"Innovate like a Swede" contest beckons Vietnamese youth

Anh Kiet 07:51, 2018/08/24

A nationwide contest named “Innovate like a Swede” is an annual innovation contest for Vietnamese students with the purpose to encourage creativity and to find innovative solutions for a challenge faced in a local context.

The Embassy of Sweden along with the Vietnam's Ministries of Education and Training, Science and Technology and Natural Resources and Environment on August 23 kicked off the “Innovate like a Swede” contest for 2018.

Swedish Ambassador Pereric Högberg speaks at the kick-off event

The contest heads to inspire sustainable development in response to the many challenges that Vietnam faces in terms of climate change and sustainable development issues.

The focus Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for 2018 will be goal number 11: Sustainable cities and communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

The UN SDGs are a key priority for the Swedish government as well as one of the major tasks for the world as a whole. “Innovate like a Swede” contest for 2018 aims to inspire students in Vietnam to use innovation as a means to reaching an SDG in a Vietnamese context.

The contest is organized by the Embassy of Sweden together with Swedish companies on the ground ABB, AstraZeneca, Electrolux, Ericsson, IKEA, SKF, TetraPak and Uppsala University.

A century ago, Sweden was among the poorest nations in Europe. Sweden has a relatively a small population with 10 million people or 0.14 percent of the global population. Yet today, it is a world leader in innovation. A number of international indexes have been developed in a bid to measure the ability of countries to create environments that encourage innovation. According to them, Sweden is one of the most creative places on the map.

“Some of the world’s most successful innovators are from Sweden. Let’s discuss the question: What makes Sweden so innovative? I believe Sweden benefits from having many basic components already in place, such as economic stability, an inclusive school system where critical thinking is key, safety and security, openness and access to information. In an environment seeing thing with curiosity, creativity and experimentation, people get the chance to grow, develop their ideas, probe, test, fail and do it again. And to meet others who may be pursuing different approaches,” said Swedish Ambassador Pereric Högberg.

The participants will form teams of two and their contribution will be assessed based on whether the entries are innovative, creative, feasible, sustainable and commercially viable, as well as on what kind of lasting impact they will have.

The jury consists of representatives from participating Swedish companies and a Swedish University which provides an amazing opportunity for students to pitch their solutions and innovative ideas to representatives from both the private and public sector in Vietnam.

The contest’s first prize is a trip to Sweden and a visit to a couple of Swedish companies’ headquarters and Uppsala University. The runner-ups will be given internship opportunities at Swedish companies in Vietnam.

The deadline for submission is 28 October 2018.

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