The new call for proposals has finally arrived! The bilateral call between Vinnova and EMBRAPII - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial was launched this week and will be available until 8 February 2024.

To help you understand the call, the opportunities and how to find your partners, SBII has some important tips:

📌 05/10: The online Information Meeting on the call at 2pm in Sweden (10am in Brazil);
📌23/11: Matchmaking between interested researchers will take place in São Paulo: register and find out more about this opportunity.

Here we recap the most important points:

✔️Call link
✔️Who can take part? On the Swedish side are Swedish companies together with research organisations, such as universities, colleges or research institutes as well as municipalities if interested. On the Brazilian side, it's Embrapii institutes and companies.
✔️Amounts: Vinnova can grant up to SEK 3 million per project and the total budget in this call is SEK 24 million. With this, we intend to finance 8-10 innovation projects. The support from Vinnova only applies to compensation for the Swedish actors. Brazilian actors have to apply to Embrapii institutes.

Whether you are a Swedish company looking to expand your operations to Brazil or a Brazilian researcher seeking opportunities to work with Swedish partners, the new platform can help you find the right match.

The Sweden-Brazil Collaboration 2023 website offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to explore bilateral opportunities, find potential partners, and connect with them directly. In addition, our database features profiles of companies, universities, and research institutions from both countries, showcasing their expertise, projects, and collaboration interests.

The platform is open to all interested parties, and registration is free.

Visit the website at sweden-brazil-collaboration-2023.b2match.io/home to explore the possibilities and register your profile today.

One of the great objectives of an international Matchmaking event is the formation of partnerships and consequently the participation in calls for proposals and development of products and services. Do you want to know what happened at the Sweden Brazil Matchmaking held in São Paulo in November 2022? During the event 88 meetings were held between 73 participants. Almost half of the participants were representatives from Startups, SMEs and large industries. The others were professionals from Universities and Research Institutes.

In 2022 the focus area were Smart Cities and Healthcare with AI as enabling technology. Therefore, the participants were mostly from the areas of Health and smart cities, but 22 were from the area of bioeconomy. The Bioeconomy area is part of the strategic partnership in Innovation between Sweden and Brazil and has the most approved bilateral projects (learn more: www.sbii.org/RD_Areas_Bioeconomy.html). Also present were institutions from the areas of aeronautics and sustainable mining, also areas from the strategic partnership.

On January 31th, the Eureka GlobalStars call closed. We are waiting to see the approved projects and find out if the Matchmaking helped to establish such partnerships. Besides this call, several Letters of Intent (LOI) have been signed between Swedish SMEs and local partners in Brazil.

Examples of Swedish SMEs present:

• ActaDig is a start-up aiming to promote self-care for healthier ageing by providing person-centered e-services. Brazil is facing a rapid demographic transition. Its growing population of senior citizens poses new challenges in providing long-term care programs, thus making it an interesting market to drive innovation for the elderly care sector.
  A better use of aged care data is a key enabler for the provision and access to affordable, sustainable, and integrated quality care, shaping the next generation of aged care systems.
  The company already has an ongoing project with Brazil, E-share.
• Hytton Technologies AB is a healthcare company with expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Information Communication Technology (ICT). They want to get closer to Brazil because of the giant potential of the country, especially in relation to product and concept testing in #testbeds.
• Curlfriend Cosmeceuticals (Dakmatte ) from the area of bioeconomics and health. They are a startup with great ideas regarding organic phyto cosmeceutical scalp care. Their founders all have long experience in the fields of clean organic beauty production, health, and marketing. They would like to partner with Brazil as their target customers are curly haired people of all ethnicities. Brazil is also their main supplier of raw materials and medicinal plant extracts. It is crucial for the survival of our planet that these resources are incorporated circularly and sustainably into every innovation and business model.

About the Event

During Innovation Weeks 2022, Matchmaking between SMEs and researchers was held in São Paulo. The event is funded by Vinnova in the Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative project and organised by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Brazilian Institute for Information on Science and Technology (Ibict) and National Service of Industrial Learning (Senai).

In 2022 we finally had an in-person Sweden Innovation Week in Brazil again! We have done a lot in those years of online talks, but the connection is much greater in real live meetings. Five intense days with visits from the Swedish delegation. We visited Salvador, Brasília, Campinas, Anápolis, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, São Carlos, and Curitiba.

High-Level meetings

The annual high-level events were held for the first time in Salvador. On the first day, the 7th of November, the High-Level Group on Aeronautic (HLG) and the Executive Committee (EC) met. During the HLG, SEMEAR from EESC-USP (University of São Paulo) awarded the 2nd Sarc-Barinet aerospace competition prize. The winning project, called NoFire Squad has created a swarm of nine autonomous quadcopters that will act cooperatively to help fight forest fires. The day ended with the opening of the Innovation Week with a lecture on Artificial Intelligence and Health.

The following day was the innovation group's turn, with the Steering Group of Innovation (SGI). At the meeting, there was a presentation and an update on the work accomplished and plans for 2023. All the Points of Contact (POC) from Sweden and Brazil from the Innovation delegation had also an interactive seminar, moderated by the OSI-Brasilia (Office of Science and Innovation), on how to make the cooperation even better, suggesting guidelines for the PoCs.

In addition to all these events we also had the signing of the MOU between SISP and Anprotec with the aim of stimulating more and more the participation of Startups in the Sweden-Brazil cooperation.

Besides these activities in Salvador, there were also offered several study-visits to Senai-Cimatec, the opening of the Re-Waste exhibition at UFBA, and the 11th Workshop in Aeronautics Brazil-Sweden.

Across Brazil

In São Paulo several events were held such as:

4^th Sweden Brazil Workshop AI & Autonomy Collaboration organised by CISB;

Matchmaking between large Brazilian corporates and startups by Ignite;

Matchmaking between researchers and SMEs organized by Rise, Ibict, and Senai.

Digital health seminar at Incor.

OSI-Brasília, Ignite Sweden, Vinnova, Rise Bioeconomy, and the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation went to Campinas to make a study visit to CNPEM (National Centre for Energy and Materials Research) and the Unicamp Innovation Agency, Inova Unicamp.

And finally, the Smart City POC went to São Carlos to visit the Centre for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence Recreating Environments (CPA IARA).

Our innovation delegation also visited Rio de Janeiro for meetings and visits to CETEM and Curitiba to view the sustainability projects and smart cities carried out in partnership with Sweden.

In early May the Office of Science and Innovation Brasilia, OSI-Brasilia, was pleased to organize together with Vinnova a couple of events to bring the Points of Contact (POCs) closer to our bilateral partnership. Although the POCs had been working on the cooperation for more than two years, due to the Covid19 pandemic, they did not have had the opportunity to meet in person. This opportunity was finally arranged during the 3rd Brazil Innovation Week in Sweden between the 9th and 13th of May (BSIW).

The first meeting was informal, a lunch to explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the areas of Smart Cities and Health. The meeting was held at Vinnova with the presence of Frederick Hörstedt, head of the International Cooperation and Regina Summer, chief strategy officer and responsible for the Brazilian cooperation. On the Swedish side were present:  Åsa Rudstrom Rise and POC Smart Cities, Marie Sjolinder Rise and POC Health, Heather Marshal Swelife and POC Health, Staffan Filipsson IVL and POC Smart Cities, Jacob Paulsen and Ana Carolina Bussacos from OSI Brasilia. On the Brazilian side were present: André Carlos Ponce de Leon from IARA Center (National Research Center of Applied Artificial Intelligence for Smart Cities and USP professor), Wagner Meira CIIA (main researcher of Health Innovation Center in AI and professor at UFMG) and Luiz Messina (National Coordinator of the Telemedicine University Network RUTE in the National Education and Research Network RNP) POC Health for the Brazilian side.

The second important event was the Sweden-Brazil Innovation Initiative Land-meeting at Vinnova with the participation of part of the Brazilian delegation and the Swedish partners. The seminar was opened by Karin Rydén the Head of the International Cooperation Department at Vinnova and Jacob Silva Paulsen, Innovation and Science counsellor at OSI Brasilia. During the seminar it was stressed that we should seek innovation in a broader sense. That is why Vinnova works with the Mission Oriented approach (www.vinnova.se/en/publikationer/mission-oriented-innovation---a-handbook-from-vinnova/). The structure of the SIPs (Strategic Innovation Program), opportunities in Eureka and the matchmakings held in 2022 with SBII were also presented.

This event was followed by a conversation mediated by Jacob Silva Paulsen. The conversation had as fundamental objective a discussion about the role of the Points of Contact and to understand how both ministries can help the POCs to function even better.

The first important point was that during the Brazilian Innovation Week in Sweden, the POCs could finally meet each other in person and with this, the approach was closer. A second topic was the need to get concrete projects in the end, so funding must go together with the Working Plans. A lot of discussion still needs to take place, but this was the first step. The POCs were encouraged to talk between themselves and update, when relevant, the proposed WP.

Finally, a new meeting has been scheduled, it will be this time during the Swedish Innovation Weeks in Brazil, IW2022 on November 7^th (inovacaosueciabrasil.com.br/en/sweden-brazil-innovation-weeks-2021/).

In 2021, SBII reached 1000 followers on social media, which had the opportunity to join a series of activities that aimed to present the ecosystems of Brazil and Sweden, and facilitate the emergence of new relationships and long-term collaborations.

There were 7 online events that counted with the participation of researchers, startups, large companies and government representatives from both countries. Another important action was the dissemination and support of funding opportunities for bilateral projects, such as the Vinnova-EMBRAPII-SENAI call, and the Artificial Intelligence Mobility Call funded by Vinnova.

And for 2022, there are already many expectations and an agenda full of new opportunities! We could see that the interaction between people is very important for cooperation, because it is from visits and courtesy meetings, that great projects and initiatives are born between the two countries. Therefore, in the coming year, there will be visits of Brazilian and Swedish delegations, as well as hybrid events to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and Sweden.

So as not to miss any news, be sure to follow our social media and our events.

We thank you for your cooperation in 2021, and we look forward to seeing you in 2022!

To celebrate 10 years of Innovation Weeks, the Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative (SBII) with the support of the Sweden's Office for Science and Innovation (OSI Brasília) released a video with success stories of innovation collaborations between Sweden and Brazil. We approached researchers and companies from different sectors to understand what are the positive points of doing cooperation with Sweden, challenges, what were the processes of getting to know the partners, the results, and finally, what they expect for the future.

In the second video of the series “Success Cases of Sweden-Brazil Collaboration”, Andreas Vidman, CEO of Prediktera talks about his participation in the Sweden Brazil Startup Matchday, organised in 2020 and 2021 by CISB and Ignite Sweden, under the Swden Brazil Innovation Initiative.

This online matchmaking event was an opportunity for large Brazilian companies and Swedish startups to find a common ground for future collaborations and businesses. Watch the video and learn more about this successful initiative, and how Andrea Vidman's experience was.

In the 1st chapter of the “Success Cases of Sweden-Brazil Collaboration” video series, learn more about the Smart City Concepts in Curitiba. This is a Swedish-Brazilian project which has been developing studies and demonstration activities in the Brazilian city of Curitiba for sustainable urban mobility since 2013.

Semida Silveira, Professor at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and founder of Sustainable Vision in Sweden, presents the Smart City Concepts project, its benefits for those involved, the cooperation and society, and also gives tips on how to structure joint projects between Brazil and Sweden.

The cooperation between Brazil and Sweden has already generated several fruits and success cases. The new series of the Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative (SBII), "Success Cases of Sweden-Brazil Collaboration", will present successful projects, initiatives and partnerships of cooperation between the two countries.

In this inaugural video, Regina Summer, Programme Manager at the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, introduces the SBII and its purpose.

Aiming to facilitate the connection between Brazil and Sweden in specific sectors, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) of Brazil and the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation (MEI) of Sweden decided to appoint Points of Contact (PoCs) in four strategic areas of collaboration between the two countries: Health, Bioeconomy, Sustainable Mining, and Smart Cities.

Meet Anna Wiberg, PoC of the Bioeconomy area, and Project Manager at BioInnovation

About Anna Wiberg and BioInnovation programme:

Anna Wiberg is Program Manager of BioInnovation, and has a background as Research Manager for the Nanocellulose research group at Innventia (RISE).

BioInnovation is one of 17 strategic innovation programmes in Sweden. The aim of the program is to promote bio-based development and innovation in three priority areas: Chemicals and energy, Materials and Construction and design. The innovation program was initiated by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, IKEM – the Innovation and Chemical Industries in Sweden and TEKO – Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries Association. The program is a public-private partnership funded by Vinnova, The Swedish Energy Agency and Formas, as well as participating stakeholders from business, academia, institutes and the public sector.


SBII: Could you explain what is your role on the Sweden Brazil cooperation?
Anna Wiberg: I am appointed national contact point for Sweden in the innovation area of bioeconomy. My role is to gather the interests of Swedish actors linked to Brazil in the field of bioeconomy. I do this together with Tomas Anderson at RISE (Research Institute of Sweden), who is active in the Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative.

SBII: What are the main areas of cooperation within Bioeconomy?
Anna Wiberg: Technologies for biorefineries and sustainable forestry are two areas where the countries see opportunities for joint development within Bioeconomy.

SBII: What actions are expected during those first years? (matchmakings, seminars, visits….)
Anna Wiberg: The ambition is to create good relations with Brazilian industrial actors, academia and institutes and find joint research and innovation projects. We are planning for a web-based seminar with matchmaking later in the spring of 2021. This autumn we will take part in the Brazil-Sweden Innovation Week and we are planning for a Brazilian delegation to visit us in Sweden. But while waiting for travel to be possible again, there will be digital meetings.

Check out the exclusive interview with Michael Salter, the leader of Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative (SBII) and Senior Project Manager at RISE, and learn more about SBII in 2021 and tips on how to participate in an international cooperation.

Could you present RISE for the Brazilians?
RISE (Research Institute of Sweden) is an independent, non-profit, state-owned research institute that offers unique expertise and about 100 testbeds and demonstration facilities, instrumental in future-proofing technologies, products, and services. With 2.800 employees in six divisions: Bioeconomy and Health, Digital Systems, Material & Production, Safety and Transport, and Society Building, Rise supports and promotes all manner of innovative processes. The headquarters of RISE is in Gothenburg; however, we have employees located all over Sweden.

RISE drives advanced research and innovation in a broad spectrum of areas also in international collaboration with industry, academia, and the public sector, ensuring competitiveness of the business community and contributing to a sustainable society.

And what is your role at the SBII project?
My role is the leader of the Vinnova financed project, Sweden Brazil Innovation Initiative. We have established a great team together with the organizations of RISE, IGNITE (https://ignitesweden.org/), CISB (http://www.cisb.org.br/), and the Office of Science and Innovation Brasília (OSI Brasilia) from the MEI - Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. We have a great team of partners that work to build bridges and strategic partnerships, offer networking opportunities with the goal of increasing the level of cooperative innovation between Sweden and Brazil.

I work with RISE internal personnel and its external project partners to implement the plans and activities of the project. My particular focus is to connect the two countries innovation networks by building networks between RISE and the Brazilian innovation institutes such as the SENAI and Embrapii. In this way we can connect the two countries innovation ecosystems to build bottom-up industry driven innovation.

How can SBII be important to Sweden and Brazil partnership?
The SBII project works to build a platform for facilitating Swedish-Brazilian innovation partnerships in key areas of strategic interest to both countries. Currently we have prioritized 4 areas for increased cooperative innovation: Bioeconomy, Health, Mining and Smart Cities. Within these areas, we have established specific multi-year action plans with specific goals and activities that focus on networking, matchmaking, and information sharing. With the goal of helping the building and formation of specific joint projects between our countries. SBII can be seen as a bridge or portal for industrial, academia and the public sector for giving practical support for international consortiums within the strategically prioritized areas.

What are SBII plans for 2021?
Our plans have had to be a little fluid and respectful of the current COVID-19 pandemic. But we are optimistically planning an exciting set of activities. In April, the Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova, together with Embrapii and SENAI, will open an opportunity to apply for funding of innovation projects within the strategic areas. In the same month RISE is planning the Webinar: “Understanding the Brazilian Market and Ecosystems” to mostly assist Swedish SMEs and researchers in navigating the innovation landscape between our two countries. In addition, in early May, IGNITE will offer a webinar focused on preparing Swedish startups for participating in matchmaking activities in 2021. Then, in the months of May and June, we are planning a series of webinars and matchmaking events focused specifically on the 4 strategic areas. And of course, in October and November we are planning Innovation Week events in both Sweden and Brazil. You can see the complete calendar of events on our website (www.sbii.org)!

What would be your most important tips/message to Swedish actors who will participate in the bilateral cooperation?
For Swedish actors, the most important message is to realize that the culture, political system, and communication channels are different in Brazil and patience is the rule. Also, the effect of the difference in size of the two countries should not be underestimated, especially in the case of Brazil as a developing economy. However, if the business goals are made clear and strong enough with benefits for all, solid relationships can be developed, then Brazilian entities make good long-term business and academic partners. Academic research in Brazil is world class in many areas and the innovation ecosystem is growing. There is huge opportunity for Swedish actors that want to work with Brazilian partners to develop innovations that serve the Brazilian market.

And what would be the message to Brazilian actors who will participate in the bilateral cooperation?
The first message for Brazilian actors is not too different from the Swedish message, for instance, that the cultural differences require patience and understanding. Also, the hemispherical differences must be accepted, while Brazil closes for the month of January for Carnival, Sweden shuts down in the month of July for its summer holidays. In the area of innovation, especially with the adoption of new technology, Sweden offers immense capabilities and opportunities for Brazilian companies to gain access to innovations for the Brazilian economy and citizens. In addition, the level of transparency and pragmatism with Swedish culture and politics make working with Swedish actors relatively straightforward. Sweden is a strong engineering country with the skills for organization and collaboration necessary to address complex societal challenges. Engagement with world-leading and innovative Swedish companies, large or small, offers Brazilian actors access to state-of-the-art innovations to serve their own markets, while at the same time offering a window to the EU market.

During the Sweden Brazil Innovation Weeks 2020, Vinnova, the Embassy of Sweden in Brazil, and several partners held the Co-Creation Days Sweden-Brazil on 11 and 12 November.

The Co-Creation Days promoted webinars and discussion panels focusing on Mission Oriented Research and Innovation Approach to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals" and "Co-Creation with System Innovation". Following four panels were developed focusing the future collaboration between Sweden and Brazil within bioeconomy, smart cities, health and mining.

Mission Oriented Research and Innovationx

Opening by Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology.

Speakers:
Joakim Appelquist, Vinnova
Caetano Penna, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Panel discussion about smart cities and mission oriented innovation

Moderator:
Christina Öhman, RISE

Speakers:
Östen Ekengren, CEO of Smart City Sweden
Staffan Filipsson, IVL
José Gustavo Gontijo, MCTI
Paulo José Pereira Curado, CPqD
David Taff, Siemens

Panel discussion about bioeconomy and mission oriented innovation

OBS: For technical reasons we do unfortunately miss the first 15 minutes of the webinar

Moderator:
Anna Wiberg, Program Director at BioInnovation

Speakers:
Sverker Danielsson, Program Director at Swedish Forest Industry
Johanna Mossberg, Vice President Biorefinery and Energy at RISE
Bruno Nunes, CGBE/MCTI
Thiago Falda, President of the Brazilian Bioinnovation Association ABBI
Eduardo Couto, LNBR/CNPEM

Panel discussion about Health and mission oriented innovation

Moderator:
Ebba Carbonnier, Portfolio Leader at Swelife

Speakers:
Peter Kjäll, RISE SICS
Isis Amer-Wåhlin, RISE
José Gustavo Gontijo, SEMPI/MCTI
Marco Bego, InovaHC
Luiz Messina, RUTE/RNP

Panel discussion about sustainable mining and mission oriented innovation

Moderator:
Karin Willquist, RISE

Speakers:
Jonas Ranggård, Head of Energy at Boliden
Jenny Greberg, Program Director at Swedish Mining Innovation
Claudio Schneider, CETEM
Mauricio Duarte, Vale S.A.
Eduardo Soriano, MCTI

SBII Digital Matchmaking is an opportunity to enhance the cooperation between Brazil and Sweden, especially for the institutions interested in participating in the Vinnova-Embrapii Call. The matchmaking will take place on Thursday 22nd of October, 09.00-12.00 Brazilian time and 14.00-17.00 Swedish time.

The website for the digital matchmaking event is open for registration: https://sbii-matchmaking-2020.b2match.io/. It’s important to register to the matchmaking site as soon as possible and to update the profile when registering. It’s also essential to write what you are looking for. Each participant will have the maximum of 8 meetings of 20 minutes each. The participant is free to book meetings that suit their needs.

The booking of the meetings will start on October 15.

The Matchmaking will start off with a short introduction and then the 1-to-1 meetings will go on as they are booked and scheduled by the participants. All the meetings will be done via the B2Match-website and no downloading is needed. Finally, the event is free of charge.

SBII interviewed Regina Summer, programme manager at Vinnova (Swedish Innovation Agency) to explain a little more about the Brazil-Sweden partnership and its initiatives.

Could you explain for the Brazilians what Vinnova is?
Vinnova is Sweden’s innovation agency, responsible for the movement of the country's innovative capacity, financing and coordinating different innovation initiatives.

How is Vinnova linked to Brazil?
Sweden and Brazil have signed a strategic partnership with the objective of increased collaboration and knowledge exchange, this on industry, research and development, cultural, social and political level. Vinnova’s role is to create new partnerships and develop innovation collaborations.

And what about SBII, a project funded by Vinnova since 2019?
The initiative’s purpose is to create and develop innovation collaborations between Swedish and Brazilian actors. CISB has the local network and important knowledge of the Brazilian innovation system. The joint platform is also composed by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), which brings several Swedish research centres under one institution and the Sweden’s Offices of Science and Innovation (OSI-Brasilia), present at the country's Embassy in Brasilia, which aims to strengthen Swedish connections with the rest of the world with regard to international strategic science, innovation and higher education.

Finally, what are the events that Vinnova will coordinate during IW2020?
Vinnova’s focus is to open up for innovation that makes a difference and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals are part of this. During our “Co-creation days” we want to raise the importance of mobilizing for system innovation. On the 11-12th of November we will together with the Embassy of Sweden in Brazil host seminars and panel discussions focusing on different ways to develop the collaboration within bioeconomy, smart cities, health and sustainable mining with MCTI (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil) and Brazil. More information on: inovacaosueciabrasil.com.br

Sweden Innovation Days will take place on 17-19 November. The goal of these days is to establish bilateral relationships between innovation hubs in Sweden and around the world, and to initiate more innovation collaborations in the AI area.

Sweden Innovation Days is an event that will put Sweden as a leading innovation country on the map. The program for the three-day event includes seminars, keynotes, workshops and a matchmaking session where Swedish startups and large companies will have the opportunity to meet new collaboration partners from 10 different countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and the USA.

“Beyond the covid19 crisis, we need a green and digital restart of our society. We will make Sweden the first fossil-free welfare country in the world and the best in the world in exploiting the opportunities of digitalisation. Digital solutions, especially within AI, play a key role in solving the climate challenge and creating a cohesive society”, says Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation of Sweden.

Sweden Innovation Days is organized by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova, AI Innovation of Sweden, Ignite Sweden, SISP -Swedish Incubators & Science Parks and the Swedish Energy Agency. The goal is to develop new forms of collaboration, initiate new innovation collaborations and attract talent to Sweden.