Innovation
Articles on innovation in chronological order.
Extra power with robot gloves
The Stockholm-based company Bioservo marries medical research with new technology with their robot glove. It gives extra muscle power to people with reduced hand function and for those whose jobs put a strain on their hands. This summer they won NASA’s invention award.
How can you create more jobs by improving conditions for startups in the Nordics?
“Not much time has been spent in the political debate in the Nordic countries on how jobs actually are created. A lot of other issues have had more than an ample hearing. But job creation is crucial for how our Nordic welfare models develop,” says Idar Kreutzer. He has looked at how to secure risk capital for Nordic startups.
The platform giants are profitable – but create few new jobs
The digital revolution will transform the work force in the 21st Century, just as the industrial revolution. But technology will create a host of new type of jobs and challenges as society moves from muscle and brainpower to data power, according to professors Bo Dahlbom and Ragnar Torvik.
Skills – a key to the technological development
The technological development; how does it impact our jobs, and which skills will we need? These questions were raised during the third Nordic conference on the Future of Work. They are hard to answer, as developments are continuing apace. How do authorities and the social partners face the changes? And how do we meet the skills demand? Who is responsible for what?
The Nordics could take a digital lead – with the right measures
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) can create growth in the Nordic region without creating unemployment – but rapid political action is needed, says the management consulting firm McKinsey.
OECD: Robots less of a threat to Nordic jobs, but major IT gender gap is
14 percent of jobs in OECD countries are at high risk of becoming automated, while a further 32 percent of jobs will change radically, says Mark Keese, Head of the Skills and Employability Division at the OECD.
Google wants to enter the Nordic labour market
Optimism clearly trumped pessimism at the Nordic conference on the Future of Work in Stockholm in the middle of May. Companies, politicians and trade unions mainly praised the digital future.
No fish is wasted with Icelandic technology
Iceland’s fisheries industry has undergone a revolution in recent years. Fishing companies and tech firms have worked together to develop high tech solutions. Iceland is a global leader when it comes to developing fish processing technology. Productivity has shot up, and new computerised machinery is being exported.
Jon Erik Dølvik: Technology easily blinds us, yet we can shape our own future of work
He does not use the analogy himself, but when Jon Erik Dølvik talks about the future of work it sounds as if he is talking about the Gulf Stream. When researching whether the Nordic model can manage challenges like automation, globalisation and the platform economy, he is mostly interested in how the flow of capital affects employment.
Digitalisation now also concerns people with higher education
Camilla Tepfers’ choice of words is surprising as she describes the skills needed when machines have learnt what we thought only humans could to: Those who can tolerate boredom are the winners, she might say. Or those who consider things in more depth.
The difference between a therapy dog and a Japanese robot seal
Robots help elderly care workers. Surveys show robots cannot replace employees, but they can help in their work and improve older people’s everyday life.
Future of Work
We need better systems to handle the challenges, said Swedish Minister of Labour Ylva Johansson at the recent conference on the Future of Work in Stockholm. 14 percent of jobs in OECD countries are at high risk of becoming automated, while a further 32 percent of jobs will change radically.
Innovation – a must for inclusion
The economy is improving across Europe, giving hope to Europe’s young. But it is not enough: To include young people in work and education, change is needed. The Nordic Labour Journal illustrates how fresh knowledge combined with structural changes can give vulnerable youths the chance to blossom and young entrepreneurs possibilities to grow.
How private investors could make money from integrating immigrants in Finland
Finland is the first Nordic country to adopt the model where private investments are being used for social programmes. So-called Social Impact Bonds, or SIBs, also help private investors fund employment programmes for immigrants. If the private players manage to do better than the public sector, they will be rewarded.
No Isolation – creating new jobs to cover ancient needs
There is a reindustrialisation taking place in the middle of Oslo. Three young people have started their own business, making products as well-designed as anything coming out of Apple.
Blueye Robotics: The people's underwater drone bringing knowledge about our oceans
“Something happened to me when I went from collecting shells on the beach to finding more and more plastic and rubbish,” says Christine Spiten. She is one of four entrepreneurs who set up Blueye Robotics in 2015.
Teaching Danes how to manage robots
Your future colleague might well be a robot. This will mean great changes in the labour market according to a new report discussed by the Disruption Council during its fourth meeting.
Denmark’s second largest city explores the sharing economy
Citizens of Aarhus municipality can move around in shared electric cars and cultivate the soil in new city gardens on municipal land. The government has designated the municipality as a pilot city for the sharing economy, and a range of activities are already up and running.
Disruption shakes the Nordic agreement model
The social partners in the Nordic region have to adapt the Nordic labour market model to fit the sharing economy, driverless forklifts and other new labour market trends. If they don’t, others will, a Danish expert warns. The Danish government and the social partners have approached the task by establishing a new body: “The Disruption Council”.
Palestinian, woman, dyslexic – and successful businessperson in Iceland
Fida Abu Libdeh arrived in Iceland aged 16. “I didn’t even understand whether my teacher was trying to teach me Icelandic or Danish. It wasn’t until many years later I learnt I had dyslexia,” she says.
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