IoT World – National Collaboration Platform for IoT and Digital Transformation
The IoT World project aims to strengthen Sweden’s innovation system, improve Sweden's small and medium-sized enterprises and public actors’ digital maturity, and support a sustainable and competitive economy.
About
Sweden’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and public sector organizations face significant challenges in adopting digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). Despite strong potential for innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness, digital transformation is unevenly distributed across regions and sectors. Many actors lack the resources, competence, and access to test environments needed to implement IoT solutions. At the same time, existing innovation initiatives are often fragmented, limiting knowledge sharing, scaling, and national coordination. This creates a need for a unified, long-term structure that connects companies, academia, public organizations, and innovation environments across Sweden.
The IoT World project addresses this need by establishing a national collaboration platform for IoT and digital transformation. The overall aim is to strengthen Sweden’s innovation system, improve SMEs’ and public actors’ digital maturity, and support a sustainable and competitive economy. By scaling up the existing regional IoT World cluster in Östergötland into a national model, the project seeks to create a coherent ecosystem that enables knowledge exchange, access to expertise, and cross-sector collaboration.
Project partners
The project is led by Linköping Science Park, which is responsible for coordination, administration, and communication. Core partners include:
- RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) – providing technical expertise, test environments, and applied research in IoT, AI, and cybersecurity.
- Linköping University (LiU) – contributing research-based knowledge and technological leadership.
- Uppsala University – ensuring continuity from the national IoT Sweden program and supporting knowledge transfer.
- Regional science parks and innovation environments in Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, Dalarna, Västernorrland, Stockholm, and Östergötland.
- Industry partners such as Hi3G Access (3), and SMEs across multiple sectors.
- Public actors, including regions and municipalities.
- Innovation and civil society actors, such as Internetstiftelsen and sectoral networks.
By bringing together this broad partnership, IoT World aims to transform fragmented digital initiatives into a coordinated national force that accelerates Sweden’s digital and green transition through IoT-driven innovation.
Objectives
The project’s main objectives for the period 2026–2029 are to:
- Establish a long-term national collaboration model with seven regional nodes that can sustain the platform after the project ends.
- Create an active ecosystem involving at least 100 participating organizations in digital platforms and events.
- Deliver at least 50 targeted support initiatives for SMEs, such as advisory services, small test projects, and competence development.
- Stimulate new research and innovation projects involving academia, industry, and the public sector.
Through these objectives, IoT World aims to raise digital maturity, promote sustainable business models, and increase Sweden’s international competitiveness.
The project places strong emphasis on sustainability, inclusion, and equality. Activities are designed to reach underrepresented groups, promote gender balance, and ensure accessibility.
IoT solutions are explicitly linked to climate action, energy efficiency, smart cities, and circular economy goals, aligning the project with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (notably SDGs 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 17).
Methodology
The project uses a hub-and-node structure. A national hub coordinates strategy, communication, and partnerships, while seven regional nodes—based in science parks and innovation environments—deliver activities tailored to local strengths such as smart cities, energy, industrial IoT, and digital infrastructure. This structure allows both national alignment and regional relevance.
Key methods include:
- Coordination and knowledge transfer: Regular collaboration between nodes ensures shared learning, harmonized methods, and national visibility.
- Competence development: SMEs and public actors receive guidance, training, and access to experts in IoT, sustainability, and digital transformation.
- Test and demo projects: Small-scale pilot projects allow organizations to experiment with IoT solutions in real-world settings.
- Networking and matchmaking: Events, workshops, and digital platforms connect companies, researchers, and public actors across sectors. Digital tools play a central role in ensuring broad access to knowledge regardless of geography, reducing participation barriers and travel-related emissions.
- International engagement: The project encourages participation in international projects and collaboration through networks such as the International Association of Science Parks (IASP).