White Spaces Innovation in Sweden - Innovation policy for ... - Vinnova

WHITE SPACES INNOVATION IN SWEDENnew torrefaction unit to extract three green ethanol products from black liquor to beused in varieties of gasification. Overall Processum funds 50-60 projects, most of whichare taken on to innovation assessment stage.3.4.6 Region Västra GötalandAs noted, Grand Challenges are presumed to be future markets. RDI strategy has beenstable in recent years with both cluster building and horizontal cross-cluster cooperationsin focus. A hierarchy of strategic levels from Europe 2020, Innovation Union,Smart Specialisation, Swedish National Strategy and regional cluster-platformsinforms strategic thinking. However smart specialisation is found unsatisfactory for itsover-centralised control emphasis which is seen as likely to hamper competition and atworst reproduce a „Soft Soviet‟ model that dictated Romania should specialise in potatoesand Bulgaria in adding machines. This is treated especially warily in former SovietBloc countries and Slovenia that find even DG Regio and DG Research in conflict overregional Cohesion versus Excellence issues in regard to regional specialisation. Thecompromises of „Staircase to Excellence‟ and „Sustainable Specialisation Platforms‟ areseen as a somewhat patronising „fix‟ of some conceptual confusions on the part of theCommission. Using regional clusters as tools for „innovation‟ in the manner that GöteborgBIO interacts with Smart Textiles over biotextiles or with Processum over cottonsubstitute inputs is emphasised as part of the region‟s post-cluster approach to innovationmanagement. The collaboration around „Sustainable Green Transport‟ is used tobring together expertise from the auto cluster, renewable fuels, „green shipping‟ (aTillväxtverket initiative) in a similar manner. Regional innovation to meet Grand Challengeshas already been described as following the „Iconic Projects‟ methodologyframed by policy statements and strategies promoting „Smart Energy‟, „Fossil Fuel free2030‟ and „Sustainable Cities‟ in the „green‟ area as examples.Göteborg BIOThis VinnVäxt cluster has the difficult task of stimulating innovative projects leading tostart-up business activity supported by seed corn and incubator resources in a periodwhen risk investment in biotechnology worldwide has been n the doldrums. Howevertwo things have happened recently to moderate the rather grim scene. First, medicaltechnology firms in the cluster have grown and spin-outs have occurred from them,especially related to dental implant technologies from Nobel BioCare which spawnedAstraTec and another which was acquired by Australian firm CoClear. In biomaterials,Sandvik Sweden‟s materials specialist and supplier of specialist medical technologieshas engaged with cluster research to develop its steel and ceramics expertise into replacementjoints and surgical needles, for example. Another piece of good news is thatAstraZeneca will consolidate its closures at Lund and Charnwood (UK) at the GothenburgR&D site. The second elements of good news are the aforementioned horizontal70