Uppsala Innovation Day

Think globally, innovate locally? The concept of development and innovation may at times feel abstract and hard to grasp. How could such global values be conceptualized in the life of the ordinary citizen, in an ordinary town? As we at Uttryck Magazine also occasionally ponder these questions, we were especially happy to be invited to Uppsala Innovation Day 2024, hosted by Uppsala Innovation Centre.

The point of the Centre is to support different start-ups, varying in idea and output whilst sharing the goal of revolutionising their respective fields through bleeding-edge entrepreneurship. This point was well taken, as the locale was packed like an indoor bazaar; merchants peddling their smorgasbord of ideas, while prospective innovators preached their gospels from atop a centrally raised platform. And then there were the two of us, equipped with questions and the recorders on our phones.

Innovation is often presented as the end-all be-all solution for everything, which therefore naturally also brings to mind the many challenges of humanity in the 21st century: the need for greater productivity, for safety, effectiveness and affordability; the need to address climate change; and the need for our politics (and politicians) to be able to simultaneously embrace change while not being overwhelmed by it. To get a grasp of all the different ambitions here, we interviewed a selection of organisations present.

With the AI-boom that followed the advent of ChatGPT, the potential of that technology to revolutionise nearly everything it touches has spread out across society like a great cloud, exciting many that it may revitalise the dry soil of our economy and institutions – and worrying some that it heralds a coming storm.

For example, we spoke with Nazar Akrami who, together with his colleagues at Mind Intelligence Lab (a company he co-founded), is creating an AI-model which would identify and notify users of potential ways in which their communication could be interpreted as toxic. By using a screen as your primary mode of communication, one may forget the human being on the receiving end. Generally, he hopes that this could moderate and humanise the conversational climate online. He discusses certain specific uses, such as de-toxifying conversations between divorced parents, and collaborating with government agencies to create a better climate for debate, something he points out is an issue for democracy above all. Throughout this, and under our questioning, he threads the fine line between AI helping humans understand their behaviour better, while not directly intervening to stop it.

We also saw how AI could be used within the field of medicine, by speaking to Peter Dahlberg, representing the company Enaiblers. Their mission is to develop a more efficient model of diagnostics, using the power of AI to quickly analyse tests, detect patterns and establish a relevant diagnosis. Being primarily targeted towards tropical diseases, its target group is developing countries, which above all have a need for small-scale and affordable system which can be integrated with even a basic healthcare system. Furthermore, the technology doesn’t make use of generative AI, and thus isn’t that demanding of energy. AI for Enaiblers serves as a way to cut through the slow process of training a human being to do the same, while also eliminating the general inefficiencies and inaccuracies of the human mind.  

Another common topic adjacent to innovation is the combination of economic growth and the rise of standards-of-living with that of environmentalism and halting (or at least slowing down) climate change. This is usually termed “sustainable development” (or “hållbar utveckling” in Swedish), and was also something present at Uppsala Innovation Day.

One such example is a self-driven, electric tractor as developed by Traktorarvid AB, who’s representative, Arvid Örde, we also interviewed. Functioning in the same manner as a electric lawn mower, its route is adjusted through a predeveloped system. Through the use of a GPS, it can work at a precision of +- 2 cm. Beyond allowing for the electrification of an agricultural machine, it can also help the agricultural sector in decreasing its dependence on fossil fuel. As such, it can be an environmentally friendly alternative which can help the sector become free of fossil fuel for 2030, an important global goal in addressing climate change.

Another problem to be fixed is that of local environmental degradation. Johan Lundqvist, of BioCell Analytica, is focused on creating a far more efficient way of analysing toxins and pollutants in water. As he describes it, the current problem is that you have to actively go looking for the pollutants you are interested in, to then set up acceptable levels for those specific pollutants. His pitch then is that those pollutants which have been sought after and identified constitute only the “tip of the iceberg” – a phrase he also proudly displays on a poster behind him, to illustrate his point. BioCell Analytica changes the approach to measure the sum toxicity of the water itself, which could then provide a far clearer picture of the many and diverse pollutants present.

Closing out, we went and spoke to Andreas Christoffersson of Uppsala Kommun, who were co-hosting the event. As a government employee, he viewed the prospect of AI with great excitement. Within administrative work, AI could be of help to streamline organizations and handling of matters. It could also help with legal issues, as it can quickly compare cases to legal praxis and laws. Although seeming very optimistic about the future of AI, he saw municipalities requiring carefulness as being something positive in the case of AI. Unlike venture capitalists, who can rush headfirst into any new and shiny thing, local government had to match their curiosity with caution. The balancing act we discussed is the beginning, rather than the end, of a long debate that will, quite possibly, come to define society in the 21st century.