Check out the exclusive interview with Michael Salter, the leader of Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative (SBII) and Senior Project Manager at RISE, and learn more about SBII in 2021 and tips on how to participate in an international cooperation.
Could you present RISE for the Brazilians?
RISE (Research Institute of Sweden) is an independent, non-profit, state-owned research institute that offers unique expertise and about 100 testbeds and demonstration facilities, instrumental in future-proofing technologies, products, and services. With 2.800 employees in six divisions: Bioeconomy and Health, Digital Systems, Material & Production, Safety and Transport, and Society Building, Rise supports and promotes all manner of innovative processes. The headquarters of RISE is in Gothenburg; however, we have employees located all over Sweden.
RISE drives advanced research and innovation in a broad spectrum of areas also in international collaboration with industry, academia, and the public sector, ensuring competitiveness of the business community and contributing to a sustainable society.
And what is your role at the SBII project?
My role is the leader of the Vinnova financed project, Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative. We have established a great team together with the organizations of RISE, IGNITE (https://ignitesweden.org/), CISB (http://www.cisb.org.br/), and the Office of Science and Innovation Brasília (OSI Brasilia) from the MEI - Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. We have a great team of partners that work to build bridges and strategic partnerships, offer networking opportunities with the goal of increasing the level of cooperative innovation between Sweden and Brazil.
I work with RISE internal personnel and its external project partners to implement the plans and activities of the project. My particular focus is to connect the two countries innovation networks by building networks between RISE and the Brazilian innovation institutes such as the SENAI and Embrapii. In this way we can connect the two countries innovation ecosystems to build bottom-up industry driven innovation.
How can SBII be important to Sweden and Brazil partnership?
The SBII project works to build a platform for facilitating Swedish-Brazilian innovation partnerships in key areas of strategic interest to both countries. Currently we have prioritized 4 areas for increased cooperative innovation: Bioeconomy, Health, Mining and Smart Cities. Within these areas, we have established specific multi-year action plans with specific goals and activities that focus on networking, matchmaking, and information sharing. With the goal of helping the building and formation of specific joint projects between our countries. SBII can be seen as a bridge or portal for industrial, academia and the public sector for giving practical support for international consortiums within the strategically prioritized areas.
What are SBII plans for 2021?
Our plans have had to be a little fluid and respectful of the current COVID-19 pandemic. But we are optimistically planning an exciting set of activities. In April, the Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova, together with Embrapii and SENAI, will open an opportunity to apply for funding of innovation projects within the strategic areas. In the same month RISE is planning the Webinar: “Understanding the Brazilian Market and Ecosystems” to mostly assist Swedish SMEs and researchers in navigating the innovation landscape between our two countries. In addition, in early May, IGNITE will offer a webinar focused on preparing Swedish startups for participating in matchmaking activities in 2021. Then, in the months of May and June, we are planning a series of webinars and matchmaking events focused specifically on the 4 strategic areas. And of course, in October and November we are planning Innovation Week events in both Sweden and Brazil. You can see the complete calendar of events on our website (www.sbii.org)!
What would be your most important tips/message to Swedish actors who will participate in the bilateral cooperation?
For Swedish actors, the most important message is to realize that the culture, political system, and communication channels are different in Brazil and patience is the rule. Also, the effect of the difference in size of the two countries should not be underestimated, especially in the case of Brazil as a developing economy. However, if the business goals are made clear and strong enough with benefits for all, solid relationships can be developed, then Brazilian entities make good long-term business and academic partners. Academic research in Brazil is world class in many areas and the innovation ecosystem is growing. There is huge opportunity for Swedish actors that want to work with Brazilian partners to develop innovations that serve the Brazilian market.
And what would be the message to Brazilian actors who will participate in the bilateral cooperation?
The first message for Brazilian actors is not too different from the Swedish message, for instance, that the cultural differences require patience and understanding. Also, the hemispherical differences must be accepted, while Brazil closes for the month of January for Carnival, Sweden shuts down in the month of July for its summer holidays. In the area of innovation, especially with the adoption of new technology, Sweden offers immense capabilities and opportunities for Brazilian companies to gain access to innovations for the Brazilian economy and citizens. In addition, the level of transparency and pragmatism with Swedish culture and politics make working with Swedish actors relatively straightforward. Sweden is a strong engineering country with the skills for organization and collaboration necessary to address complex societal challenges. Engagement with world-leading and innovative Swedish companies, large or small, offers Brazilian actors access to state-of-the-art innovations to serve their own markets, while at the same time offering a window to the EU market.
During the Sweden Brazil Innovation Weeks 2020, Vinnova, the Embassy of Sweden in Brazil, and several partners held the Co-Creation Days Sweden-Brazil on 11 and 12 November.
The Co-Creation Days promoted webinars and discussion panels focusing on Mission Oriented Research and Innovation Approach to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals" and "Co-Creation with System Innovation". Following four panels were developed focusing the future collaboration between Sweden and Brazil within bioeconomy, smart cities, health and mining.
Mission Oriented Research and Innovationx
Opening by Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology.
Speakers:
Joakim Appelquist, Vinnova
Caetano Penna, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Panel discussion about smart cities and mission oriented innovation
Moderator:
Christina Öhman, RISE
Speakers:
Östen Ekengren, CEO of Smart City Sweden
Staffan Filipsson, IVL
José Gustavo Gontijo, MCTI
Paulo José Pereira Curado, CPqD
David Taff, Siemens
Panel discussion about bioeconomy and mission oriented innovation
OBS: For technical reasons we do unfortunately miss the first 15 minutes of the webinar
Moderator:
Anna Wiberg, Program Director at BioInnovation
Speakers:
Sverker Danielsson, Program Director at Swedish Forest Industry
Johanna Mossberg, Vice President Biorefinery and Energy at RISE
Bruno Nunes, CGBE/MCTI
Thiago Falda, President of the Brazilian Bioinnovation Association ABBI
Eduardo Couto, LNBR/CNPEM
Panel discussion about Health and mission oriented innovation
Moderator:
Ebba Carbonnier, Portfolio Leader at Swelife
Speakers:
Peter Kjäll, RISE SICS
Isis Amer-Wåhlin, RISE
José Gustavo Gontijo, SEMPI/MCTI
Marco Bego, InovaHC
Luiz Messina, RUTE/RNP
Panel discussion about sustainable mining and mission oriented innovation
Moderator:
Karin Willquist, RISE
Speakers:
Jonas Ranggård, Head of Energy at Boliden
Jenny Greberg, Program Director at Swedish Mining Innovation
Claudio Schneider, CETEM
Mauricio Duarte, Vale S.A.
Eduardo Soriano, MCTI
SBII Digital Matchmaking is an opportunity to enhance the cooperation between Brazil and Sweden, especially for the institutions interested in participating in the Vinnova-Embrapii Call. The matchmaking will take place on Thursday 22nd of October, 09.00-12.00 Brazilian time and 14.00-17.00 Swedish time.
The website for the digital matchmaking event is open for registration: https://sbii-matchmaking-2020.b2match.io/. It’s important to register to the matchmaking site as soon as possible and to update the profile when registering. It’s also essential to write what you are looking for. Each participant will have the maximum of 8 meetings of 20 minutes each. The participant is free to book meetings that suit their needs.
The booking of the meetings will start on October 15.
The Matchmaking will start off with a short introduction and then the 1-to-1 meetings will go on as they are booked and scheduled by the participants. All the meetings will be done via the B2Match-website and no downloading is needed. Finally, the event is free of charge.
SBII interviewed Regina Summer, programme manager at Vinnova (Swedish Innovation Agency) to explain a little more about the Brazil-Sweden partnership and its initiatives.
Could you explain for the Brazilians what Vinnova is?
Vinnova is Sweden’s innovation agency, responsible for the movement of the country's innovative capacity, financing and coordinating different innovation initiatives.
How is Vinnova linked to Brazil?
Sweden and Brazil have signed a strategic partnership with the objective of increased collaboration and knowledge exchange, this on industry, research and development, cultural, social and political level. Vinnova’s role is to create new partnerships and develop innovation collaborations.
And what about SBII, a project funded by Vinnova since 2019?
The initiative’s purpose is to create and develop innovation collaborations between Swedish and Brazilian actors. CISB has the local network and important knowledge of the Brazilian innovation system. The joint platform is also composed by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), which brings several Swedish research centres under one institution and the Sweden’s Offices of Science and Innovation (OSI-Brasilia), present at the country's Embassy in Brasilia, which aims to strengthen Swedish connections with the rest of the world with regard to international strategic science, innovation and higher education.
Finally, what are the events that Vinnova will coordinate during IW2020?
Vinnova’s focus is to open up for innovation that makes a difference and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals are part of this. During our “Co-creation days” we want to raise the importance of mobilizing for system innovation. On the 11-12th of November we will together with the Embassy of Sweden in Brazil host seminars and panel discussions focusing on different ways to develop the collaboration within bioeconomy, smart cities, health and sustainable mining with MCTI (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil) and Brazil. More information on: inovacaosueciabrasil.com.br
Sweden Innovation Days will take place on 17-19 November. The goal of these days is to establish bilateral relationships between innovation hubs in Sweden and around the world, and to initiate more innovation collaborations in the AI area.
Sweden Innovation Days is an event that will put Sweden as a leading innovation country on the map. The program for the three-day event includes seminars, keynotes, workshops and a matchmaking session where Swedish startups and large companies will have the opportunity to meet new collaboration partners from 10 different countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and the USA.
“Beyond the covid19 crisis, we need a green and digital restart of our society. We will make Sweden the first fossil-free welfare country in the world and the best in the world in exploiting the opportunities of digitalisation. Digital solutions, especially within AI, play a key role in solving the climate challenge and creating a cohesive society”, says Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation of Sweden.
Sweden Innovation Days is organized by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova, AI Innovation of Sweden, Ignite Sweden, SISP -Swedish Incubators & Science Parks and the Swedish Energy Agency. The goal is to develop new forms of collaboration, initiate new innovation collaborations and attract talent to Sweden.