Blogpost: Future-oriented IT metropolis sets its sights on the world
IoT Sweden and Business Sweden’s joint road trip this time takes us to Sundsvall. On 14 September 2023, the day started positively when the train from Stockholm arrived on time. And the good times just continued from there.
The Norrland IT metropolis Sundsvall was in its very best spirits. And we from IoT Sweden and Business Sweden were keen for a hunt! Would we be able to find exciting and ambitious IoT companies with export and international cooperation on the agenda in Sundsvall and the surrounding area? In short, the answer was Yes.
Optimism for the future in classic industrial communities
Sundsvall is part of the optimism for the future that now characterises several classic industrial communities, at the mouth of a river, along the Norrland coast. The pessimism that prevailed fifty years ago has disappeared. Back then, the death of mills and downsizing/closures were commonplace. To remedy this, the Swedish state used its increasingly bloated authorities and agencies as a labour market policy tool.
In the 1970s, thirty-seven government authorities and agencies moved out of Stockholm, with Sundsvall becoming the home of a number of these. Now Norrland, which is a somewhat sweeping description of an area that encompasses the majority of the Swedish landmass (not to mention that Sundsvall is located in the centre of Sweden), is the place where the eco-labelled solutions of the future find their workshop. Electrification, batteries, green steel, hydrogen, space, new climate-smart biomaterials and, incidentally, critical minerals.
Transition to web-based apps and services
Over time, more and more people realised that these relocated authorities and agencies offered more than just jobs. The National Government Employee Pensions Board (SPV), the Swedish Companies Registration Office, and the Swedish Board of Student Finance (CSN) – all located in Sundsvall – became major customers for IT products and services. Their purchases were moved from Esselte and Posten to completely different players. This provided a base for fostering successful IT companies from the region when the authorities and agencies switched from dusty archives to data storage, web-based services and apps. The work of the IT cluster and innovation hub Bron Innovation, our host for the day, is centred around this idea, and the companies we met may even have been a result of this forward-thinking pioneering work.
Exciting IoT companies ready for the world
First up was Starbit, with its highly interesting sensor and solution for reporting snow conditions and facilitating resource-efficient snow management. Then we met Portalplus, with its Cloudplanning and Fleet360 solutions for logistics planning and fleet management. And, finally, Masarin, with its IoT platform Diwise, developed in Sundsvall for the city’s residents and leadership, but now ready for the world.
We would like to thank Jennie Roos of Bron Innovation for a fantastic day, and we are keeping our fingers crossed for Norrland to bring home IoT gold at this year’s Smart City World Expo in Barcelona.
Written by: Magnus Fransson, Director of Internationalisation at IoT Sweden
