Swedish – Australian Innovation, Technology & Design Summit 2022, University of Technology Sydney

Sweden has a long history of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. There has also been a long-term focus on education and research. At the Innovation Summit the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce (SACC) together with Industry Partners, the Embassy of Sweden, Business Sweden and the University of Technology Sydney presented Swedish and Australian innovation, technology, and design. Sweden is for example a leader in digitalisation and sustainability, which are key areas for organisations to develop for future success. Universities in Australia are transforming and there are opportunities for Swedish and Australian companies to share know-how, R&D and inspire the next generation of innovators.

Over two days at the end of September 2022, SACC gathered a few hundred academics, students, government representatives as well as business leaders and innovators, representing a large number of industries, for the first of its kind – the Swedish Australian Innovation, Technology and Design Summit.

The purpose of this Summit was to highlight Swedish innovation, technology, design and sustainability initiatives. We presented examples of key innovation breakthroughs and featured successful Swedish-Australian collaboration and knowledge exchange, R&D and creative business development between Sweden and Australia. Together with partners, we provided a platform to connect involved industries with relevant stakeholders within the corporate sector, government, academia and the research and development community. Through the summit, we raised awareness about the Swedish contribution to economic and technological development in Australia. We initiated new opportunities for collaboration within technology, design and sustainability to stimulate innovation and growth and to support a high-quality R&D ecosystem.

Together with co-host, the University of Technology Sydney, in their stunning Great hall, we held 10 sessions offering in-depth knowledge on a number of engaging topics (see full program here). The event covered many topical focus areas, and the sessions included thought-leadership panellists, who all provided the audience with perspectives that were both informative and educational as well as provocative.

Official dignitaries included The Hon. Alister Henskens, SC MP, New South Wales Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Sport, Minister for Skills and Training, and Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology. Guest of Honour was Ambassador of Sweden to Australia, HE Pontus Melander.

The common denominator throughout the entire summit was sustainable innovation, sustainable design and development and how government and different industries are working towards a net zero future.

Event focus

• Highlight Swedish-Australian innovation, technology and design and raise the profile of Sweden and Australia as innovative and creative nations.
• Present examples of successful cooperation, knowledge exchange, R&D and creative business development between Sweden and Australia.
• Identify and present innovative areas of cooperation and knowledge exchange between Sweden and Australia.
• Inform and educate.
• Develop further cooperation, find new areas and open doors to future initiatives within innovation, tech, design and sustainability.

Partner opportunities

• Companies and organisations had the opportunity to showcase and inform about their innovation initiatives within tech and design.
• Offer demonstrations and informative topic presentations to students, visitors, business contacts, special guests and clients.
• The 2-day event ended with a fantastic gala dinner where partners and the winners of the Swedish Business Awards in Australia were presented. The event offered unique opportunities to meet summit partners, business organisations, academic and government representatives. It enabled great networking opportunities while offering participants a chance to promote their organisation and connect with partners, clients and industry people. 
• The summit created a platform to connect partner organisations with academia and R&D on a local, national and bilateral level.
• The event initiated new innovative and creative opportunities for collaboration between partner organisations, academia, government and industry areas.

Visuals, summary, presentation of partners and session podcasts:

• Read the summary about the Summit here

• View video clip with highlights from the Summit here

• View partner interviews video clip from the Summit here

• View 1 min video clip from the Summit here

• Read about the Summit Partners in this Digital Presentation.

• Presenting our company partners – VIEW HERE