Karin Ekdahl Wästberg, the Director of Innovation for the City of Stockholm, has been awarded the KTH Prize for industrial collaboration. She is passionate about innovation and helping young people realize that higher education is possible.
On 11 April, she was awarded the prize in connection with KTH’s academic ceremony as announced in this interview on KTH website.
Karin Ekdahl Wästberg is also the chair of the Societal Committee supporting the board of industrial and societal partners of Digital Futures. Here, partners find a platform to identify shared technologies and challenges, fostering multi-partner collaborations aligned with academic excellence.
Ekdahl Wästberg’s efforts in digitalization, urban development, and technological innovation have led to groundbreaking projects that have made a tangible contribution to sustainable and efficient societal development. She believes in the Triple Helix collaboration, where academia, the municipality, and the business community work together, which has contributed to Stockholm’s high ranking in innovation.
“We are a mega-organisation with 46,000 employees and one of Sweden’s largest employers. One of my tasks is to ensure that the city can be used as a test bed for research and innovation. We are becoming a smarter city with all our collaborations and learning,” says Karin Ekdahl Wästberg.
Ekdahl Wästberg plans to use the prize money to help more young people understand the opportunities available in higher education. She wants to provide access to research being conducted in the city and highlight the various professions in the field of science and technology. Ekdahl Wästberg hopes to engage more young people and ensure that they do not miss out on higher education due to perceived barriers.
The KTH Industrial Collaboration Prize recognises and rewards efforts that promote deep and close collaboration between industry and academia.
The Collaboration Prize is awarded once a year to a person who has contributed to collaboration between industry and academia. The prize can be awarded to someone from industry, business or academia.
