KISTA, Stockholm
STOCKHOLM AS THE MOST WIRED CITY
Stockholm has in the past few years experienced a gigantic boom in Telecommunications, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment, (TIME-sector). Sweden is top-scoring in practically all IT-relevant areas, e.g. Internet usage, cellular phones, telephone lines per capita and this year the science park in Kista north of Stockholm was ranked as no. 2 in the world next to Boston and Israel under the title "leading IT areas". Exceeding 70% cellular phone penetration, followed by a 93% internet usage among those with computer access, Stockholm has become the most telecom savvy and wired city in the world. Internet services and innovation in e-commerce solutions provided by local companies further contributes to Stockholm's international reputation.
Stockholm is also an international centre for design, fashion, music and theatre. This development is supported by The Interactive Institute - a multidisciplinary research institute of a new kind within the field of digital media. The research activities of the Institute lie in the interface between arts, technology, science and entrepreneurship.
EMPHASIS ON TECHNOLOGY
This development draws its momentum from two factors, on the one hand the extensive innovation supporting infrastructure with universities and technology providers and on the other hand the dynamic industrial growth within sectors such as telecommunication, information technology, media and entertainment referred to, bioscience, finance and environment.
The Stockholm region has become a major centre for the TIME sector. Of the 100,000 companies in the Stockholm region almost 25,000 belong to this sector. The companies within the TIME sector employ one fifth of the overall private sector employees in Stockholm, i.e. 130,000 persons. More than 60% of those employed in the TIME sector in Sweden work in the Stockholm region and comprises more than 1,600 such companies.
The Swedish health care industry is also internationally renowned for its indigenous, industrial, and academic health care base and offers a unique competitive environment the for private business and the academic world collaboration. The Stockholm-Uppsala region including Södertälje is at the centre of the Swedish health care industry and one of Europe's largest industrial health care clusters with 102 medical device companies, 24 biotechnology companies and 54 pharmaceuticals groups.
INFRASTRUCTURES PROMOTING INNOVATION START - UP
There are altogether 20 centres for higher education in the region including the internationally outstanding Arts Colleges, The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute (Med. University).
There are three science parks in the region:
- NOVUM,
- Stockholms Teknikhöjd
- and Kista Science Park.
The NOVUM research park is dedicated to biomedical research and development, providing support for start-ups in the form of business advice and incubator facilities. Some 300 people are working in Novum and ten innovative enterprises are located here. Stockholms Teknikhöjd supports the commercialisation of research results and business ideas by offering office space and information infrastructure and giving patent, licensing, marketing and financing advice.
Presently, roughly 40 innovative companies are members of Stockholms Teknikhöjd.
Kista Science Park, with more than 700 companies and 28,000 employees is located just north of Stockholm and has developed into one of the most important IT-clusters in Europe.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING MEASURES
The general level of education is high. More than 30% of the population has an academic degree. A number of initiatives were started, increasing the competency of workers and the unemployed. The possibilities for further education are well utilised, in 1998 some 75,000 people participated in higher education in Stockholm. Courses in entrepreneurship are in many cases a part of the educational programmes arranged by public schools and institutions of higher learning in Stockholm.
STOCKHOLM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION INFRASRUCTURE
Besides the universities described above some prominent academic players are the 15 industrial research institutes located in Stockholm. The institutes work in close co-operation with Swedish companies on R & D projects but also put much effort into facilitating and fostering start-ups and new firms. More than two-thirds of R & D expenditure is within the private industry. These are mainly development oriented R & D, while basic research is being financed by the government and carried out at public universities. About one third of all research students in the country study in Stockholm.
In Kista the Electrum Foundation was established as early as the 80s to create an arena for interaction between the city, industry and academia to promote the development of the computer and electronics industry. Electrum's main task is to connect industrial and academic R & D for synergy and to assist companies in finding competence and useful contacts within the universities.
The development of new enterprises is also a matter of interest for the Innovation Relay Centres, IRC, whose core task is international technology transfer. The network consists of 150 offices in 15 European countries of which two are located in Stockholm. The IRC network is a service for companies, especially for SMEs.