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innovation for growth:<br />
Real change in a<br />
project with big goals<br />
<strong>IVA</strong>'s multi-year Innovation for Growth<br />
project wants to help Sweden be better<br />
at turning knowledge into innovations.<br />
We already know what we can<br />
do better thanks, not least, to the<br />
work of the Government's Globalisation<br />
Council, but now we need to<br />
make it a reality.<br />
many in swedish industry, at universities<br />
and within organisations such as vinnova and<br />
ivA have innovation knowledge and experience,<br />
but knowledge and analysis need to be<br />
turned into real decisions and integrated into<br />
new attitudes and methods.<br />
The steering committee for Innovation for<br />
Growth consists of leaders in the public and<br />
private sectors and in academia, and many<br />
more people are involved in the project in<br />
other ways. This will help to ensure that the<br />
proposals that emerge will quickly have an<br />
impact. Innovation for Growth aims to identify<br />
the critical weaknesses in our ability to create<br />
innovations, i.e. products, processes and<br />
services that can be sold. how much does<br />
this depend on financial support systems<br />
or access to capital, and how much on how<br />
schools educate young people to think like<br />
entrepreneurs? how much innovation is lost<br />
because we are too afraid to fail and what<br />
concrete decisions can change this?<br />
marcus Wallenberg, chairman of the steering<br />
committee, says that he has had many<br />
positive reactions to the broad impact of the<br />
project. he believes there is a real chance of<br />
making a difference with the individuals who<br />
are involved and with a political sphere that is<br />
very aware of the fact that innovation is critical<br />
for the swedish economy which is in need<br />
of a boost over the next few years.<br />
The intention of Innovation for Growth is to<br />
act as soon as a proposal is put forward. The<br />
intention is not to work quietly until the project's<br />
conclusion in 2012 and then present a<br />
bulky report. instead, concrete proposals will<br />
be presented right from the very first year.<br />
A flow of new proposals like this will make<br />
it possible to change opinions and attitudes.<br />
The hope is that innovation and its concrete<br />
aspects will be at the top of the agenda, both<br />
during the 2010 election year and in the years<br />
that follow.<br />
At the kick-off meeting for Innovation for<br />
Growth at the beginning of september <strong>2009</strong>,<br />
maud olofsson, minister for enterprise and<br />
energy, said an important change that needs<br />
to be made is to increase contacts between<br />
22<br />
02<br />
03<br />
04<br />
creative industries and traditional ones. instead<br />
of staying within their own sectors, they<br />
should make use of each other's resources<br />
to grow in both directions. The minister also<br />
stressed that she is grateful that ivA has taken<br />
the initiative for this project and agreed that<br />
the concept of innovation needs to be broadened.<br />
several times during the autumn, ivA President<br />
Björn o. nilsson expressed his strong<br />
belief in Innovation for Growth.<br />
"fifteen years from now harvard Business<br />
school will come to stockholm to study what<br />
we did at the beginning of the 2010s," Björn<br />
o. nilsson said.<br />
01<br />
01 maud olofsson<br />
02 marcus Wallenberg<br />
03 Björn o. nilsson<br />
04 stefan löfvén,<br />
gunilla von Platen,<br />
johan hernmarck and<br />
göran sandberg
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