New Delhi: The 9th Annual India-Sweden Innovation Day 2022 concluded successfully on 27th October. The one-day event was jointly organized by the Embassy of India in Sweden and Latvia, the Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The event was a huge success with over 1,000 participants from around the world. Around 350 distinguished delegates attended Innovation Day 2022 in person, while more than 700 marked their presence online.
The main focus of the event was the implementation of partnership, the principles of co-financing, co-development, co-creation for mutual benefits and full use of complementary strengths.
The 9th Innovation Day in India and Sweden also featured comprehensive sessions with relevant stakeholders in areas such as sustainable urban development and safe transport, life science, energy, environment, health and science and technology.
As Industry 4.0 is at the forefront of driving sustainable industrial growth worldwide, the event placed significant emphasis on exploring its potential in the development and adoption of smart technologies for increased efficiency and socio-environmental sustainability.
Keynote speakers at the launch included Tanmaya Lal, Ambassador of India to Sweden; Martin Lundstedt, CEO, Volvo Group; Jitendra Singh, Indian Minister of Science and Technology; Peter Carlson, Founder and CEO, Northvolt; Anna Kinberg Batra, Chairman, Swedish Space Corporation and Senior Executive Advisor, Sweden-India Business Council and Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to India.
Speaking on the occasion, Sweden’s new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, Ebba Bush, said, “I am honored to open the 9th India-Sweden Innovation Day and as Minister for Energy Business and Industry. I look forward to future discussions on how to deepen cooperation between our countries. The relationship between India and Sweden is stronger than ever and the innovation partnership has indeed become a cornerstone of our bilateral cooperation. This collaboration aims to solve larger challenges in areas such as environmental transition, clean energy, health and transport.”
“India is fast becoming an innovation hub, climbing from 81st to 40th in the Global Innovation Index in just a few years. Also, Swedish companies have been operating in India for many decades, employing over 200 thousand people directly and 2.2 million indirectly. Swedish companies continue to invest and partner with the Indian research and innovation ecosystem,” added Busch.
Commenting on the strengthening of ties between the two nations, Tanmaya Lal, Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia said, “Innovation is the key not only to growth and sustainability but also to managing global challenges like pandemics and climate change. Sweden is a leader in innovation and sustainability, and India is also climbing rapidly in global innovation rankings. India is a reservoir of engineering, R&D and entrepreneurial talent. The scale and speed of innovative technological solutions for sustainable development now coming out of India offer enormous opportunities for collaboration. In this context, this annual series of days brought together researchers, companies and investors and government agencies. We thank all participants for joining this discussion and accelerating an inclusive green transition for our collective sustainable future.”
The India-Sweden association will not only help analyze and develop technologies and solutions that sustainably impact humanity in the best possible way, but also address health and safe transportation to security and better quality of life. by accelerating, innovating and solving between countries with the power of technology.
Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology said, “The continuation of this event for the last 8 years itself reflects an effective partnership between India and Sweden. Both governments and industries in both nations are developing a technology-driven ecosystem for a win-win situation.
“I am delighted that innovation cooperation is the fastest growing element in the world today, along with India-Sweden bilateral relations. In 2018, Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Sweden to deepen cooperation through a joint declaration on Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable Future. This partnership aims to increase the impact of bilateral cooperation in the field of innovative science and technology.
“The partnership highlights several areas including smart cities, transport energy, e-mobility, green technologies, new materials, space, circular economy, bio-waste economy, health and life sciences. The India-Sweden Innovation Partnership connects institutions, R&D industry and also creates entrepreneurs to address global challenges in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.
Speaking about reducing carbon footprints, Håkan Kingstedt, Chairman of the Sweden-India Business Council said, “Accelerating the green transition and taking the innovation partnership to the next level is the most important agenda of this association. We are here today to tie another knot, taking the India-Sweden friendship forward. Sweden is also a leader in innovation in Europe. We are in a transition mode to reduce our carbon footprints and it is quite interesting to see our industries redeveloping all over Sweden. From green steel technology, hydrogen storage, electric battery systems to electric buses, cars and new traffic systems, Sweden is an exciting place to be right now. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish both parties in this association.
Commenting on the successful completion of the 9th edition of Innovation Day 2022, Jan Teslef, Ambassador of Sweden to India, said, “The huge and powerful political administrations, agencies, corporate sector and academic sector at the event today were excellent examples of Swedish -Indian cooperation. We are moving towards a relationship that will be led by both sides. We have evaluated our achievements and now, with the help of Indian organizations and the Indian government, we are exploring the possibilities of built-up areas for future cooperation. Our purpose places a strong emphasis on innovation and sustainability. The aim of this event is to create projections on how we can bridge these alliances and facilitate cooperation between Indian partners and Swedish investors.
Emphasizing the importance of sustainable solutions, Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, said: “As transport innovation is a long-term goal for both Sweden and India, we are moving in the direction of being significantly more sustainable. This is an important factor for prosperity. Infrastructure, transport and logistics are essential for the effective implementation of the plan.
“We are aware that GDP per capita and economic growth of a developing society are closely related to these factors. Our aim is to provide long-term solutions to development problems such as more efficient transport and infrastructure logistics. The two nations also agreed to fund joint innovation projects in AI, Health, Clean Tech, Smart Cities and Safe Mobility,” Lundstedt added.
Commenting on the strengthening of India-Sweden ties, Robin Sukhya, President of the Sweden-India Business Council SIBC, said, “The India-Sweden Innovation Day 2022 is a testament to the commitment of both nations to promote sustainable industrial development and the green transition through technological achievements. As the world today grapples with climate change, it is imperative that governments and industry collaborate strategically and promote innovation and technology adoption to ensure green economic development. The India-Sweden Innovation Day serves as a stepping stone in this direction to strengthen government-industry collaboration for a green transition.”
Elaborating on the importance of green transition and the importance of strategic events like Innovation Day in India, Sweden, Ludwig Lindström, Head of the Innovation Accelerator, said, “The India-Sweden Innovation Accelerator has been in existence for 10 years, reflecting our commitment to sustainability and green transition . This is continuously strengthened through the flow of new companies, industries and academic partners joining our initiative. We at Sweden Business Center work constantly with organizations like CII to ensure a high impact value to reflect our commitment to a green transition and sustainable economic development.”
Commenting on the Index collaboration, Per-Olof Marklund, CTO, SAAB, Business Area Aeronautics, said: “The defense industry is a bit conservative, but the technology that the fighter jet needs today is more readily available on the open market within the defense industry . Collaborating with start-ups and finding ideas that can be used in the defense industry and applying them to our industry is the key to success in the future. Index itself is about collaborating with three other companies that are significantly different from our industry. We have a logistics industry, an agricultural company and a defense company.
“We don’t have much in common on paper, but if you look at the idea that comes, then we have a lot in common and we always get new ideas from each other and encourage each other in the process,” added Per-Olof Marklund.
The one-day event recognized the importance of various aspects of climate change and both sides outlined concrete actions to accelerate the transition to a greener economy by leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies and artificial intelligence.
In addition, the two countries held extensive discussions and used technology to develop climate-friendly solutions. The summit also focused on promoting rapid economic growth and dealing with the residual effects of the pandemic.
This year’s summit provided an opportunity to discuss the international situation and response to sustainability challenges, as well as regional and global issues of mutual concern, including climate action, technological development and economic growth.
The event also highlighted the need to work rigorously to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals with innovation, radically improved technologies, business models and work practices to bring about transformative change.
Sanju Malhotra, CEO, India Unlimited, provided additional information about the 9th Innovation Day in India and Sweden 2022, saying, “The 9th Innovation Day brought together eminent industry leaders from various verticals to network and co-create ideas and solutions to drive a green transition through digital transformation, green technologies, supporting government policies and extensive research on the benefits of a sustainable and green future for the industry.”
The theme of the event was “Accelerating the Green Transition of India and Sweden”, under which the two countries discussed the prospects of accelerating the green transition through innovation and by harnessing the power of climate-friendly technologies, next-generation digitalization. India and Sweden Innovation Day 2022 was organized by India Unlimited.