Norrbotten and Västerbotten that are named” Upper Norrland” in the study and are classifies as a “strong innovator” which is the second highest degree of the four categories within the study. The region is only outdone in Sweden by the big city regions, that are classified as “innovation leaders”.

2017 was the latest comparison Regional Innovation Scoreboard RIS publication and northern Sweden is still presented as a strong region for research and innovation, even though the ranking is slightly lower than previous years.

The study consists of several indicators that make up an index and makes it possible to compare innovation systems within EU countries, and regions. Notable is that Upper Norrland takes a shared first place with six other regions within the indicator “public investments in research and innovation”. It also stands out from other Swedish regions that are missing in the top list for this indicator.

In a European context Upper Norrland also stands out with a high level of people engaged in lifelong learning, classified as a dynamic labor market and effective innovation system. Also, within the indicator “international scientific co publications” Upper Norrland takes a top position. The first place is shared this time with 13 regions, several of whom are Swedish.

Sweden and the Nordic countries do usually stand out in these comparisons and so is the case this year too. Sweden is named the most innovative country, followed by Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Innovation strong regions are usually found within innovation strong countries, but there are exceptions where regions are classifies as innovations hubs in less strong countries such as Prague (Czech Republic, Crete (Greece) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy).

/Niklas Johansson