How trust, structure, and data are shaping collaboration in the Nordics

Successful university-industry collaboration is not built overnight, nor is it sustained through contracts alone. At the core of every long-term partnership is trust, but this kind of trust requires more than goodwill. It’s built through openness, sustained effort, and leadership commitment. In contrast to one-off project-based collaborations, the most successful partnerships are those that are resilient to short-term fluctuations — economic or otherwise.

This article draws on insights from a panel at the UIIN Nordic Forum 2025, hosted by the University of Oslo, where startups, large industry players, and research-intensive universities came together to explore how they are approaching collaboration differently through innovative partnership models that are adaptable, and future-focused.

Building trust before the funding

Kirsten Jensen, Head of Enterprise and Collaboration at Aarhus University, offered one example from her institution where a partnership began without any formal funding agreement in place, with partners choosing instead to invest first in mutual understanding and shared objectives. This foundation, she argued, is what enables partnerships to grow and evolve over time.

Several key factors were identified in creating this kind of trust-based collaboration: long-term commitment that outlasts funding cycles; senior leadership buy-in to embed partnerships institutionally; transparency and openness to counter siloed cultures; and continuous dialogue to ensure mutual understanding at every stage of the journey.

Pål Hasvold, Medical Evidence Director, AstraZeneca NoBa, added to this conversation by highlighting several important aspects of successful partnerships, particularly in the highly regulated healthcare sector. He stressed the significance of long-term commitment, noting that partnerships should be built on a shared understanding rather than driven by short-term financial returns. These collaborations, he pointed out, must withstand economic fluctuations and remain focused on long-term value creation.

One of Pål’s most striking points was about openness in partnerships. While certain elements of the collaboration must remain confidential, he emphasised that much can be shared to build mutual understanding.

Strengthening partnerships is about building trust and opening up. Some things are sacred, but the majority of things can actually be shared. And by sharing, we gain a better understanding of where our focus should be.

Pål Hasvold, AstraZeneca NoBa

Governance that grows with the partnership

Trust may be essential, but structure makes it sustainable. As partnerships evolve, especially in industries facing regular change (e.g., mergers, acquisitions, shifting R&D priorities), having strong governance in place is crucial.

At KTH, Johan Blaus, Senior Advisor, Collaboration and Partnerships, shared that each strategic partnership is structured around dual leadership: a senior academic lead and a professional facilitator. This pairing ensures both scientific credibility and strategic alignment, and allows the university to respond flexibly as priorities shift on either side.

Each partnership at KTH has a dual leadership structure: a senior academic PI and a professional facilitator. This ensures alignment between strategy and execution.

Johan Blaus, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

What’s more, KTH allows partners to propose strategic priorities directly to top management — creating a sense of ownership and ensuring the collaboration reflects real-world needs. The structure also helps tackle internal challenges, such as coordinating across faculties and disciplines, and ensures continuity even when staff turnover or organisational restructuring occur. Other institutions, like Aarhus University, have built internal working groups with faculty representation from across departments to ensure collaborations are institutionally embedded and not dependent on individuals alone.

The role of data and the value of trade

Data is often described as the new currency, and in the world of university-industry collaboration, it’s becoming a central asset. Yet while universities are rich in data, they often face internal and regulatory barriers that make it difficult to share and use that data effectively with external partners.

This is especially true in data-sensitive fields like healthcare. In the Nordic context, where health data is both high quality and well-structured, the potential for innovation is enormous, but so too are the challenges related to regulation, ownership, and ethical oversight. Access to consolidated and protected data is a prevailing need, particularly in healthcare, where the ability to seamlessly aggregate patient data could revolutionise clinical practices, service delivery, and research outcomes.

One solution shared by Alison Sundset, CEO of Holocare, involved a barter-style agreement. In a case where a partner couldn’t afford their product — in this instance, holograms — Holocare agreed to exchange the product for access to data. These kinds of non-monetary arrangements can be especially powerful in early-stage collaborations or when working with resource-constrained partners.

This kind of creative thinking, the panel noted, not only opens up new forms of value exchange but also underscores the importance of shaping data governance frameworks that enable rather than hinder collaborative innovation.

Bridging the gap with government

Finally, the session turned to the role of public sector stakeholders — often overlooked in university-industry discussions, but critical to the overall innovation ecosystem. One recurring challenge is the misalignment of timelines, processes, and expectations between academia and government.

To bridge this gap, the City of Stockholm took the bold step of embedding a senior government official full-time within KTH for a year. The goal was not to supervise or manage, but to understand; to build internal networks, identify collaboration opportunities, and learn how the university system actually worked. According to Johan, this model “transformed” the collaboration.

Embedding external stakeholders within university operations (whether from government, industry, or civil society) helps break down silos and fosters shared language and long-term cooperation. Several speakers also called for more structured mechanisms to translate academic research into actionable policy, including dedicated roles or pathways for integrating evidence into decision-making.

From principles to practice

The session made one thing clear: Innovative partnerships aren’t built on novelty alone — they’re built on practice. From trading data for expertise to embedding facilitators and policymakers inside institutions, the examples shared at the UIIN Nordic Forum 2025 point to a growing maturity in how partnerships are approached across the Nordics.

What ties them all together is a commitment to relationship-building — backed by strategic structures, shared ownership, and a willingness to adapt. Whether you’re in academia, industry, or government, the message is the same: collaboration thrives when it’s treated not as a transaction, but as a long-term investment.

Ready for more?

Our accompanying article, What the Nordics can teach us about strategic collaboration, delves into the mechanisms behind the Nordics’ success in building resilient, cross-sector alliances that drive innovation and societal progress.

Also, our brief Building strategic and sustainable university–industry partnerships will help you move beyond ad hoc engagements and build strategic, sustainable university–industry partnerships that are resilient, impactful, and future-ready.

Madeline Arkins (author) is a Project Officer at UIIN. In her work, she focuses on topics relating to social impact and innovation in regional ecosystems.