January, 2016

• 11 January

  How IoT will force traditional businesses to change

  

  The Internet of Things (IoT) will change everything. Existing businesses will be disrupted and their business models will be changed forever. Here’s why. Put yourself in the shoes of Philips, consumer products manufacturer. Philips makes dishwashers. One day, they’re going to throw a sensor and wifi chip into the newest dishwasher model and call it a “smart” appliance. We’ll have …

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• 8 January

  Innovation center for the disabled successfully funded

  

  Iceland’s Frumbjörg, started by Brandur Karlsson in cooperation with Sjálfsbjörg, the Icelandic national federation of the disabled, is an Innovation Center for Mobility. The initiative’s goal is to provide the disabled with the opportunities for employment and develop innovations within the healthcare and social sectors. The social entrepreneurship venture is meant to provide individuals with disabilities office space and guidance …

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• 7 January

  Vibecatch improves your company culture with 15 questions

  

  We caught up with  Juha Huttunen, co-founder of Vibecatch, and asked him a few questions about how to improve company culture – and profitability – with 15 questions. How did you come up with the idea for Vibecatch? We originally worked for a software company and wanted to measure, internally, how satisfied the employees were with the company and their …

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• 7 January

  Mistbase: Tech that makes IoT possible

  

  Mistbase is an upcoming IoT start-up that provides the technology that makes IoT possible, and is ready to take on the telecom giants. The company, based out of the Ideon Innovation Incubator in Lund, Sweden, was founded in mid-summer 2015 by long-time friends and colleagues Michal Stala and Magnus Midholt, who have a combined experience of over 20 years working …

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• 5 January

  How to talk to your Mom about AI

  

  2015 has seen an explosion in funding, interest in, and new product development around Artificial Intelligence. Facebook delivered M, Amazon gave us Echo, and Google launched TensorFlow, its open source machine learning library. A whole host of startups have also emerged, including x.ai, HyperScience, and Vicarious. There’s an interesting parallel to the web, circa 1998. At that time, tens of …

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• 5 January

  5 Swedes showcased in Forbes “30 under 30” 2016

  

  This week, Forbes released their annual “30 under 30” list of young talent, and 5 Swedes made the cut. The list, which totals 600 people in 20 different categories, is an annual compilation of young global talent.  The categories listed include e-commerce, enterprise tech, gaming, and finance. Although the Nordics (and Europe as a whole) were far outnumbered by the …

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• 5 January

  Turning garbage into good

  

  In May 2015, Adrien Vetterli came up with an idea sparked by a recently viral story from the Netherlands where a man decided to clean trash along a polluted waterway bit by bit, every day on his way to work. Collecting garbage from natural areas wasn’t anything new to him as he had participated in environmental reporting efforts in his …

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• 4 January

  Aim for improvement, not innovation

  

  Leaders and politicians are constantly touting the need for more innovation.  But is more innovation really what we need? Innovation moves us forward – as individuals, groups, businesses, and perhaps as a nation and civilization. At the same time – innovation is not mundane. Innovation is or leads to change. Major innovations such as the steam engine and the mobile …

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• 4 January

  Fintech 2015 – Bitcoin, crowdfunding, and cybersecurity

  

  Fintech companies have been a hot topic in the Nordics as startups rush to disrupt the traditional financial sector.  Here is a look back at some of the main fintech trends and Nordic companies to watch in 2015.   Bitcoin Bitcoin reached a big milestone in 2015, when it scored a major win in Europe by earning EU tax free …

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December, 2015

• 29 December

  Will emerging markets overtake the Nordics in innovation?

  

  While many consider innovation to be the province of Silicon Valley and other high-tech centers in developed markets around the world, the reality is very different.  A look at where intellectual property is being created gives us some indication that we have to broaden our horizons when we look at new innovations. By Ajay Krishnan, Roger Edgley, and Laura Geritz …

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