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GIS in northern Sweden - Zoom in on one of Europe’s largest GIS-clusters

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OPPORTUNITIES, HISTORY AND STRENGTHS

In the north of Sweden you’ll find a rare cluster like no other

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5 reasons

• One of Europe’s most important GIS clusters is based in Västerbotten.

• It’s easy for new companies to find partners, clients and suppliers.

• The great need for niche applications such as within mining and forestry.

• A high level of collaboration between companies and sectors.

• Luleå University of Technology is at the forefront of GIS research and education.

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Business opportunities

• Sweden holds great GIS competence and numerous opportunities for fruitful collaborations.

• Traditional and digital industries as well as the public are equally interested in GIS-applications.

• The industry is growing at an impressive rate and according to the Swedish Development Council for Geographic Information, the number of people employed by GIS-companies has increased annually by 30% for the last 10 years.

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Fill one of the market gaps

The Swedish market is still small with few actors and only a fraction of all the services are commercialized.

If your company can offer what’s missing at the market you’ll easily find partners, clients and access to qualified staff.

Currently there is a shortage of GIS-companies specializing on solutions for the exploration and mining industry.

There is a large potential market for companies with mining and forestry applications.

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Partner up

Another way to enter the Scandinavian market is to find a partner. The companies in the region are used to working closely together and are open for new actors who want to join the cluster.

Many of the companies are small with few, yet highly skilled, people and they are looking for ways of growing further, an international partner is way to go about it.

The strength of the companies in the region is that they are all very focused on applied industry solutions with a hands-on mindset.

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The GIS cluster

• Northern Sweden hosts one of the strongest industrial Geographical Information Systems clusters in Europe

• For almost three decades, the city of Lycksele has been building the foundations for a strong GIS centre.

• The result is a network called IGIS, Innovative Geographic Information Systems, connecting industry, academia and public.

• Today there are 25 member companies; 50 % are core GIS-companies

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The history

IGIS was established in 2000 by the initiative of Cartesia, the city of Lycksele and the Västerbotten Chamber of Commerce.

IGIS’s business concept is to identify processes where GIS can add value through development, testing, demonstration, marketing and business start ups.

IGIS creates added value for its members,

- By promoting the creation of relevant GIS courses in the region

- By start-ups in the IGIS incubator,

- Students are offered a place of work, technical assistance and advice in areas such as economics and law.

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IGIS today

IGIS work is characterized by;

Curiosity

Innovation

Seamless partnerships

Commitment

Cutting-edge expertise

- Over the years IGIS has initiated over 10 R&D projects for products and services based on GIS.

- The projects have also resulted in several new companies

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International partners Working together with nationally and internationally leading providers of GIS products;

Pitney Bowes Business Insight (MapInfo)

ESRI

SuperMap

Lantmäteriet (the Swedish Land Survey Agency)

Microsoft Bing

Google

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Success factors

Triple helix cooperation between companies, academia and community

It is easy find partners, suppliers and clients.

Two large nearby universities; Luleå University of Technology and Umeå University.

Availability of qualified personnel

A national and international consensus regarding GIS and its potential for improving and simplifying the decision-making process in both the public and private sectors.

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Companies Cartesia GIS AB www.cartesia.se

Cartesia offers products, services and support within Geographical IT. Through innovation, cutting edge technical expertise and by working closely together with our customers we create long-term improvements for companies, environment, society and people.

ChartIKS www.chartiks.se

ChartIKS is an IT-company specializing in web-based GIS solutions built on the SuperMap platform. ChartIKS is the market leader offering state of the art tools for presenting data on maps, e.g. GeografIKS©.

GeoSupport www.geosupport.se

GeoSupport is an independent consulting company providing its’ clients with expertise and leading suppliers of GIS-products and services on the European market. Our experience guarantees access to the latest solutions and the best technology within GIS. We serve companies, private and public organizations.

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Companies cont.

SmartPlanes www.smartplanes.se

SmartPlanes manufactures a lightweight Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) equipped with an autopilot and digital camera that is a simple and inexpensive tool for aerial photography over smaller areas.

Uni-App www.uni-app.se/en/Home/Index

UniApp uses standard technics to adapt existing web applications to mobile applications. Our solutions goes from easy visual changes to more advance solutions in applications structure.

Xtreme Route www.xtremeroute.com

A high performance .NET library for route planning, optimized to handle the most complicated problems with exceptional performance!

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DOING BUSINESS IN SWEDEN

The best business climate in the world

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Sweden in the northern European region

• 100 million consumers

• Intra-regional trade

• All countries in the region, except Russia and Norway, are members of the EU

• The largest market, centrally placed geographically

• Native speakers from the whole region

• Preferred location for regional headquarters

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Creative Sweden

• Sweden is repeatedly ranked the most creative and innovative country in the world

• Swedish design, music and IT is known worldwide

• Cultural and creative industries generate more money than the car industry in Sweden

(Source: Martin Prosperity Institute)

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Sweden and the World

• Sweden propspers despite turbulent economy in Europe

• Long tradition of worldwide export and international business

• Export of services shows the largest growth

• Large home market:

• The Nordic countries together make up the world’s 10th largest economy

(Source: Norden i tal 2010)

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Connected Swedes

• Most networked country in the world

• Outstanding broadband coverage with the fastest Internet connection in Europe

• Early adopters

• Excellent test bed for new

technologies and services

• Percent of English speaking

skills is 85 (age 15 and older)

Illustration: North Kingdom

(Source: World Economic Forum, Akamai Technologies Inc)

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The Digital Nation

• Continuously heads ICT rankings

• Second in Global Innovation Index

- Swedish innovations: Skype & Spotify

• Swedish game development only second to London, in Europe

(Source: World Economic Forum, Connectivity Scorecard 2011, Insead, 2010)

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Stockholm Göteborg

Malmö

Luleå

Sundsvall

Gävle

Extensive communications infrastructure

• Redundant national coverage

• Total 150,000+ km of fiber optic networks

• 100 dark fiber suppliers

• 10 Swedish IXPs from North to South

~ 50 international carriers and service providers

- Europe’s fourth highest avg. traffic IXP: 105 Gbps

• TeliaSonera the only tier 1 carrier in Europe

- 85% of Europe’s ISPs connect directly

20

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FACTS ABOUT THE REGION

The Västerbotten province in expansive northern Sweden

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Västerbotten short facts

• Västerbotten has Sweden’s largest growth in export

• Planned investments in the region well over € 30 billion until 2020

• A logistic node for northern Scandinavia

• Facebook is building it’s first datacenter outside the US in northern Sweden

• Sweden’s best province for family life and third for young citizen

• Lowest crime rate in Sweden

• Low risk, stable and reliable

• Active local support organizations

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Excellent business climate

• One of the most competitive and globalized countries in the world 1

• Superior access to skilled and cost competitive labor market 2

• Favorable corporate taxation climate

• One of the lowest electricity costs for industrial consumer in Europe 3

• Very active industry-academia collaboration 4

Source: 1. World Economic Forum index 2. IMD, U.S. Department of Labor, Watson Wyatt 3. Eurostat 4. World Economic Forum

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Education centres

• The region hosts three universities

- Luleå University of Technology – which is one of three universities in Sweden offering courses and programmes leading to a Masters degree in GIS.

- Umeå University

- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

• The college in Lycksele offers GIS-courses as a unique opportunity to prepare for higher studies at a university level.

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• A highly developed infrastructure and outstanding communications between Västerbotten and the world makes it easy to work globally, while at the same time enjoying the atmosphere of Västerbotten – a place where both companies and individuals can enjoy active and stimulating yet peaceful and relaxing leisure time.

Live locally work globally

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HOW WE CAN HELP

Grow your business via Västerbotten

VIA Västerbotten

Västerbotten Investment Agency (VIA) is a regional investment promotion agency dedicated to make the Västerbotten province the most attractive choice for foreign investors and companies thinking about establishing or expanding their business operations in Sweden. With expertise in several key sectors, VIA offers information about business opportunities as well as assistance throughout the investment and establishment process. VIA is a regional partner to the government agency Invest Sweden.

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Västerbotten offers

Strategic alliance

Joint venture

Shared product development

M&A

Swedish R&D center

Nordic sales and support

Branch office

Regional HQ

Arrange investor meetings

Identify opportunities

Find syndication partners

Matchmaking

Market and industry info

Establishment support

Types of investment: How VIA can assist:

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Next steps • Define: You specify what you are looking for. Specific technology,

preferred type of company or partnership, etc.

• Search: We use our network to find options for you. Could be companies to partner with, IP to acquire, R&D projects to join...

• Meet: We set up meetings for you with Swedish companies. - On location in Sweden

- By phone or online video conference

Keep in touch!

Västerbotten Investment Agency

Tel. +46 910 71 26 80

info@viavasterbotten.se

www.viavasterbotten.se