Editorial Newsletter #1 2024

In many ways, 2023 was a fantastic year for Dalarna Science Park. We carried out a number of forward-looking activities to create new opportunities for Dalarna's
continued growth. Now we are taking the next step to further boost the region's companies with a focus on innovation, sustainability and internationalization.

Dalarna Science Park's main mission is to act as the innovation arena for the whole of Dalarna. Every day we help innovative companies to grow and we are an obvious meeting point for the entire region's innovative power. In 2023, the successful work continued with, among other things, our business incubator where we support startups to achieve both rapid and long-term success in the market. I am pleased to note that the companies that have so far completed the incubator program together had a turnover of over SEK 1 billion in 2022. An impressive figure that really highlights that success can be created through regional support where there is room to collaborate, learn from each other and dare to invest.

Impressed by the knowledge and strong will

Dalarna Innovation Days was held for the first time by Dalarna Science Park over four days in October and was a great success. The aim of the event is to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and increase knowledge about sustainability in Dalarna. "I can see that there is impressive knowledge in Dalarna and a strong desire to increase the level of innovation. The days gathered around 1,500 participants to the 22 specially composed program points in Borlänge, Falun and Leksand and online. The program was filled with useful new knowledge, inspiring panel discussions and international guest speakers. Dalarna Innovation Days will become an annual event where people can meet to be inspired and create new ideas for the development of Dalarna.

"The winner of the future will be the one who understands the importance of cooperation, learning from each other and daring to invest"

We need to tell the world

With its own concept, Dalarna Talks, Dalarna Science Park was once again present at Almedalen at the end of June. This is entirely in line with our ambition to talk more openly about the fantastic development taking place in our region in a larger arena. Dalarna is Sweden's next growth region and we therefore need bold initiatives to respond to that development. We simply want to become even better at communicating our potential to the outside world and sowing new seeds for the future together with both national and international partners. With curious listeners and regional representatives in Visby, we filled our tent at the panel debate "Time to start talking about Dalarna - Sweden's next growth region". When I left Gotland after a few intense days, my feeling was that we had actually achieved something really important together for Dalarna's continued growth. It is together that we create the future we will have!

24 hours to find solutions to business challenges

Cooperation is key for Dalarna Science Park. A good example of how we improve the exchange of innovation across generations is our collaboration with Dalarna University. Here, the goal is to identify and utilize new knowledge and innovative ideas from academia and research as well as individuals. During the year, together with Dalarna University, we conducted the 24h Innovation Challenge, an idea competition in which university students spend 24 hours finding solutions to concrete challenges for real companies in Dalarna. This year's client was Hitachi Energy, which wanted innovative solutions on how the company will succeed in attracting and recruiting 1,000 engineers to Ludvika. The winning entry consisted of a digital social platform that can serve as a recruitment engine as well as a training portal. 24h Innovation Challenge is a very positive initiative where business, academia and publicly funded promoters work together to strengthen Dalarna's innovative power.

Innovation Report 2023, which you can read here on the website, is based on the digital survey - the Innovation Panel - that Dalarna Science Park conducts annually among stakeholders in Dalarna. In 2023, we conducted the Innovation Panel three times with different themes; innovation, sustainability and internationalization. The Innovation Report 2023 summarizes the results of these and gives examples of initiatives, projects and programs that have been implemented. Everything to support Dalarna's business community in the best possible way. With a close dialog with the outside world, I look very positively at the future, where Dalarna Science Park will continue to be an important enabler of innovation in a sustainable Dalarna.

I think most people are used to the fact that we live in a changing world. But as a consequence, companies in the region have an increasing need for support in innovation, sustainability and internationalization - precisely the focus areas of Dalarna Science Park. I therefore look forward with excitement to our continued work to ensure continued positive growth in Dalarna.

Finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people in Dalarna who made 2023 such a fantastic year. No one mentioned - no one forgotten. Above all, I want to thank all the incredibly talented employees at Dalarna Science Park. It is you who made it possible!

Angelica Ekholm,
CEO Dalarna Science Park

Innovation Report 2023

This is an article from Dalarna Science Park's Innovation Report 2023.

Read the full Innovation Report 2023