Building Global Networks for Innovation: Insights from Ulf Borbos on Healthcare, Medtech, and International Collaboration.

Tell us briefly about yourself.
My name is Ulf Borbos, I am 63 years old. I have worked as an entrepreneur and business owner since I was 17. I have experience working in both private companies and public organizations. In recent years, I have been working for Swedish Incubators & Science Park, focusing on Sweden's innovation environment, particularly incubators and science parks. Since 2017, I’ve been an international project manager, helping companies expand into new markets and also welcoming delegations from other countries to Sweden to promote it as a great place to establish businesses. My work has been oriented in both directions, dealing with companies and organizations across Europe, Asia, and the U.S. I am deeply interested in building connections and trust between companies and organizations to enable long-term collaboration. That's a bit about me.

What previous projects have you worked on, and what have you taken from them?
As I mentioned, I’ve worked closely with various types of government agencies. I’ve managed projects focused on bringing digitalization, AI, and Medtech to India over the past two years, where we conducted three delegation trips to the country. In these international projects, the key lesson is how important it is to find trustworthy partners in other countries and to understand and bridge cultural differences in business. Long-term strategies are crucial when working internationally, and finding partners who are good to collaborate with is essential. What I take from these experiences is the importance of building what I call "trustworthy networks" – networks where you have reliable partners. It’s hard to fully understand a new market when you first enter it, especially in large markets like the U.S. and India, but creating these networks is key. The strong networks I've built are assets I can reuse, maintaining strong relationships with those who can add value.

You are now involved in the Health3-2-1 project. Tell us about it and Swecare's role in it.
Health 3-2-1 involves entering three markets: two regions in the U.S. and the U.K. We aim to help companies from Sweden, Finland, and Estonia establish themselves in these markets, find partners, and secure business deals. This is essentially similar to the work I’ve done in other projects for Swedish Incubators & Science Parks, with the main difference being that this project focuses exclusively on Medtech, Health, and Biotech. Previously, I worked across various sectors, like energy, but for this project, I need to strengthen my network within Medtech and Health. I already have a decent network, though.

Swecare's role in this project is to collaborate with our Finnish and Estonian partners. We've divided the markets somewhat – the American market is handled by our Finnish partners and Swecare, while Estonia takes responsibility for the U.K. market. We will help the companies prepare for these markets by addressing their IP (intellectual property), business cultures, and helping them access networks we've established, as well as attending trade fairs. In total, there will be three trips, and Swecare is responsible for managing one of the trips to the U.S., where both my colleague Anna and I will be involved.

What would you say are your main strengths?
My main strengths are that I am calm, methodical, and good at building trust with partners in different countries, and maintaining those relationships. Some of the relationships I've built have lasted for 15 to 20 years. For me, it’s very important to show that there is value in maintaining these relationships. I believe my greatest contribution to this project is the network I've already established, but I am also good at building new ones.

Why do you want to work on Health3-2-1?
I think the healthcare sector, in particular, is a worthy cause. It's about ensuring that people have a good quality of life. Perhaps it's because I'm older now that I realize the importance of good healthcare and proper management as health issues arise. When you're young, you can be very active and so on, but as you get older, you start to realize how important it is to have good healthcare and a proper way to manage when ailments arise. This is mostly an ethical motivation for me – I want to contribute to a sustainable system, not just in Sweden, but also help Sweden develop its healthcare system. Additionally, by helping our companies succeed globally, we can contribute to better healthcare and improved health outcomes in other parts of the world. That's why I find this work interesting.

What challenges do you think you will face during the project?
The challenges in projects like this, with multiple partners, always involve ensuring that the partnership works well – that the team can work together effectively and leverage the strengths of each partner for the greatest benefit. That’s one challenge. Another is finding the right partners in a U.S. market that I haven't been involved in before. I have general contacts there, but in terms of identifying the specific geographical market and establishing the right partnerships within that area, that will be a challenge for me.

There is already established expertise among the project partners, especially in Medtech, Healthtech, and Biotech, so I will certainly make the most of that. But as I said, the challenge will be bringing the right companies into the project. They need to have a good enough product or service and enough capability to embark on the journey toward an international market. Finding the right companies can be a challenge, but it has worked in the past, so why not this time as well.