President’s Sweden Itinerary: Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova), Sida, Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), Chalmers University, University College of Borås
Safely home from his recent trip to Sweden from 15-22 August, President Irandoust reported this week that his many and varied discussions as part of the formal visit could lead to possible AIT collaboration with some of Sweden’s foremost organizations and academic institutes.
The initial stop for President Irandoust was the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova), where he met with Dr. Sven-Gunnar, Edlund, Director and Head of Innovation Actors Division; along with Mrs. Marit Werner, Project Manager; and Mr. Lars-Gunnar Larsson, Programme Director, and discussed details of a regional seminar to take place in Bangkok 2008.
The seminar is part of a workshop on "Putting Ideas to Work-Strategies for Innovation-led Sustainable Growth" organized by Sida and Vinnova - the first part of which will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, from 19 November to 14 December, 2007. Officials reported that the Stockholm workshop is aimed at promoting the further development of innovative systems in the targeted regions. Mrs. Werner has been working closely with AIT on this initiative. Vice President for Research, Professor S. K. Rakshit and Dr. Barbara Igel, from the School of Management, will represent AIT at the first round of the Vinnova program for Asia in Sweden in Nov-Dec 2007, President Irandoust confirmed.
Mrs. Marit and Dr. Edlund will visit AIT during 20-21 September 2007 to finalize the contents and details of the Bangkok program. At the AIT President’s request, they also agreed to make a presentation to members of the AIT faculty and staff regarding possible areas in which there could be collaboration with Vinnova. Finally, during the President’s visit to Vinnova, he also met with the Dr. Lena Gustaffson, the new Vice President of Vinnova who is a former colleague of him from Chalmers.
Next stop for the president was the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), where he met many senior officials including Mr. Berit Olssen, Head of SAREC (Sida's Department for Research Cooperation); Mr. Johan Sundberg, Senior Program Specialist, Department for Natural Resources and the Environment of Sida; Dr. Tomas Kjellqvist, Deputy Head of SAREC; and Mr. Jan Bjerninger, Assistant Director General of Sida and Director of the Department for Natural Resources and the Environment.
At Sida, President Irandoust reported on AIT’s recent developments and sought their support in some of the new initiatives being launched by the School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD). It was noted that as part of Sida’s strategic alignment, in the future the Swedish agency will be focusing on fewer areas such as energy, environment, climate change, water-related issues, and also on inter-related areas such as energy vis-à-vis climate change.
According to the president, Sida is very much in favour of strengthening collaboration between Swedish research groups / institutions and AIT, and strongly encouraged efforts in this direction. Moreover, Sida also offered to assist and support the Institute’s planned initiatives in Africa by linking AIT to Sida’s initiatives and projects in Africa through meetings between AIT and some of Sida's partner institutions in Africa. Such meetings would be held at AIT in Bangkok.
At his next stop at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), President Irandoust met with Mrs. Madelene Sandström, Director General of FOI; along with Dr. Matts Gustavsson, Head of Department, Defence & Security, Systems and Technology; and Dr. Eva Dalberg, Senior Scientist Department of Applied Marine Research, Division of Systems Technology. At the meeting, the president was informed that FOI is very keen and interested to work with AIT. Officials there suggested that AIT could serve as a platform for technological knowledge transfer for FOI in the region, with support from Sida. FOI is initially proposing collaboration in areas such as underwater technology, telecommunications, advanced IT for industrial applications, and possibly remote sensing.
President Irandoust reported that FOI will be providing AIT with more detailed information on the possible areas in which the two could jointly develop proposals for Sida funding. There are also good prospects for AIT and FOI to conduct short courses in the region. Under such a partnership, President Irandoust indicated that AIT researchers would have access to FOI laboratories for the development and adaptation of existing advanced technologies to suit the needs of the region. Eventually AIT and FOI could also jointly conduct projects for the private sector in the region. AIT envisages sending one or two faculty members from AIT to visit FOI during the second week of September 2007, to work on the proposal development, President Irandoust said this week.
At a visit to Chalmers University, President Irandoust met Professor Gregory Morrison, who is the Chalmers Coordinator for the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) initiative http://globalsustainability.org/. AGS is a unique, international partnership between four of the world's leading science and technology universities namely, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Tokyo; and Chalmers, with the aim of pursuing research and development within complex global issues, focusing on environmental science and sustainable development. Created in 1997, the AGS today brings together hundreds of university scientists, engineers, and social scientists to address the complex issues that lie at the intersection of environmental, economic, and social goals.
During the meeting, President Irandoust expressed AIT's keen interest in becoming a partner of the alliance, which is currently chaired by Professor Karin Markides, Rector of Chalmers (on a rotational basis among the partners). Professor Morrison told the president he would discuss this further with the other partners and provide AIT with their feedback. Additionally, President Irandoust confirmed that he would discuss this jointly with the University of Tokyo President and the MIT President, whom he will be meeting with during his visit to Japan in October 2007.
Finally, as the former Rector of University College of Borås, President Irandoust was invited to participate in the 30th anniversary celebrations of the University. Borås presented its application to the Ministry of Education to be upgraded as the first Swedish university of professions. According to the president, many industry representatives were also invited to the event and they were greatly impressed by AIT's experiences in the implementation of professional programs developed jointly in partnership with the private sector.