Nordic Life Science 1
74 AstraZeneca BioVentureHub is perhaps one of th
e most exciting innovation models of PPP seen in the Nordics to date. “Historically if you asked someone about pharma innovation the answer you would get was a new medicine, something that was done in a lab or a clinic and that is not what we are facing today. We see that the future will be about combining medicine with smart intelligence, with sensors and other ICT technologies. The whole definition of innovation is changing. Because of this we are seeing more and more life science companies going digital and digital companies going life science, and there is often a lack of complementary skills and know-how,” says Magnus Björsne. “The BioVenture Hub aims to fertilize cross sector convergence as a driver for innovation and much of what we are trying to achieve therefore circles back to shortage of skills and knowledge. We are not experts in the digital space, that is not our heritage, but by inviting non-competing scale up companies to drive their business from inside AstraZeneca this facilitates acceleration in knowledge, culture, and innovation.” Another cornerstone to all skills shortage discussions is the question of how we are working with government policy that supports attraction and flow of international talent to the Nordics – one of the more contentious and debated subjects. In a discussion paper produced by McKinsey in 2020, where the focus was the future of work in Europe, they estimated that in Europe “STEM-related occupations could grow by more than 20 percent in the coming decade, with STEM skills already in short supply.” They cited the importance of labor mobility as one solution to the shortage of skills. In the study they estimated that less than 60 percent of expected job growth can be filled by existing residents in what they term “superstar hubs”, of which Sweden, Denmark and Finland are an example. Medicon Valley Alliance works closely and supports regional agencies such as Copenhagen Capacity and Invest in Skåne that are working globally with attracting talent. One project they have set up with Invest in Skåne is an EU Interreg Signature project to attract talent within the microbiome fields. “The purpose of the project is to actively attract international talent within this field, which we have identified as a current and future stronghold in Medicon Valley,” says Anette Steenberg. She maintains that “Besides making an effort in attracting foreign talent, countries and companies need to make it easy for foreign talent whether that be visa, setting up a bank account, finding a house, school for kids, work permits for spouses and generally welcoming them into our homes and societies.” Helena Strigård, Director General of SwedenBIO agrees that whilst it is a shared responsibility between public and private sector to solve the skills shortages problem, “The policies surrounding for instance the possibility for skilled workers of non-Swedish nationality to work, and to be attracted to work, in Sweden is something which lies in the hands of the government.” Unfortunately, not enough is being done to address the importance of securing Sweden’s attractiveness to international experts, be it key competences in manufacturing or board members, she says. “A different approach is needed toward how to build Swedish life sciences strongly upon a global skills base. Lots of aspects come into play here, from how the tax system works to migration policies.” Sweden’s national life science strategy highlights that measures are needed both to effectively recruit internationally and to improve conditions nationally to produce the skills in demand. Therefore, one might wonder if a proposed new criterion for obtaining permanent residency in Sweden is the best move to encourage international mobility of talent. Ole Petter Ottersen, President at Karolinska Institutet wrote in his blogpost earlier this year that this proposal does not seem very well thoughtthrough. “It’s not a successful strategy to in effect block an influx of international talent, and it stands in stark contrast to the express goal of the recent research bill – that Sweden is to be one of the world’s leading research and innovation countries and an outstanding knowAnni Siltanen, Chief Advisor Skills & Competence, the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland CAREERS