From industrial crisis to an innovation ecosystem
Norrköping's transformation became an early practical laboratory for what Jakob Lindvall would today call system innovation. The question was how an industrial city could develop new industries, new relationships and a new direction.
A new direction for Norrköping
Ericsson's extensive closure of operations in Norrköping dealt a serious blow to the city's industrial base. At the same time, a shared ambition emerged: to develop a knowledge-based city with new industries and stronger connections between the university, businesses and the public sector.
The challenge went beyond replacing lost jobs. Research needed to connect with entrepreneurship. New companies needed an environment in which to grow. Actors needed to find a shared direction and build capabilities that did not yet exist.
From business premises to a role in the wider system
As CEO of Norrköping Science Park, NOSP, Jakob helped develop the organisation from a relatively informal shared business premises operation into a science park with a clear profile, incubation, cluster development and active innovation communities.
The work involved mobilising actors, connecting resources and developing joint initiatives. The science park needed to create value in the relationships between organisations as well as through its own services.
Two areas of strength with room to grow
In visualisation, research, business, entrepreneurship and the city's development ambitions were brought together. This work became part of the foundation later expressed in Visualiseringscenter C.
In printed electronics, the work focused on building a cluster around an emerging technology. Printed Electronics Arena became a practical setting in which researchers, institutes, businesses and public sector actors could develop relationships and shared capacity.
Experience that lives on
NOSP provided practical experience of how change emerges when several actors begin to act together. A shared direction needed to be combined with concrete experiments, relationships and an organisation that could sustain the work over time.
This experience continues to inform ALDAB Innovation's work today: system change needs to be both understood and put into practice. Theory helps us see what is happening. Practice shows which assumptions hold up.
Working on a challenge that extends beyond a single organisation?
An innovation programme, a project portfolio or an ecosystem ready for its next step. Let's discuss the challenges you face.
jakob@aldab.se