Mid Sweden University is taking a new step to bridge the gap between academia and business through its innovative 'Border Crossers' initiative. The aim is to help ensure that research leads to more new business ideas while promoting innovation and sustainable development in the regions.
- "To create better conditions for sustainable growth, we see a need for a new function to help new ideas from academia to be more easily implemented in existing or start-up businesses. The new function - a so-called "border crosser" - will focus on the interface between the university and other societal actors working to promote innovation," says Hans-Erik Nilsson, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Business Affairs at Mid Sweden University.
Therefore, Mid Sweden University has procured two new services - and the procurement was won by BizMaker AB in Sundsvall and Peak Innovation AB in Östersund. BizMaker is Västernorrland's innovation actor and works with innovation and business development for people with new ideas, startups, established businesses and public organizations. Peak Innovation is the Jämtland/Härjedalen equivalent.
- "We have to be humble and we can't assume that all researchers want to utilize their research by building a company based on the idea or innovation they have developed. Therefore, we should not try to make entrepreneurs out of researchers, but instead match entrepreneurs with researchers' ideas," says Matts Nyman, CEO of BizMaker.
In addition to the goal of creating more benefits for society through research, there are other advantages to working together.
- "I am very pleased that we are strengthening cooperation across regional borders between us innovation actors and that this is taking place via our joint university. Together we will develop new working methods and we know that we have many common points of contact that will benefit from sharing knowledge and contacts," says Anna Eklöf, CEO of PEAK Innovation.
Miun Innovation, the university's innovation center, will be the hub of the university's work as the new function is now established in both Östersund and Sundsvall.
-The initiative provides a wider range of ideas to work with. It also gives our students a unique opportunity to improve their skills in different subjects. But I also see how interdisciplinary collaborations can be stimulated by a researcher in one department getting help to utilize their idea by a student from another program, for example, says Sven Wadman, innovation advisor at Mid Sweden University.
The initiative has also attracted the attention of SISP - the national trade association for incubators and science parks, which believes that the collaboration can become a good example for more universities and innovation actors to follow.
-It is critical for Sweden to transform more research and knowledge into value, and one of the absolute best ways to do that is to create new companies that can sell new innovative solutions on the market. It is both important and courageous of Mid Sweden University to seek new ways to achieve this together with Peak Innovation and BizMaker. The method that will be developed within the framework of the collaboration can become a facet of how this is done in practice, and we look forward to both following and disseminating the results at the national level," says Stina Lantz, CEO of SISP-Swedish incubators and Science Parks.
Contact
Matts Nyman, CEO BizMaker
070 604 00 52, matts.nyman@bizmaker.se
Sven Wadman, Innovation Advisor Mid Sweden University
010-1428584, sven.wadman@miun.se
