Lombardy in Italy was the destination of a journey organized by Region Skåne and Packbridge’s Johan Mårtensson along with other cluster managers in Skåne took part. The intention was to meet with other clusters in this part of Italy and exchange of experience and contacts.
“It was an eventful trip where we visited everything from food clusters to clusters of manufacturers of advanced machinery as well as one that looked at the” life environment “and didn’t focus on the business and industry environment but rather of how consumers perceive and interact with products in their home,” says Johan.
The trip gave a good insight into the regional innovation systems including incubators, accelerators and science parks, and they also had time for a visit at the ongoing World Exposition in Milan.
“Cefriel was an interesting project within the framework of the Politecnico di Milano, who it may be said to correspond to KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. It is an organization that works to develop products and services for companies, and they use researchers expertise to achieve this”.
“Here we are accustomed that the researchers produce reports and documents. In this project, it was about real products and innovations. The companies that benefit from the innovation sponsor the layup. A number of promising products have been developed, for example an airbag for motorcyclists “.
“I think it’s an interesting concept, says Johan Mårtensson. In this case expertise is used to directly create products and services “.
An incubator that’s working with equality was also on the program. They’re helping women re-establish their professional careers after they have become mothers. It is far from obvious that you will find your way back into working life again after having a baby, which must be seen as a major loss when enormous amount of expertise goes to waste.
“I feel it was an informative and enlightening journey where Packbridge have established new contacts, especially within the food and machinery clusters,” says Johan.