INIT - Mapping of national and international test bed capacity

Swedish technology infrastructures, such as test beds and demonstrators, must offer world class services to sustain the global leadership of Swedish research, innovation, industry and public sector. This means that the technology infrastructures should e.g. be able to attract international customers, participate in international research projects, work with international standardization or benchmark themselves against international colleagues with similar scope. 

An internationalization well done strengthens the quality of the technology infrastructures, and can improve revenues from international clients or international research funding. It also increases the opportunities to recruit or collaborate with international talent, and in the long run widens the networks of their Swedish clients. As a bonus effect it could also attract more international corporations to Sweden.

Several Swedish technology infrastructures offering world class services are already present on the international arena. Many more have the ambition to attract more international clients, and participate in more international projects. In this survey, RISE has mapped the Swedish technology infrastructures, and formulated recommendations for accelerating the internationalization in a structured and continuous manner.

The project has gathered data from 143 technology infrastructures, interviewed 48 individuals representing the technology infrastructures, their customers, owners and financiers, as well as universities, RTO:s, municipalities, regions and government agencies. The report includes outlines of eight key markets - the EU, the UK, the USA, Brazil, India, South Korea, China and Japan.

The result is published in a report and a presentation, available in English and Swedish.

The long term impact of this project will strengthen the Swedish innovation capacity and capability through better usage of the technology infrastructure capacity, in Sweden and internationally, through the internationalization of Swedish technology infrastructures. It will increase the attraction for international clients to use the Swedish technology infrastructures while also welcoming international technology infrastructures to establish themselves in Sweden.

The recommendations from project INIT are carried out in another project, called TIraMISO.