The innovation platform Future by Lund lives on in a new form

In the new economic association, Lund Municipality, Lund University and Lund's business community are represented. The organisation will be monitored by, among others, Vinnova.

- It will be interesting to see how the Future of Lund develops. We still have an accompanying researcher as a resource in the project to see what this means,” says Göran Andersson at Vinnova. 2023 marks a step for Future by Lund and for us at Vinnova it is important that we are involved, both to learn from it and to contribute to the daring to experiment and develop.

Future by Lund will, just as before, explore and build methodology, knowledge and capability within the field of smart and sustainable cities. The organizations that are members of the association will work together to create shared solutions to societal challenges in areas where no single organization holds its own mandate. In Future by Lund, all partners and members have access to a broad network spanning many different fields within local government, business and academia, as well as with national and international innovation actors.

- Through Future by Lund, we increase the capacity and capability of Lund's innovation ecosystem to undertake large-scale joint initiatives and to form larger local, national and international project teams. Our focus is on doing, executing and delivering tangible results, says Peter Kisch, Executive Director of Future by Lund.

Future by Lund will act in the space between actors and organizations to operationally drive and execute projects and activities that these actors cannot pursue on their own. Through this, the actors can build an increased capacity to more rapidly launch innovative projects and to initiate testing and demonstration opportunities for new solutions (by establishing test beds, demonstrators and living labs). Future by Lund is a neutral catalyst for societal and business development in collaboration, and will contribute to creating meeting points for dialogue between different actors and organizations. The innovation platform also works to bring research into practical use within business and society. (Please see our quotes from some of the participating organizations below!)

Per Eriksson, former Rector of Lund University and former Director General of Vinnova, is Chairman of the Board. The Board consists of representatives from Lund Municipality, Lund University and the business community. Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth is CEO and Peter Kisch Chief Operating Officer. In the cooperation around FBL there have been about 120 project partners.

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Voices of members and project partners

What is the benefit of Future in Lund? We put the question to some of the organizations that are part of the cooperation on the innovation platform. This is how the municipality, the university and some representatives from the business community respond:

Mats Pettersson, CEO, Sensative

“Sensative works with digitalization to enable cities to create smart innovation to become more automated, more climate-friendly, to reduce their costs and to create new digital services for citizens and tenants. As an example, we have developed the software platform Yggio in collaboration with Future by Lund. Yggio serves as a central IoT platform and creates new opportunities for innovation for the smart city. For Sensative, there is a lot to gain from having an innovation platform like Future by Lund in the city, because there will be a wonderful dynamic between an organic innovation platform where people and organizations can collaborate to create new smart applications for the city and our open software platform for these applications. Together we have already established Lund as Sweden's perhaps leading smart city and I look forward to seeing all the new innovations that we and all smart startups in Lund can create.

Emeli Adell, Business Area Manager, Trivector Traffic

"The most important thing for us at Trivector is that the collaboration that has existed continues, becomes formalised and evolves. It has been an exciting period developing Future by Lund, and now it is time for the next phase, which can lead to something even greater as we all create something together. Even before, there was a Triple Helix involving local government, academia and business, but it will become even clearer when Future by Lund stands on its own two feet. For Trivector, Future by Lund means new contacts, more opportunities and a forum for discussion, for example, being able to work together in an unpretentious way. This will breed development, collaborations and new projects, as we will all be able to share our knowledge and learn from one another."

Markus Lai, Regional Manager Engineering & Training, AXIS

“Axis is looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Future by Lund to challenge and explore opportunities to shape and contribute to a smart sustainable society through innovation. Together, we have already seen great opportunities to influence the behavior of residents and visitors in our city through information and awareness,” says Markus Lai.

PM Sjöström, Digitalisation Expert, AFRY

“Future by Lund is a unique platform with a network where you can create new contacts and get help to drive development. For us at AFRY, it's not just about selling, but also about making an impact and moving for the good of the earth. We want to create projects together with the community around us and Future by Lund is an excellent place to start with world-class actors and project managers who are good at creating connections. We also have the opportunity to listen to what is happening and can add value to the FBL ourselves. I have worked with the innovation platform for many years and can see that in the future we can be part of changing and accelerating even more — together — and make Lund the best in Sweden at sustainability.

Therese Fällman, Head of Department for Sustainable Growth, Lund Municipality

“The municipality of Lund is looking forward to benefiting from the increased development power of the economic association. And to continue, together with business and the university, to shape an even better Lund for the future."

Lisa Thelin, Head of Department LU Collaboration, Lund University

"Lund University has a long and valuable collaboration with the City of Lund. The more complex the challenges that society needs to face, the more important it is that we can continue to work together to create clear spaces for collaboration. Future by Lund is a great way for us in Lund to preserve Lund's value as an innovation ecosystem and to create new collaborations between academia, the city and business."