The program, Business Development for Aerospace (BDA) is tailored to help small and medium enterprises (SME’s) tap the aerospace market, increasing awareness of business opportunities and needs within this rapidly growing industry as well as connecting SME’s with potential customers.
New business for local companies
The space industry is experiencing strong growth and has an ongoing need for subcontractors in manufacturing, construction, transport, IT, project management, staffing, etc. BDA is launched to make it easier for local companies to do new business.
– This is a win-win opportunity – local companies can seize the new business and learn about an unfamiliar market. Meanwhile, the established aerospace research and industry system benefits from local subcontractors and collaborations, says Emil Svanberg, innovation manager at LTU Business.
The program runs in parallel with other activities that enable companies to start looking for new business directly, such as match-making and study visits.
Participating companies
Boliden Electro
BnearIT
Coorstek
Actas Space / Actas Konsult
Mirror
JIT Mech
Midroc
Aiming for a new national benchmark
BDA is an initiative within the regional development project Rymd för Innovation och Tillväxt (Space for Innovation and Growth) (RIT2021). The program has been developed in collaboration between researchers at Luleå University of Technology and business development experts at LTU Business to support the strategic development within Aerospace Cluster Sweden, a national network and industry association. The program is the first of its kind and may be expanded to other regions.
– Northern Sweden is already a leading space region and we strive to be pioneers in linking the space industry with local business as well, says Olle Persson, Luleå University of Technology.
New jobs and tax revenue
In the end, the the RIT2021 project is about creating a more competitive region.
– We want to create an ecosystem of established industry, research, local subcontractors and research. Not least, it supports sustainable growth for the region, as SMEs create important jobs and tax revenue.
Background
According to the European Investment Bank (EIB), the space sector is growing almost twice faster than the rest of the global economy. Growth is driven by new technologies and applications that enable value chains with lower threshold. At the same time, the sector is a key to solving global challenges – not least in climate and environment.
RIT 2021 is a broad-based, close partnership between academia and industry and the public sector with a total budget of SEK 60 million. RIT 2021 is run by Luleå University of Technology, LTU Business, IRF and Arctic Business, with support from OHB Sweden, SSC, GKN Aerospace, Region Norrbotten, Kiruna Municipality, Luleå Municipality, Sparbanken Nord and the EU.
Luleå University of Technology conducts leading research in space and offers Sweden’s only civil engineering degree in space technology and several internationally popular master’s programs in space.
LTU Business is a consulting firm helping clients develop sustainable innovations, strategies and collaborations that lead to a better society by adding leading methods, tools and cutting-edge expertise. LTU Business is owned by Luleå University of Technology, Scandinavia’s northernmost technological university, with the overall aim of promoting collaboration between academia and society, with a focus on business and public operations in northern Sweden and Europe.
Aerospace Cluster Sweden is Sweden’s formal cluster for the aerospace industry. With the aim of strengthening Sweden’s international position in the sector, a network is created to create business, innovation and growth.