Impact Innovation

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Impact Innovation is Sweden’s latest major initiative for innovation to tackle the challenges of our time and the future. In March 2024, a total of five impact programs were launched, one of which is Net Zero Industry.

Impact Innovation is an actor-driven, long-term initiative with international connections that aims to contribute to sustainable change and strengthen Sweden’s global competitiveness. The programs within the initiative are necessary because the world is facing complex challenges that require us to think in new ways and do things differently.

We need to transform society as a whole in a short period of time, and we need to transform entire systems to break out of traditional silos. A common foundation for all programs is that we focus on mission and use system innovation as our working method.

Read more about Impact Innovation.

What are missions and system innovation?

Missions are ambitious and clear goals based on society’s needs. For Net Zero Industry, the mission is a competitive and resilient Swedish manufacturing industry with net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

A mission-oriented approach involves changing entire systems. This requires an interdisciplinary perspective and commitment from actors at all levels of the system. Among other things, this means breaking down silos and enabling actors who do not traditionally collaborate to meet to discuss problems and solutions. The purpose of this approach is for everyone to strive in the same direction with a common goal in focus.

System innovation is a comprehensive approach that mobilises technology, market mechanisms, regulations and social innovations, among other things, to solve complex societal problems. This is done in a set of interacting or interdependent components that form a complete “socio-technical system”. One way of working with system innovation is to integrate different system dimensions such as technology, processes, business models, infrastructure, culture, and policies into analysis and implementation.