Sweden: Culture of Creativity.

Sweden has a long tradition of research and innovation. Carlos Linnaeus, J. J. Berzelius, and C. W Scheele were just a few of the scientific giants of the 18th century. One of the foremost scientists and innovators of the 19th century was Alfred Nobel, whose legacy is the Nobel Prize.

Sweden has placed strong emphasis on research and development and has always nurtured close relations between industry and the academic world. Today - in response to the quickening pace and growing globalization of R&D projects - increasingly specialized university incubators, science parks and new universities contribute to boosting innovation and the migration of research ideas into commercial applications. In few other countries is the process from innovation to industrial application and launch on a test market as short as in Sweden.

Thus, Sweden has become a world leader in two of the technology areas most likely to shape the 21st century: wireless technologies and biotechnology. A foreign direct investment boom in Sweden since the mid 1990's is the external recognition of Sweden's position within these important global growth sectors.

Sweden has one of the largest biotech industries in Europe (#1 on a per capita basis). Sweden spends a higher percentage of its GDP on R&D than any other country in the world including the U. S. and Japan. Most Bioscience activities are concentrated in six regions: Stockholm, Uppsala, Goteborg, Linkoping, Umea, and the MalmoLund area in the south. Pioneering scientific work at Swedish medical universities and research institutes (Karolinska, Uppsala, Lund, and Sahlgrenska) has lead to groundbreaking discoveries, inspiring the creation and successful development of life sciences and companies such as Pharmacia and Astra (today Astra Zeneca). Some 250 biotech start-ups are now active in the Uppsala region alone.

Immunology, neurobiology, molecular biology & genetics, microbiology, biochemistry & biophysics, cell & developmental biology, and applied biotechnology & biophysics, are areas of medicine where Sweden is among the top three nations in the world measured by the number of published scientific papers per capita. Moreover, Sweden is a source of original technology in all these fields. Following the recent decision by President Bush that US federal financing will be limited to research on existing stem cell lines, the National Institutes of Health, NIH, published a list of lines in laboratories around the world. The NIH lists 64 stem cell lines, with more being in Swedish laboratories than anywhere else in the world.

Sweden's success as an innovative nation stands on a number of pillars, including a stable political context and sound macroeconomic policies. In addition, since the 1990s, Sweden has engaged in a number of activities to improve the microeconomic climate. A more dynamic competitive environment has emerged through the deregulation of telecom, transportation, energy and media infrastructure, privatization schemes and the opening of financial and currency markets. Improvements in the intensity of local competition, availability of venture capital, company innovativeness and quality of scientific and engineering talent, have contributed to strengthen the position.

There are a number of clusters spread across Sweden, several of which have distinguished themselves as world leading areas of development within biotechnology, information technology, microelectronics, and a range of other highly specialized areas.

The chain from innovation over to industrial application and launch on a test market is short. Sweden has long experience of inter-disciplinary, cross-border research and a reputation for project management skills.

In short, in Sweden most things required for transforming an idea into commercialization are in place. Sweden "shows a booming economy bubbling with entrepreneurial activity" (FORBES, March 2001). Add to this an excellent infrastructure, a well-educated workforce and an overall cost of doing business lower than of its main industrial competitors, and Sweden is prepared for strong growth in the coming decade.