By John Stromblad
CEO, Tetra Pak Korea
I have noticed that many Swedish companies have been gaining interest and popularity in Korea due to their simplistic, functional designs. A typical Swedish design strives to contribute to everyday lifestyle with ergonomic design and utilisation of innovative technologies. The simplicity of design combined with functionality is based on solid foundation of R&D investments.
As a leading nation in research and development, Sweden produces remarkable outcomes from science and technology with strong engagement from companies and government.
Swedish government sets high priorities on research and development activities, investing largely on research institutions as well as R&D activities. Sweden’s expenditures in those fiends as a share of GDP amounted to 3.59 percent in 2009, globally ranking top among countries that devote their investment into innovation labs.
Strong support from the government attained Sweden honour to become one of the most innovative EU country. Sweden has been actively sharing its methods, inventions and creative ideas with the world and it has been known as one of the top publishers of scientific publications.
The quantity and the quality of the work are well recognized and respected, as being one of the most cited publications in the world.
Wondering how a nation with only around 9 million people can become such a leading research nation? I say one reason is the creative thinking exercises applied to all levels of education and challenges given to students, helping them to transfer innovative ideas into practical business ideas. This training begins from a very early stage.
A Swedish child, before the age of 6, receives pre-school education. The importance of the knowledge given in pre-schools has been emphasized once again this year and in addition to biology, ecology and the environment, more science subjects such as chemistry, physical phenomena and technology are added to the early childhood education environment. Sweden believes these children, in the future, will be the nation’s greatest assets and key to Swedish inventions’ success.
With all the talented scientists and engineers discovered and trained by government and educational structure, Swedish companies have been investing in brilliant ideas and supporting economic development by commercializing their R&D outcomes. The business sector in Sweden allocates more than 3 percent of GDP to R&D, and these organizations are constantly working with academia, aiming to develop new ideas, products, and services that will make contributions to sustainable growth.
Swedish corporations have always been in the forefront of developing new technologies and they largely fund their own research or at the same time, receive some contributions from the government and abroad.
The businesses deeply understand the value and attractiveness of invention and thus keeping research and development facilities as their greatest treasures. Sweden is among the top three countries with the most patents in the world with global leading companies like Volvo, Ericsson, and Tetra Pak.
The aseptic packaging technology pioneered by Tetra Pak over 4 decades ago revolutionised the way perishable liquid foods were packaged and distributed.
Aseptic technology is the ability to be able to pack perishable products such as milk, soy milk or juice, in a package that will preserve this product intact even if it is not refrigerated without the use of any preservative keeping the full health benefit of the product.
This technology was recognised as the most important advancement in the 20th century by the Institute of Food Technologists (1989) and awarded the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development by Al Gore (1996) for the environmental attributes such as less use of energy resulting in lower footprint on the earth’s environment.
It is true investments on fundamental science and technology result in global leadership and economic growth. I see very positive signal in Korea regarding R&D investment.
It has been confirmed that the amount of investment from Korea’s top-tier business conglomerates accounts for more than half of national expenditure on research and development. Korean R&D investment amount had recorded fourth in 2008 among the 30 member countries of the OECD.
In order for companies to secure industry leadership investment into research and development of technology must be the foundation on which companies deliver products and services that embrace consumer convenience and functionality.