Luleå University of Technology’s innovation system is now among the top five in Sweden, a result of a strategic collaboration that started in Austin, Texas, according to Pär Johansson, head of the innovation support system.
The Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova, has graded all the Swedish innovation systems. Luleå University of Technology received 4 out 5, and is now amongst the leading five universities in the nation. The motivation for this rating is stated that it is “due to a refined process with clear methodology”.
“When we were looking to rebuild our commercialization process in 2012, we benchmarked multiple European universities, Stanford University, MIT and Harvard – but we knew that we had struck gold when we came to Austin. Since the start of our collaboration we have regularly sent our business developers to Texas in order to become better at commercialization. Based on these experiences, we have we been able to redesign our complete innovation support system,” said Pär Johansson, head of the innovation support system.
Since 2013, the university’s innovation support system has collaborated with IC² institute at The University of Texas at Austin, renowned for their Texan-style, straight-forward, no-nonsense approach to job and wealth creation through technology business commercialization and innovation.
“The IC² Institute of The University of Texas at Austin has as central to its mission the development of world-class innovation ecosystems, targeting job and wealth creation from disruptive technology,” said Dr. Robert Peterson, Associate Vice President of Research and Director of the IC² Institute. “Research and education are drivers of that mission. We are proud to participate with Luleå University of Technology in the design of an innovation environment that has achieved such high accolades. We look forward to continued collaboration with LTU and the Luleå region.”
Pär Johansson says that he heartily supports the initiative “Luleå loves Austin” by Luleå Municipality and encourages others to find their opportunities in Austin.
“We are constantly developing our innovation support system, and will strengthen our collaboration with the IC² Institute further as a part of our mission to become Sweden’s most efficient and productive commercialization system, serving as a role model for other innovation ecosystems around the world,” said Johansson.
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Affärsutevecklarna Lisa Braafnäs and Johan Bergström from LTU Business AB receive their certificates at the IC² Institute’s course on commercialization and innovation support.