cutting-edge competence of the environments
shall be strengthened through needs-driven funding
of R&D and strategic efforts for the development of effective
regional innovation systems. Based on a competition a limited
number of regions have been chosen for support. Each
winner shall become internationally competitive in its field
of expertise within 10 years.
To become internationally competitive the following operational
objectives have to be achieved in each region:
• Research and education in focused growth areas in the
region are developed according to high international
standards.
• Interaction and mutual learning between different
competences and organizations (companies, R&D institutes,
colleges, universities, etc.) is effective.
• The infrastructure of the innovation system in the region
is developed so that all its components are of a high
standard both individually and when seen as a whole.
This requires co-ordinated measures and investments
from the private, public and research sectors and from
the political sphere. Such measures may include support
for new spin-off/hive-off companies from research
institutes or companies, risk capital, technical and competence
brokering, networks between companies, joint
marketing activities, the recruitment of cutting-edge
competence and the provision of housing, land, premises,
communications etc.
In the context of the program regions are not understood
as “administrative regions” (e.g. a municipality or a county),
but as “functional regions”. It is the geography and not administrative
boundaries that matters in terms of the development
of social capital and confidence between relevant
stakeholders in regions. In the practical implementation of
the program this approach applied both to the support of
municipality-based initiatives (e.g. the cluster Uppsala BIO)
and large regional-based initiatives (e.g. the cluster Process
IT Innovations). Funding may be used for a wide array of
projects and activities depending on the existing capabilities
and shortcomings in the regional system of innovation. 41
Following the selection of three winning initiatives in 2003
and further five in 2004, in 2008 four - in contrast to the initiatives
that had been selected until then - more embryonic
innovation systems were selected under a special call for
proposals entitled “Early-Stage Innovation Systems”.
2.4.1.2 Target Group of the Program
Target group of the program are regional-based consortia
including companies, R&D actors and public institutions
(triple helix approach).
41 Vinnova, 2010: VINNVÄXT at the Halfway Mark – Experiences and Lessons Learned, p. 7
93