CDT in brief
CDT’s mission is to accelerate digital innovations for sustainable impact, based on high quality scientific research.
WE CONNECT ACADEMIA, INDUSTRY AND SOCIETY AT LARGE IN RESEARCH, DESIGN AND INNOVATION, INCLUDING KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROCESSES
OUR PARTNERS ARE:
• Academia
• Developers, Suppliers and End-Users of Digital Infrastructure and Solutions
• Society
• Research and Innovation financiers
• Policy makers
CDT OPERATIONS ARE; RESEARCH, DESIGN AND INNOVATION INTEGRATION:
• Projects
• Proposals
• Experimentation
• Spin-off support
NETWORKING AND COLLABORATION
• External (e.g. ENoLL, Net World Europe, EARMA, IoT Forum, Swedish Datacenter Industry Association Swedsoft, BDVA, AIOTI)
• LTU internal, partners (e.g. meeting with researchers, partner networking and events)
• Local: Luleå Business & Economic Development, IT Industry Association, IUC Norr, RISE SICS North AB, Luleå Science Park, Skellefteå Science City
• Experience of EU FP 4, 5, 6, 7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe
KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION AND COMMUNICATION
• Webinars
• Workshops
• Handbooks
• Courses
• Conferences
FUTURE FUNDING INFLUENCE
• Contribution to policies, roadmaps, lobbying, research agendas and programs
• Future studies
• Regional development plans
Key Areas
We are looking for new collaborations in the following areas with great challenges, change and impact.
Smart communities
• Digitalization in cities, regions, and rural areas
• Open data and Data-driven decision making
• Digital Inclusion
• Digital Healthcare and Welfare
• Digital cultural and creative solutions
Cloud and Edge Computing
• Cloud-to-Edge-to-IoT continuum
• Green, energy efficient, datacenters of the future
• Focus on sustainability, security, scalability, and smart algorithms
• Efficient distributed and software defined systems
Digitization for green transition
• Twin Transition - Green and Digital
• Green Traceability
• Smart Grids
• System demonstrators Communication
• Further development and tests around 5G Advanced and introduction of 6G
• Research around 6G
• Rural coverage
• Resilient networks
• Non-terrestrial networks and airspace
Become a CDT partner
CDT offers an integrated environment of people, infrastructure, tools, processes and services for research, development, innovation and test.
CDT:
• Creates and develops partnerships
• Provides access to contacts/networks
• Initiates and runs collaboration projects regionally, nationally and internationally
• Develops and provides test beds and system demonstrators, i.e. within 5G, 6G and edge
• Accelerates new researchers/research topics with help in applications and projects
• Bridges cultures and works across borders regarding subject areas, organizations and national borders
• Exercises strategic influence on funding programs, policies, etc.
The CEO Perspective
Another year has come to an end and it is time to sum up the activities in our project portfolio where we gradually could go back to a more traditional way of working on site, a greater number of seminars and meetings where we could meet as usual and also travel, albeit not back to the levels that prevailed before the pandemic.
As before, our sustainable collaboration model provides great opportunities for projects where the results have impact in business, the public sector and in society at large. During the year, we have secured new projects in everything from digital urban development to 5G-connected substations, future 6G networks and completely new opportunities for music creation. The newly started projects will be carried out in a regional, national and international context just as before. Financiers are as usual the European Commission,Vinnova, and EU’s regional development fund plus the newly started Interreg program Aurora.
During 2022, we have - in addition to the traditional project activities - also carried out strategy planning, where our board in December decided that the activities will henceforth include four focus areas: Smart Communities; Digitization for the Green Industrial Transition; Cloud and Edge Computing; and Communication Networks.
We are also proud that our 5G test bed, which we operate together with Telia, Ericsson and RISE, has been further developed during the year. It will be further enhanced in 2023 offering new features and testing opportunities.
In conclusion, I and the staff at CDT would like to thank you for an excellent collaboration during the past year. We look forward a lot to discussing new project ideas and deepening our cooperation. Welcome to contact us!
Luleå
and Skellefteå, December 2022 Professor Karl Andersson, CEOSome activities during 2022
Thank you to everyone who participated during the Arctic Challenge Hackathon 2022!
Over three days, students, researchers and developers solved business problems in IoT, Edge computing, 5G and information security. Read more at: https://arcticchallenge.se/
Final seminar
Our national research centre for resource and energy efficient datacenters; Cloudberry Datacenters, mainly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, have gathered for its final seminar. During almost 5 years, our PhD students together with their supervisors have made significant progress and delivered state-of-the-art results in a plethora of areas covering the whole datacenter value chain from construction, via energy recovery and electrical power installations, to blockchain solutions and modern control architectures.
Thanks to all presenters Cristina Ramos Caceres, Henrik Barestrand, Johannes Sjölund, Hampus Ljungkvist, Jil Sutaria, Kazi Main Uddin Ahmed (delivered by Jil Sutaria), Sarah Rönnberg (presenting on behalf of Manuel Alvarez), Johan Simonsson, Yulia Berezovskaya, Olov Schelén (presenting on behalf of Lara Lorna Jiménez) and Ahmed Afif Monrat for great summaries of your work! And special thanks to Isabelle Kemlin, CBRE, delivering a very interesting and forward-looking keynote.
Check out our project web site for all presentations and other updates: https://cloudberry-datacenters.com/
Data center industry development
In March 2022, industry professionals and business developers in the data center industry gathered to network digitally and listen to presentations for half a day. Topics raised during the meeting were 5G, IoT, Edge, AI and the lifecycle of data centers. The author and journalist Anders Steinvall also talked about his book Batterifabriken. His theme was the successful establishment work that has been done regarding Northvolt’s huge battery factory that is now being built in Skellefteå. Anders shared insight about what has been done right and what others can learn from this, including to build pride, a brand building for the city and to have high ambitions around the future strategy well rooted among the people.
Management from Telia Sweden and researchers from Ericsson visited CDT
Participants were Telia's Swedish sales director Tobias Larsson, Telia Sweden's business development and innovation director Magnus Leonhardt and Joel Bucht, Territory Executive at Telia. Ingemar Johansson, researcher at Ericsson, also participated with a demonstration of one of CDT's test cases with a 5G connected radio-controlled car. During the meeting, future possibilities were discussed.
Tobias Larsson writes this about the visit: "The type of research that takes place at LTU, CDT and RISE where they conduct top-level research and close collaboration with us in the business world can really create value for many. The research that takes place around 5G, Edge and AI are very important for Sweden to remain at the forefront of digitalization, and already today helps healthcare, industry and many others with innovative technical solutions. In many of the projects we have had the privilege of being a partner for many years, and we look forward to many more years of research, innovation and community development projects. "
New data center brochure
The fifth edition of the regional data center brochure is now available.
Welcome to read it here:
https://issuu.com/meland6/docs/ datacenter_svensk_2022_final
AI-webinar with Polarbröd
Polarbröd's IT manager talked about their digitization work of the entire value chain and a short lecture on AI and decision-making was held in November. See the recording of the event at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2-aRafUjbQ
AI Factory – opportunities and challenges
In March, a webinar was held with information about the AI Factory – a concept now being developed for the use of new technologies on a digital platform used to facilitate fact-based, data-driven decisions. The goal is for the process to be automated for analysis and decision support and for operation and maintenance in order to achieve increased sustainability, reliability and capacity. The basic idea is that the universal part of the AI Factory can be specially adapted for several industries, based on their different needs in order to accelerate the digitization of various work processes by jointly sharing data and increasing the use of AI technology. Saab Aeronautics participated as an industrial example.
Distribution of community information
A webinar on digital information screens was held in May. During the meeting, we shared experiences and lessons learned from our pilot work around information screens we are testing in Norrbotten’s rural areas in the DigiBy project. The purpose of the screens is to be able to easily distribute community information from villages, municipalities, etc. During the meeting, examples of the content on the screens were shown and we talked about the importance of the democratization work around getting access to social information, especially towards groups that are not so digitized.
On May 10-11, 2022, the fourth Cloudberry Day seminar was held.
– It has been two inspiring days with presentations from our ongoing Cloudberry Datacenters research center projects. We have promising results, says Michael Nilsson, project manager at CDT.
Project meeting at the ZeroSun house
A project meeting was held in October with the Vinnova project Digital Urban Development - Campus Skellefteå where Luleå University of Technology collaborates with ABB, Skellefteå Kraft and Skellefteå municipality regarding the energy management system of the future. On the agenda was a visit to the Sara cultural center and a tour of the ZeroSun house in Skellefteå and discussions about requirements and design, research on AI and digital twins and the demonstrator environment.
Smart Bygd
CDT participated at Inlandsmässan /Smart Bygd, a two-day event where business, society and schools met in Dorotea, September 30-October 1, 2022. The theme was sustainable society with a focus on, among other things, energy production, fossil-free cars, transport, preparedness in civil defense and emergency services and smart solutions in healthcare.
Digital project will help the rural food store in Muodoslompolo to survive
The store in Muodoslompolo is a test pilot focusing on increasing accessibility for customers and broadening the store’s operations. In the project, the store has had boxes installed where customers can pick up packages and groceries even when the store is closed. There are plans to allow customers to shop in the store outside of opening hours with the help of a digital lock. Read more at www.digiby.se
Meeting with the Mayor
In November, CDT met the Mayor in Luleå municipality Carina Sammeli together with our board chairman Mats Nordberg, Ericsson Research. We discussed CDT’s activities and possibilities for an expanded collaboration around what is happening in the Luleå region right now.
100% connected Sweden - with new technology
The rapid technological development with the rollout of 5G, developments in the satellite area and new methods of energy storage can enable smarter, stronger and more sustainable networks. The technology has the potential to help everyone get access to fast broadband with fewer interruptions. This was something that Annika Svensson, project manager for the project Rural ICT Testbed – #fulltäckning talked about during Telia’s webinar “100% connected Sweden - with new technology”.
DIT4BEARs project meeting
A DIT4BEARs project meeting with Lapland University of Applied Sciences - Finland and The Arctic University of Norway was held in September. The work is focusing on use cases in the areas of smart roads, smart ID blockchain applications, waste management and the prevention of collisions with reindeers on roads. It is co-funded by the European Union. http://dit4bears.org
Business opportunities with the green transition
On 12 May 2022, H2 Green Steel, SSAB, IUC Norr and Luleå University of Technology with the future areas Creaternity and SUN, as well as the hydrogen initiative CH2ESS held an inspiring workshop at Vetenskapens hus for companies about the green transition.
“It was a successful meeting here in Luleå with many interesting discussions. In April, we gathered about 50 participants in Skellefteå, where we collected a number of ideas about future collaborations and subject areas within green transition to include in the continued work. In June, we will meet in Gällivare with the aim of reaching out to stakeholders in Malmfälten, where a number of important projects have now started”, Karl-Andersson said, professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing at Luleå University of Technology and CEO of CDT at Luleå University of Technology.
Starting point for the green transition in northern Sweden
The workshop in Luleå was the second in a series of three creative meet-
ings. The starting point for the workshop was that northern Sweden could become the country’s most important industrial center for the large-scale green transition. Questions that was discussed were: Where is your company in that transition, what needs and challenges and business opportunities do you have as an entrepreneur? The aim of the meetings is to collect material for a future application for implementation projects and to document needs and suggestions for future work.
“Hopefully we can start a large-scale project in the beginning of 2023”, Karl Andersson says.
A similar workshop was held in Gällivare on June 2, then with LKAB, Hybrit and Boliden together with local companies.
Digitization project creates unique energy solutions
Vinnova has granted the project “Digital Urban Development - Campus Skellefteå” funding where Luleå University of Technology collaborates with ABB, Skellefteå Kraft and Skellefteå municipality. In the project, an energy management system will be built to take on the challenge of moving power needs in time and space in a geographical location and thus use the infrastructure more efficiently and more resource-efficiently.
Campus Skellefteå will be a demonstrator environment that includes both existing real estate and the new Arctic Center Of Energy (ACE) building that is planned to be built next to the Skellefteå river between the library and Campushallen.
- The project will last for three years and we will, among other things, work with flexible solutions such as battery storage to optimize energy in the existing buildings, says Karl Andersson who is professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing at Luleå University of Technology and CEO at CDT.
The project will focus on energy producers and users getting more out of the energy by moving away from calculation with annual averages, which is used in normal cases, because consumption can vary greatly from moment
to moment. Instead, the calculations should be broken down to measure hour by hour. It can help reduce climate impact cost and to provide a more efficient use of both energy and the electricity grid.
- With advanced digitization of the entire value chain, artificial intelligence and solutions for smart energy storage in the form of batteries or alternatively hydrogen, it is possible to move this energy use in time, says Karl. The main building in the project will be built on Campus, and use energy “scraped together” from surrounding buildings. An AI will provide information about needs and availability. It will also use simulations to calculate how well energy values follow actual values. It is hoped that in the future the technology will be able to be used in neighborhoods where energy shortages have been an obstacle for further development.
One step closer to the autonomous mine
5G and edge computing will contribute to a higher level of automation in the mining industry. More autonomy will in turn lead to a better working environment and safer mines. – The overall purpose is to create more intelligent systems that will move the boundaries of autonomy, productivity and security in the mines, says Karl Andersson, Professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing at Luleå University of Technology.
5G is now being rolled out broadly in Sweden. 5G means faster transmission capacity and lower delays. If 5G is also combined with edge computing, i.e. software is deployed at the edge of a network instead of running in a traditional data center far from the end user, performance is further improved and real-time applications can be made significantly faster and more responsive. – 5G is a radio access technology with significantly higher data rates, lower delay and lower energy consumption. 5G also creates an IT environment with improved security and the ability to share one and the same physical infrastructure. Add to that the ability to tightly integrate an edge computing environment with the 5G network. All in all, it contributes to an ever-higher level of automation in the mining industry and creates conditions for an improved working environment and safety in the mine, says Karl Andersson. – The long-term vision is the fully automated mine with no people underground where everything is controlled from a control center above ground.
Broad collaboration
The work will take place within the framework of a project whose purpose is to develop a modern edge platform and associated portfolio of edge-aware applications that can be used in the autonomous mine, such as real-time video analysis, autonomous navigation as 5G-connected drones and timesynchronized seismic sensors.
The research institute RISE is one of the partners in the project. They will implement prototypes of edge nodes, both hardware and software.
– The prototypes will be used to demonstrate the project’s applications, both in the 5G test bed at Luleå University of Technology, and later in real mines, says Emil Svanberg, Project Manager at RISE.
Mobile phone coverage a vital issue for rural areas
Mobile coverage for the entire Swedish people is a national goal - but it does not apply to the whole of Sweden. For Gabna Sami village, which lacks nets in its summer pasture, the first step is an installation through the pilot project #fulltäckning.
Currently, there is only patchy mobile coverage in the Swedish mountain world, something that can cause problems. In time for the calf marking this summer, Jon-Anders Svonni, a member of Gabna Sami village, hopes that a hotspot installation next to the summer pasture at Rovvidievva southwest of Abiskojaure will be in place. It is a smaller base station in the form of a shed with an antenna, which will provide better mobile network and telephony in the area. During the bright months, March to October, the entire installation will hopefully be powered by solar cells:
– The goal is having cell phone coverage. Nowadays, you can sometimes get some coverage with a directional antenna, but that does not always work. The idea and hope is that everyone will soon be able to call from the summer pastures. It is a great security to be able to call 112 if something should happen, he says.
The digital spots of the countryside
Annika Svensson works as a project manager at the Centre for DistanceSpanning Technology at Luleå University of Technology, which coordinates the project #fulltäckning. She believes that the problem of inadequate mobile coverage ranges from the coast to the mountain world, while the ability to use your mobile phone is important no matter where you are. Good mobile coverage makes it possible to call for help, use security alarms or simply live in the countryside and have a remote job.
– The national goal for mobile coverage is formulated so that it only covers places where there are people registered. This means, among other things, that the network is not dimensioned for the archipelago, where – in addition to residents – there are also many people who live in their cottages for large parts of the year or are tourists. This is also the reason why there is no mobile coverage along Kungsleden or at the summer residence in Sápmi, says Annika Svensson.
The hope is that within the framework of the project, a mast will now be set up in the Luleå archipelago, with the aim of increasing the coverage there. Mats Gustafsson, who has lived on Storbrändön since 2010, runs an IT company
from home and says that the coverage can differ greatly between different households.
– For me, things run pretty well, but the network is weather sensitive and others may need to leave home to talk – or sometimes have coverage in the kitchen but not in the TV room. Many people have problems with mobile broadband and have to run extra antennas. In addition, a lot of things these days are digitalized, such as remote-controlled air source heat pumps and streaming services, he says.
An important link
The base station in the mountain environment at Rovvidievva southwest of Abiskojaure will also be an important link to the three installations that #fulltäckning made at Laevas Sami village summer pasture in Alesjaure south of Abisko. It was precisely the new mobile coverage in Alesjaure that attracted Gabna Sami village to try it.
– This is a spin-off from Laevas’ project. I was there and helped with the assembly of the sheds, and thought that the same thing would have been very good for us. A positive effect is that our shed will also be an important link for Leavas network, he says.
But it is not just for Gabna Sami village that there will be positive effects, JonAnders Svonni explains:
– Hopefully, everything will be ready by this summer. Networks and telephony will not be available to everyone but require some form of subscription, but you will always be able to alert 112 via these installations, which is good for tourism, mountain rescue services, and other emergency services.
The #fulltäckning project aims to reduce digital alienation by increasing mobile coverage in rural areas – and thereby create opportunities for more people to live and work there. Read more about the project and the participants at fulltäckning.se
Virtual songwriting camp with international participation
For two days, the project BDSW Digital arranged a songwriting camp with songwriters, producers and artists from Norrbotten, London, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.
Create music remotely
The purpose of the songwriting camp was to create the best possible conditions for creating music at a distance regardless of location. Pär Soini, CEO of BD Pop, one of the parties in the project, says:
“The project has carried out a fantastically successful virtual songwriting camp with participants from Sweden, Europe and the USA in order to evaluate the creative process and technology of global camps online. This is the first time we run a camp with so many participants, just over 30, and globally with different time zones. The result will further help us in the work of creating the best possible conditions for creating music at a distance -regardless of place, where the task of technology is to support and adapt to the creative process rather than setting limits.”
Open Innovations
Through Open Innovations and new technology, the project will build new creative processes digitally. The project will develop solutions and industrystrengthening measures and put Norrbotten at the forefront in terms of the
music industry’s development. The goal is to develop a product / service for music creation and for music production at a distance for professional musicians, and to build a network for music production with songwriters, artists and producers from all over the world.
Norrbotten - a metropolis for creation and music production
Michael Nilsson, project manager at CDT, Luleå University of Technology, says:
“We think this is a very exciting and innovative project that can really contribute to making Norrbotten a metropolis for music creation and production by combining creativity, digital technology and our test environments for 5G in a completely new and innovative way.”
The project’s financiers and parties are Region Norrbotten, Luleå Municipality, Skellefteå Municipality, Sparbanken Nord, BD-Pop and the Längmanska Entrepreneurship Fund.
Test environment for 5G inaugurated on Campus Skellefteå
Luleå University of Technology, together with Telia, Infovista and Skellefteå municipality, has inaugurated the 5G test environment on Campus Skellefteå. - Now we take research and triple helix collaboration to a new level, says Karl Andersson, professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing and CEO at CDT.
The purpose of the 5G installation is to establish a research and innovation environment where companies, students and organizations can test innovations and applications.
Michael Carlberg Lax, CIO at Skellefteå municipality, believes that the test environment is a prerequisite for being able to develop new ideas and business opportunities. Christer Åhlund, professor of Pervasive and Mobile Computing, Luleå University of Technology, agrees:
- This is an open environment, where you can test ideas. We want to be an enabler for innovations and a meeting place for business and academia.
Facilitate the use of new technology in healthcare
5G means, among other things, improvements for higher data speeds, shorter delays and higher
reliability. 5G can also facilitate the use of new technology in elderly care and healthcare. It can be about everything from connected shower robots to advanced alarm and monitoring functions. Due to this, there is a project called 5G for health care in Upper Norrland and that is also what lies behind the test environment.
Annika Svensson, project manager and active in the 5G for health care project at Luleå University of Technology, explains:
- New innovations in 5G are important for tomorrow’s smart services for digital care and care to be able to work even in places far outside urban areas. In a county as large as Västerbotten, it can help to compensate for the increased burden on health and care services that an aging population entail. 5G has the opportunity to improve the connection in sparsely populated areas and
reduce the obstacles that sometimes exist with large distances in our region.
About 5G for health care
The project’s overall goal is to make upper Norrland one of the natural innovation environments for developing and testing solutions within 5G for health care. The project is led by Luleå University of Technology and is run together with the Region Norrbotten, Region Västerbotten and the four municipalities Skellefteå, Storuman, Övertorneå and Luleå. In addition, Ericsson, Telia Company and Tieto EVRY are participating in the project. The main financier is the European Regional Development Fund.
Read more www.5gvo.se
Research collaboration will reduce the risk of misunderstandings during emergency calls
The Luleå company Skyresponse and Luleå University of Technology are collaborating to develop automatic transcription of emergency calls with the help of AI.
Accelerates the analysis of emergency calls
Emergency lines are under high pressure and receive calls that are often noisy or of poor quality, or come from callers who speak a different dialect or mother tongue than the operator. These factors can jeopardize the operators’ ability to understand the calls and respond accordingly.
In such situations, operators could benefit greatly from support in the form of noise reduction and automatic real-time transcription. In addition, automatically created transcripts would have the added benefit of speeding up the analysis of emergency calls and the improvement of call handling protocols.
Facilitate the daily work of alarm operators
The aim of the project is to take the first steps towards an automatic transcription system that would help emergency call operators in real time during emergency calls and that would facilitate the analysis of these calls afterwards.
Erik Mattsson, who works in Applied research and development at Skyresponse, says:
“This feasibility study with Luleå University of Technology and the AI project Applied AI DIH North increases the skills of Skyresponse and has the potential to facilitate the daily work of alarm operators.”
He continues:
“It’s about fine-tuning trained models for speech to text. One hope is that in the long run it will enable a service that transcribes the alarm calls on an ongoing basis. Another hope is that the AI model can learn to hear what the alarmist says and reduce the risk for misunderstandings and possible delays in taking action. We would like to investigate whether the model can detect what is said better than the operator himself in case of unexplained sound.”
Alarm handling for different types of alarms
Skyresponse provides alarm handling. These are security alarms for the elderly and sick, personal
alarms for those who may be exposed to threats or risky situations, but also alarms in connected Smart buildings and other IoT areas. An example is sensors that register smoke development when the system forwards it to the right person and alarm center, which then makes an assessment and can send fire brigades, guards or other personnel to the site.
AI assessment of alarms
In the long term, the company hopes that the work will form the basis for automatic translation of voice data, e.g. from a minority language to Swedish, to be able to receive and act on all voice alarms, regardless of language competence at the alarm center.
Erik Mattsson concludes:
“A more futuristic idea is that with AI technology we can in the long run create models that learn to recognize the semantics of the conversation, learn to have a dialogue with the caller and learn to understand what the relevant measures are.”
Increased safety in mines
AI is on its way to becoming a tool to improve the overall security of mining environments. Luleå University of Technology’s researchers in robotics and AI have started a new collaboration with the Luleå company ThingWave with the goal of expanding their digitization platform with new AI functions.
Pioneering results
- The collaboration will give us new opportunities to create groundbreaking results in AI and robotics, says Jens Eliasson, CEO and founder of ThingWave.
State-of-the-art sensing solutions
The company ThingWave is focused on production optimization and safety in industrial environments, such as mining, monitoring of critical structures and production chains. The company started in 2016 as a spin-off from Luleå University of Technology, based on more than 15 years of experience of connected built-in units by Jens Eliasson and Pablo Puñal Pereira. Today, they develop and produce state-of-the-art sensing solutions to increase safety in mining operations, among other things, by measuring air quality and smart bolts to detect structural deformation in underground mines. Both measurements are of the outmost importance for the mining industry as a tool for maintaining the safety of the total underground operation and especially after an explosion. However, these sensing solutions are static and are either based on carrying the sensing devices or integrating them into vehicles and other types of machines and the smart bolts have a permanent structural integration.
AI-based navigation of robots
The aim of the work is to create an autonomous data collection from the mining environment by automating the collection of air quality and smart bolt measurements. This will be done through, among other things, robotic sensing of air quality in mining environments and hopes to lead to new methods for AI-based navigation of robots in search of large concentrations of dangerous gases.
Jens Eliasson says:
- We hope to be able to use the expertise available at Luleå University of Technology to expand our digitization platform with new exciting features.
Robots for safety and speed
George Nikolakopoulos, professor in robotics and AI at Luleå University of Technology, concludes:
- The vision for the mining industry is characterized by 100 percent safe operation and reduced operational disruptions. Airborne robots can perform these types of tasks safely, much faster and anywhere in the mine. This can also increase productivity.
The collaboration is part of AIDIHN , Applied Artificial Intelligence Digital Innovation Hub North. AIDIHN is financed by the EU Structural Fund, Luleå University of Technology, Norrbotten Region, Luleå municipality and Skellefteå municipality.
Collaboration will delimit forest stocks
Luleå University of Technology’s researchers in AI and machine learning have started a collaboration with the company Dianthus with the goal of improving and further developing their AI-based method to be able to automatically delimit forest stands.
Division of forest landscape
Forestry means balancing many different goals such as timber production, natural values, recreation, water conservation and climate benefit. The use of the forest through various types of measures requires a decision-making basis that describes the forest and other values. Some examples of important parameters are tree age, volume, soil production capacity, tree species mix and soil moisture.
Less expensive, more objective
Today, forest stand delimitation is done by a special professional group, that uses a combination of visual preliminary delimitation with remote sensing data and final determination in the field, in connection with the collection of other parameters. However, today’s method is costly and highly dependent on the individual. Dianthus has developed a service that, for a given surface, quantifies the various parameters in a more automated way.
Fredrik Walter, CEO and analyst at Dianthus, says:
– We always strive to become even better at what we do and deliver. We have therefore started this important collaboration with the university’s researchers. Right now, the Dianthus AI-based method is being used commercially over all the forest used by Södra Skogsägarna and their members (approx. 3 million ha of forest land) in Götaland.
Marcus Liwicki, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Applied AI at Luleå University of Technology, says:
– The collaboration with Dianthus is extremely interesting for us. The existing AI-based solution is already very advanced and they have good experience in Machine Learning. The company will benefit from the cutting-edge expertise of our group in deep learning with few data and the solution will become more flexible, accurate, and require less costly annotations. And we have already many ideas for great future projects!
An IT company with a focus on the forestry industry
Dianthus is an IT company that specializes in consulting in system development, geographic information systems and remote analysis with a focus on the forestry industry. The company is a subcontractor to Lantmäteriet, SCA and Sveaskog, among others. The collaboration that now takes place with Luleå University of Technology is within applied forest research and deep learning modeling.
The collaboration is part of the Applied AI Digital Innovation Hub North, a project financed by the EU Structural Funds, Luleå University of Technology, Region Norrbotten, Luleå Municipality and Skellefteå Municipality.
Computer vision for orbits
Luleå University of Technology’s researchers in Robotics and AI have started a collaboration with the Luleå company Vimotek with the goal of developing AI algorithms for computer vision that will improve the control of satellites in orbit.
Avoid collision
George Nikolakopoulos, Professor of Robotics and AI at Luleå University of Technology says:
- The purpose of the collaboration is to develop AI algorithms for computer vision that will improve the control of satellites in orbit based on the camera products now being developed by Vimotek. It is about realizing vision technology in space missions that include high levels of interactions, either in the form of maneuvering or grasping.
Vimotek is a start-up company that develops systems for small and nano-satellites and smart cameras with sensor fusion and computer vision software. These enable robotic control of the
satellites to avoid collision with obstacles such as debris and docking maneuvers. These high-tech vision systems for orbital operations are focused on the navigation of satellites and are based on visible, thermal imaging, along with real-time image processing and edge AI.
Autonomous robotic operations
Anatoliy Valentirov, CEO and Founder of Vimotek, says:
– The cooperation with Luleå University of Technology is a major step forward towards building new capabilities, development of key enabling technologies and empowering new mission scenarios for future projects. Together we will work
on proximity navigation, docking, inspection and autonomous robotic operations.
George, who leads the collaboration and the research group at Luleå University of Technology, concludes:
– We have been working with research and development of autonomous drones for over 15 years. We have benefited from the solid experience we have gathered in this project.
The collaboration is part of the Applied AI Digital Innovation Hub North, a project financed by the EU Structural Funds, Luleå University of Technology, Region Norrbotten, Luleå Municipality and Skellefteå Municipality.
Data-driven decision-making will avoid operational disruptions
By developing data-driven decision-making processes, researchers at Luleå University of Technology and the company Predge hope to be able to predict errors and prevent unwanted stops in the mining and railway industry.
Suggest actions
The purpose of the work is to develop a system that supports and guides organizations in their data-driven decision-making processes. By collecting and analyzing large amounts of data, they can minimize unwanted interference, and propose direct measures for increased availability and increased longevity.
Increased availability and longevity in the mining and ore railway industry
The work, which is carried out within the framework of the AI project Applied AI DIH North at Luleå University of Technology, is based on the Luleåbased company Predge’s operations. The company works with predictive maintenance, which involves analyzing data from sensors on machines and equipment from, among others, the mining and ore railway industry to predict maintenance needs, errors and prevent unwanted stops. By col-
lecting and analyzing large amounts of data, they can minimize unwanted interference, and propose direct measures for increased availability and increased longevity.
Develop guidelines for decision-making
By collecting and analyzing operation and maintenance data from customers, researchers will now investigate how current analysis and decisionmaking tools are used in practice to, based on this, develop new decision scenarios to be able to provide customers with feedback and guidelines for decision-making.
Joakim Lindström, developer at Predge, says:
- The project will investigate how our decision support systems are used in practice to make better decisions in workflows. Hopefully, it can help us understand how our analytical decision support products are used by our customers in their decision-making processes.
Developing unmanned drones
Luleå University of Technology’s researchers in AI and machine learning have started a collaboration with the company Origon with the goal that drones will be able to collect more data.
A new area of intelligence
It’s about AI support for fixed-wing drones. This enables the drone to stay in the air for a very long time and thereby collect a large amount of data over large areas. In addition, using AI to analyze these large data sets will open up a new area of intelligence.
Advanced sensors for data collection
The company Origon and their Smartplanes have 17 years of expertise in drone technology. Today, much emphasis is placed on the collection of data and the application to process the data. Mikael Brunnström, CEO of the company, says:
–We are pioneering in drone technology and develop, produce and sell drone systems with fixed wings. The strength of our planes is the ability to stay in
the air for a long time as well as the advanced sensors for data collection. The fierce competition in the market means that the use of AI to analyze data is necessary to distinguish oneself. Therefore, we hope this project will be able to help us with this.
Demonstrate new advanced technology
Project leader Hamam Mokayed, University Lecturer in machine Learning at Luleå University of Technology says:
–The ambition is that expected research results should be possible to add to the advanced detection algorithm currently running in Smartplanes. The goal is to demonstrate new advanced technology for multiple reconnaissance applications and be able to display the results such as in an incident report.
Next generation 6G mobile network will revive the countryside
Rural regions in northern Sweden and Finland have for decades struggled with a secure and reliable connection and because of that cannot utilize digital services and take part of critical societal information. The new project, Arctic 6G, coordinated by Luleå University of Technology, will develop new technology to secure the future of connection in northern Sweden and Finland.
Together with the University of Oulu in Finland and University of Applied Sciences in Lapland, CDT will be involved and develop the base upon which 6G, the next generation of mobile network, can be built. Recently, the centralization of larger cities has become more prominent in the societal debate, making the development of rural regions fall behind. At the same time there is currently an ongoing war in Europe, making a secure and reliable connection more necessary than ever.
–It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to strengthen our cooperation with the university of Oulu within the telecom-area, and at the same time contribute to the regional and global development of the next generation of mobile network says Michael Nilsson, project manager at CDT.
A connected countryside
A more reliable connection does not only benefit the occasional tourist, enabling them to surf the web when they are camping. For the local population of rural regions, a reliable connection would improve the quality of life immensely. Digital services, which is a given in bigger cities, could be completely unavailable in rural areas. Services such as accessing your private patient journal and critical societal information from public services. Furthermore, it would lead to better social contacts and increase the social security of the community. Besides benefiting the local population of rural regions, a reliable connection would also enable the establishment of industries which would contribute the growth and development of the entire region. In a longer time frame, 6G will
contribute to the overall development of the countryside as it will unlock the potential for the local business, tourism, education and much more.
– The overarching goal with Arctic 6G is to develop, demonstrate and disseminate new technology which will improve societal resilience of future 6G networks in the region. The whole project is at the same time permeated by the idea to strengthen the entire population through a reliable and available internet connection says Karl Andersson, professor in Pervasive and Mobile Computing and CEO at CDT.
The establishing of a stable connection would also open for digital services which contribute to ecological and sustainable solutions. A long-term effect of 6G would result in a greener future, especially within the agriculture. For example, the project Arctic 6G would enable the use of newly developed energy efficient technology which benefits the environment.
The Arctic 6G project aims to achieve, among other goals, to increase the understanding and needs that exists in rural areas, contribute to the global development of 6G, create sustainable solutions and to increase our understanding of Sápmi and reindeer herders’ connectivity needs.
–We have an incredible opportunity to both develop and influence the global work towards 6G. Simultaneously we will strengthen our cooperation with our research colleagues from Finland and together we can highlight and represent the needs and possibilities that exists in northern Sweden and Finland’s rural areas, says Jaap van de Beek, professor in Signal Processing at Luleå University of Technology.
Cross-disciplinary research collaboration
Our collaboration with LTU’s research groups remains a very important component of our work. Today, we collaborate actively with several different areas of research.
Architecture
The research team sees architecture, design, economic, practical and functional design integrated with the aesthetic harmonious and symbolic dimensions. It also includes what architecture means for the relationship between people, nature, history and built environment in the various levels of society.
CONTACT:
Agatino Rizzo, Chaired Professor agatino.rizzo@ltu.se +46 (0)920 493438
Automatic control
Automatic control is “the science of automated systems”. Simply put, automatic control theory is about to control systems so that they behave as desired.
CONTACT:
Thomas Gustafsson, Chaired Professor thomas.gustafsson@ltu.se +46 (0)920 491323
Construction Management and Building Technology
Technical solutions, tools, methods and organizing for the planning, information management and control of sustainable and integrated industrialized construction and business processes.
CONTACT:
Lars Stehn, Chaired Professor Lars.Stehn@ltu.se +46 (0)920 491976
Cyber-Physical Systems
Focus is on fully integrated software and application architectures with implementations of highly distributed embedded systems. The systems interact with each other and their surroundings to enable secure, goal-oriented, autonomous and developable solutions.
CONTACT:
Jerker Delsing, Chaired Professor jerker.delsing@ltu.se +46 (0)920 491898
Dependable Communication and Computation Systems
The research subject focus on cyber physical systems and Internet of Things, simulation of complex distributed systems, agent-based architectures and bio inspired control in complex industrial infrastructures, among other things.
CONTACT:
Valeriy Vyatkin, Chaired Professor valeriy.vyatkin@ltu.se +46 (0)920 492505
Design
Design research is conducted within, among other things, engineering technology and development of methods used with modern design technology, multidisciplinary collaboration in design, cultural aspects of global design and ergonomics and design.
CONTACT:
Åsa Wikberg Nilsson, Chaired Professor Asa.Wikberg-Nilsson@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 491342
Electric Power Engineering
Electric power engineering covers studies of sustainable systems for production of electrical energy, transport of electrical energy and the interaction between the power grid, electricity production and electricity consumption.
CONTACT:
Math Bollen, Chaired Professor math.bollen@ltu.se
+46 (0)910 585713
Electronic Systems
The research subject includes electronic design, measurement technology and electromagnetic compatibility for control, monitoring and instrumentation of technical processes and systems.
CONTACT :
Jonas Ekman, Chaired Professor Jonas.Ekman@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 492828
Energy Engineering
Energy engineering concerns the development of technologies and processes in order to build a sustainable energy supply.
CONTACT:
Marcus Öhman, Chaired Professor marcus.ohman@ltu.se
+46 (0)920-491977
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The subject deals with development of firms and organizations with a specific focus on business development based on innovative products and services, production solutions or ways to lead and organize activities.
CONTACT:
Vinit Parida, Chaired Professor vinit.parida@ltu.se
+46 (0)920-492469
Fluid Mechanics
Focus is on flow through porous media, multiphase flow, flow with free surfaces and in-stationary flow.
CONTACT:
Staffan Lundström, Chaired Professor staffan.lundstrom@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 492392
Human Work Science
The research group Human Work Science is part of the Division Humans and Technology. Since 1974, we have conducted research and education within human work science in both technical and social science sectors.
CONTACT:
Lena Abrahamsson, Chaired Professor lena.abrahamsson@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 492107
Industrial Marketing
Industrial Marketing involves activities and processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and other stakeholders. This includes marketing of goods, services, and information between organizations and their customers. Marketing across international borders and in digital channels are areas of particular importance for the subject, as well as services marketing, tourism, and branding.
CONTACT:
Maria Ek Styvén, Chaired Professor Maria.Styven@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 491501
Information Systems
Information Systems covers design and use of information technology in relation to people, organizations and societies.
CONTACT:
Anna Ståhlbröst, Chaired Professor Anna.Stahlbrost@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 492091
Machine Elements
Machine Elements comprises the analysis and optimization of machine components and component systems in order to enhance performance, longevity, energy-efficiency, reliability and sustainability.
CONTACT:
Roland Larsson, Chaired Professor Roland.Larsson@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 491325
Machine Learning
The Machine Learning group targets fundamental and application-oriented research in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, including deep learning, pattern recognition, and human computer interaction; with applications in digital humanities, education, document analysis, and Industry 4.0.
CONTACT:
Marcus Liwicki, Chaired Professor marcus.liwicki@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 491006
Pervasive and Mobile Computing
Pervasive and mobile computing address distributed systems and mobile networks, which enable mobility, ubiquity and interactivity of computers, data, software and users.
CONTACT:
Christer Åhlund, Chaired Professor chister.ahlund@ltu.se
+46 (0)910 585331
Robotics and AI
The Robotics team is world class when it comes to Robotics and specifically drone technology. As part of NASA’s team in the Subterranean Challenge, they successfully came in second place in the world in the first circuit of the prestigious competition
CONTACT:
George Nikolakopoulos, Chaired Professor george.nikolakopoulos@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 491298
Signal Processing
Luleå University of Technology established Sweden’s first professor’s chair in Signal Processing in 1988. Current research areas are flexible radio communications and signal processing methods in measurement technology applications.
CONTACT:
Jaap van de Beek, Chaired Professor jaap.vandeBeek@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 493383
Results
Our aim is to identify highly innovative and novel research findings with technical and commercial potential. We also need to export these ideas to society and companies by creating sustainable business innovation.
Moreover, our research groups at Luleå University of Technology is a key asset of our activities. To secure continuous world class innovations, academic achievements are of great importance to us. Consequently, we measure the number of publications, reports, Doctoral degrees as well as how many Licentiate degrees that were awarded each year.
CDT in figures 2019-2022
Post-Graduate Degrees Accumulated
Professors/ Associate Professors
Anita Mirijamdotter
Anna Ståhlbröst
Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn
Dick Schefström
James P LeBlanc
Jeaneth Johansson
Karl Andersson
Kåre Synnes
Malin Malmström
Mari Runardotter
Mikael Wiberg
Olov Schelen
Peter Parnes
Wolfgang Birk
Åsa Wikberg Nilsson
Doctors
Abdolrasoul Habibipour
Ali Padyab
Anders Lindgren
Anna Ståhlbröst
Anton Koval
Aya Rizk
Dan Johansson
Daniel Granlund
Dick Schefström
Eva Källhammer
Frank Sjöberg
Jan-Jaap van de Beek
Jeremiah Scholl
Johan Karlsson
Johan Kristiansson
John Lindström
Josef Hallberg
Juwel Rana
Kåre Synnes
Lara Lorna Jimenez
Lars-Åke Larzon
Malin Malmström
Marita Holst
Mikael Degermark
Mikael Drugge
Mikael Sundström
Niklas Karvonen
Olov Schelén
Per Ödling
Peter Parnes
Raihan Ul Islam
Roland Hostettler
Roland Parviainen
Thomas Pederson
Ulf Bodin
Yulia Berezovskaya
Licentiates
Ahmed Afif Monrat
Ali Padyab
Anders Lindgren
Andreas Jonsson
Andreas Papadimitriou
Anna Ståhlbröst
Dan Johansson
Daniel Granlund
Emad Ibrahim
Results marked with a grey background are this year’s results.
Frank Sjöberg
Helena Oskarsson
Jeremiah Scholl
Johan Karlsson
Johan Kristiansson
Johan Nykvist
Josef Hallberg
Josefin Lassinantti
Kåre Synnes
Lars-Åke Larzon
Laurynas Riliskis
Lena Palmqvist
Marcus Nilsson
Martin Sehlstedt
Mats Folke
Matthias Wahlqvist
Mikael Drugge
Morteza Alizadeh
Nosheen Abid
Oluwatosin Adewumi
Pierre Fransson
Raihan Ul Islam
Richard Nilsson
Robert Granlund
Roland Parviainen
Stefan Elf
Tomas Nilsson
Ulf Bodin
Ulrika Wiss
Spin-off companies
CDT supports and finances the commercialization process of research innovations. A powerful way to do this is the generation of commercial spin-off companies. Since start, CDT has been involved in the forming of many spin-off companies based on academic research from Luleå University of Technology. The creation of these companies is beneficial to local economic development in the region.
Actegra – A design, product development and manufacturing company of electronic equipment for wireless communications and positioning. The concept behind the company arose in year 2009. In 2011, the collaborations with the CDT project “Sense Smart City”, was one of the factors that led to that the company expanded its activities and registered as a limited liability company. www.actegra.se
iGW – A company focusing on a developing infrastructure for collection, management and visualization of large amounts of data. www.igw.se
Oricane AB – The target customers of the company are vendors of software based network equipment, such as routers and firewalls, as well as vendors of custom hardware classification engines for high-end network equipment, 2006. www.oricane.se
Parnes Labs – Realizes dreams in the realm of development for the Web, Android, iPhone/iPad and just about anything related to the Internet! www.parnes.com/labs
Adela Innovation AB – A company developing products and services within area of enabling people to receive and listen to speech news-papers, 2008. www.adela.nu
Rubico AB – A company targeting the Swedish market for digital audio newspaper receivers/recorders, 2004. www.rubico.se
Operax AB – Operax develops key technology for data and telecommunication over Internet and Intranet within fixed and mobile systems, 2000. www.operax.com
Marratech AB – An Internet company developing products and services, which facilitate meetings between people on Internet, so called e-meetings, 1998. Bought by Google 2008, now a part of Google toolbox. www.marratech.com
Effnet AB – A developer of Internet Protocol (IP) header compression technologies, 1997. www.effnet.com
IT Norrbotten AB – A regional development company with the objective to create economic growth and develop work and industry in Norrbotten, 1996. www.itnorrbotten.se
Bollen Labs – A company that experiment with new ways to interact with computers, and new types of data visualization. www.bollenlabs.com
Skylite Affärsutveckling AB - The company offers qualitative services in digital business development, with expertise in project management, collaboration development, Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence. www.skylite.se
Team Tools Sweden AB - A company that develops simple and effective digital services for managing financial flows, administration and incomegenerating activities in associations. www.teamtools.se
Awards
Infra Awards
The project Predictive Movement won second place in Infra Awards in 2021.
Winner: Datatadriven innovation
The project Predictive Movement won “Sveriges paketombud” and their data driven innovation challenge in 2020.
IM 100
CDT’s project manager Annika Svensson was named by the organization Infrastructure Masons as one of the 100 most important people who have contributed to the industry in 2020.
Finalist: Challengegov
The project Predictive Movement was finalist in the Challengegov competition in 2020.
New entrepreneur of the year
Partner company Team Tools won “New entrepreneur of the year” at the Boden Business gala in 2020.
Best Impact Maker
Team Pay was awarded best Impact Maker in the Venture Cup Regional Final in Start-up, Region North 2019.
Norrbotten’s Equality Award
NOMINATION
Paula Wennberg at CDT was nominated to Norrbotten’s Equality Award 2019.
Norrbotten’s Equality Award
NOMINATION
Paula Wennberg at CDT was nominated to Norrbotten’s Equality Award 2016.
Young Researcher Prize
Awarded Associate Senior Lecturer Damiano Varagnolo, Luleå University of Technology in 2015 from Norrbottens Forskningsråd.
Best Exhibitor
Awarded the CDT project USEMP during the ICT Days 2015 in Lisbon.
Spin-off of the year
The CDT spin-off company KYAB receive the award “Spin-off of the year 2013” from the Luleå University of Technology.
Ericsson Patentable Invention Award
Award received by Ph D student Juwel Rana, LTU, Associate Professor Kåre Synnes, LTU and Stefan Håkansson and Johan Kristiansson at Ericsson in 2012, Sweden.
Best Student Paper Award
The International Conference on Social Computing and its Applications awarded Juwel Rana, Kåre Synnes and Johan Kristiansson “Best Student Paper Award”, in November 2012, in Xiangtan, China.
IT Personality of the Year
Dataföreningen i Norr, awarded Professor Christer Åhlund “IT personality of the year 2012”, in Skellefteå, Sweden.
Best Idea
Awarded the research project Sense Smart City at the European summit on the future of Internet in Luxembourg, 2011.
IT Organization of the Year
Awarded CDT in year 2011 from the IT society in Norrbotten, Sweden.
Chester Carlson Prize NOMINATION
Finalist Mikael Sundström in 2009 by IVA for efficient compression, storage and retrieval of information.
Best Paper NOMINATION
Awarded Bigitta Bergvall-Kåreborn, Marita Holst and Anna Ståhlbröst for “Concept Design with a Living Lab Approach at HICSS-42 at Big Island, Hawaii, in 2009.
SBAPA Award
Received by Kimmo Yliniemi (KYAB) in 2008.
Mobile Technology of the Year 2008
GULDMOBILEN
Awarded Oricane in 2008.
The Competence Gala´s Great Honorary Prize
Shared by Östen Mäkitalo and Anton Abele in 2008.
European Grand Ict Prize FINALIST
Awarded Operax AB in year 2007 by the European Commission.
Best Presentation Award
Awarded Mikael Sundström at ItechPartner Forum in Porto, Portugal, in 2007.
Best Paper
Awarded Christer Åhlund, Robert Brännström, Karl Andersson, and Örjan Tjernström for ”Multimedia Flow Mobility in Heterogeneous Networks Using Multihomed Mobile IPv6” at The 4th International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing and Multimedia in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2006.
Best New-Establishment In Luleå Rubico AB, a CDT-offspring, awarded for the best new establishment in Luleå in 2006.
Competitive Regions Best Practice 3 VITAL Project selected for presentation in Magdeburg, Germany, 2005.
Best Student Paper
Awarded Anna Hedman, David Carr, Hans Nässla in year 2004 for “Browsing thumbnails: A comparison of three techniques” by ITI2004 in Croatia.
Ericsson Inventor of the Year
Awarded Krister Svanbro at Ericsson in year 2001 for Header compression by Ericsson.
No 1 Swedish Research Project
Awarded Rocco project in 2000 by magazine Ny Teknik.
No 1 Swedish Researcher
“Chester Carlson Prize”
Awarded Mikael Degermark in year 2000 for “high performance routing” by IVA.
European Grand IST Prize FINALIST
Awarded Marratech AB in year 2000 in Nice by the European Commission.
Best Paper
Awarded Mikael Degermark in year 2000 for “high performance routing” by ACM/SIGCOM.
European Grand IST Prize (1st)
Awarded Effnet AB in year 1999 in Helsinki by the European Commission.
1st Prize In Swedish Innovation Cup
1998: Brodnik/Carlsson/Degermark/Pink – The Luleå Algorithm
FINANCES
Enabling our efforts
CDT is mainly financed by institutional sources, both nationally and internationally. This is for example EU framework programs and structural funds, along with national and regional governments.
CDT is a non profit organization. Nonetheless, a strong financial position helps us achieve our goals by being able to better support the projects we are involved in.
Balance Sheet (SEK ´000)
Income Statement (SEK ´000)
CDT Income 2022 (SEK ´000)
CDT Income 2022-2020 (SEK ´000)
-One
of our strongest assets Our Network
CDT offers an integrated environment for efficient cross-border collaboration between universities, commercial companies, governments and end users.
Our partners come from different organizations and working cultures, located at different geographical sites. CDT’s goal is to be a preferred R&D meeting place. We have for several years invested in building long-term alliances with selected national
and international scientific communities as well as business partners.
Today, we consider our network one of our strongest assets, including many companies, organizations and research centres.
Partners
CORE PARTNERS
Ericsson
Luleå University of Technology
Skellefteå Municipality
COMPANIES
Swedish SMEs
3eflow
5 High Innovations
Acon
Agio
Arctic Group
Arctic Space
Arctos Labs
Barrage Nordx
Behavioural Informatics
Bensby Rostfria
Björnmamman
Bnearit
BIM Ctrl
BI Nordic
Boxmodul
Brain Stimulation
Centropy
Codemill
Compodium
Conifer
Curest
Cyberty
Damill AB
Designtech
Dianthus
Earhart
Ecoloop
Effnet
Eistec
Elastisys
ePosture
Exeri
Explizit
FieldRobotiX
Fortlax
Gassecry
Gode Bra
Grepit
Grönbo
H-J Produkter AB
Handla.io
Hello Future
Hydro 66
Idepoolen
iGW
Infobaleen
Innova
iNorth
Insightgap Psychology
IsMobile
IT4U
Iteams Solutions
iTid
Johannas
stadsodlingar
LennoxPR
Lindbäcks
Lunet
Mindforce Game Lab
Mirror
mNode
Mobilaris
MosquitoCloud
MW Cyber
N66 Connect
Neava
Netrounds
Nextree
Noah
NUITEQ
ONar
Once Upon
OnLine Marina
Optimation
Oricane
Origon Utveckling
Peckas Tomater
Photon Sports
PosterMarket
Predge
Radio Innovation
Netmore
Raytelligence
RDY Arena
Remos Space Systems
Samuraj
Service Node
Shimmercat
SITE
Skylite
Skyresponse
Smart Recycling
Spotin
Substorm
Susanns livs AB
Sweco
SWERIM
Team Tools
Teamtech
Tebrito
ThingWave
TLGY
TnTX
Tooltech Töre
Tromb
Vastec
Vimotek
WideFind
Xarepo
Swedish Industry
ABB
Atea
Atlas Copco
BI Nordic
Bodens Energi
Combitech
E.On
Ericsson
Fortlax
LKAB
Luleå Energi
Martinssons
Metria
Node Pole
Nordlo Elevate
Ragnsells
Skanska
SKF
Skellefteå Kraft
Sogeti
Swebio
SWECO
Telia
Tieto
Vattenfall
International
Arbon Energie AG
Archimède Solutions
BALance Technology
Consulting
City Passenger
Domina organisation
logistics
DunavNET
FNHT
Hexatronic Cables & Interconnect
Holonix
IBM
InfoVista
Intel
iTeam
Mandat International
Martel Innovate
Micuna
NEC
Netmore
Piacenza cashmere
Planet Media
POD COMP
Radio Innovation
SAMPOL Mallorca
Siemens Switzerland
Smart Venice srl
SRDC
Stembert Design
TWT
Whirlpool PUBLIC SECTOR
Swedish municipalities
Arjeplog
Arvidsjaur
Boden
Dorotea
Gällivare
Haparanda
Jokkmokk
Kalix
Kiruna
Luleå
Lycksele
Norsjö
Pajala
Piteå
Skellefteå
Sorsele
Storuman
Umeå
Vilhelmina
Västervik
Åre
Älvsbyn
Överkalix
Övertorneå
Other
City of St Petersburg
Dalarna County
Kalmar County
Lapin Liitto
NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS
Aidimme
Arctic Business
Argentis - Arjeplog
näringsliv
Blockchain Association
Boden Utveckling
Business Sweden
EARMA
ENEA
ENOLL
EURES
Fevama
Folkbiblioteket i Piteå
FPN - Forskningsparken i Narvik
Frivilliga flygkåren
iMEC
Infrastructure Masons
Insamlingsstiftelsen för
totalförsvarsstudier
IT-branschrådet Luleå
IT Norrbotten
Laevas sameby
LTU Business
Luleå Business Region
Luleå Science park
Luleå
skärgårdsförening
Länstrafiken
Norrbotten
Mandat International
Moskosels Framtid
Nordic Innovation
Norrbotten Chamber of Commerce
Polismyndigheten
Regionbiblioteket
Norrbotten
SACO
Salzburg Research
Samarkand2015
SDIA - Swedish
Datacenter Industry
Association
Servicepunkten Edefors
Skellefteå Digital Alliance
Skogsforsk
Småskärens
intresseförening
Statens Veterinärmedicinska Anstalt (SVA)
Strukturum
- Näringslivsutveckling
Jokkmokk
Sveriges paketombud
Teknikens Hus
Teknikkvinnor
Totalförsvarets
Forskningsinstitut (FOI)
Trafikverket
Uminova
Unbyn servicepunkt
Vetenskap och Allmän-
het
Winnet Sverige
Västerbotten Chamber of Commerce
UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES
Aalto University
Athens Institute of Economics and Business
Bremen University
CTI Diophantus
Donau University
Hochschule Aachen
Lapin University of Applied Sciences
London
LUT University
ITMO University
Karlstad University
Lunds universitet
Mid Sweden University
Northern arctic federal university
Patras
RISE
Skogforsk
Stellenbosch University
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet SLU
SWERIM
Tecnalia Research and Innovation
The Arctic University of Norway
TU Vienna
Umeå universitet
Universita della
Swizzerra Italiana
University of Bologna
University of Gothenburg
University of
Kwazulu-Natal
University of Lapland
University of Oulu
Uppsala Universitet
Örebro University
PROJECT SPONSORS
Bodens Municipality
Energimyndigheten
FORMAS
Horizon 2020
Interreg Nord
Jordbruksverket
Kempe Foundation
Kolarctic (Lapin Liitto)
Luleå Business Region
Luleå Municipality
Piteå Municipality
Region Norrbotten
Region Västerbotten
Skellefteå Kraft
Skellefteå Municipality
Sorsele
Storuman Municipality
Tillväxtverket - ERUF
Vilhelmina Municipality
Vinnova
Åre Municipality
Älvsbyn Municipality
Our projects Connect research, industry and society
One of CDT’s main roles is to initiate and to coordinate innovation projects. In most of our projects, research from Luleå University of Technology is combined with real world applications. During a project, key assets are created, such as architectures, new technologies, methods and models. If the projects turn out to be very successful, the results can lead to innovations in forms such as products, services, prototypes or business concepts.
Applied AI DIH North
The project goal is to create a strong innovation system for growth in the AI industry, in Northern Sweden a Digital Innovation Hub as a base, in collaboration, research, innovation, applied test-driven development, education and clustering.
To achieve the project goal, the project has the following sub-goals:
- Create an innovation system that increases SME’s innovation speed with the help of AI
- Implementing demand-driven AI innovation pilots
- Strengthen research and education in AI
- Package a long-term regional functional innovation system
This will lead to strengthening the Upper Norrland region as Sweden’s leading region within Applied AI, which offers a productive and attractive innovation environment. This creates long-term sustainable growth that attracts people, investments and companies to the region. The main financier is the European regional development fund.
www.aidih.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2020 - February 2023
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson michael.nilsson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 288 45 20
Arctic 5G Test Network
The Arctic 5G Test Network aims to link the 5G test networks in Oulu, Finland and Luleå, Sweden by connecting them and engaging in active collaboration.
It is an Interreg Nord project with the goal to strengthen companies’ commercialization capacity for innovations. It will create an Arctic node within 5G through collaboration between universities, large ICT companies and SMEs. This enables cross-border testing and increases overall testing capabilities in the 5G networks. In addition to scientific experiments, the industry is also planned to benefit from the improved testing environment. The project is led by Luleå University of Technology.
www.arctic5g.eu
PROJECT PERIOD:
September 2019 - September 2022
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson michael.nilsson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 288 45 20
Arctic 6G
The main goal of the project is to develop, demonstrate and disseminate new technologies that will improve the societal resilience of future 6G networks in the Aurora region.
Key targeted outcomes include:
- Development of new quantitative tools to evaluate and measure inequality in cellular coverage
- Development of new, energy-efficient 6G technology for rural and remote areas, new IoT device location methods and improved network security features
- Develop understanding of Sapmi and reindeer herders’ connectivity needs
The project is financed by EU Interreg Aurora and Region Norrbotten, led by Luleå University of Technology and CDT with the partners Oulu University and LAPIN AMK. www.arctic6g.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
December 2022 - November 2025
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
BDSW DIGITAL STEP 2
The project will investigate how to build a digital creative process that enables creative creation between people in different places.
Through Open Innovations, new technology will meet music creation by building creative processes digitally. The project will develop solutions and industry-strengthening measures and put Norrbotten at the forefront in terms of the music industry’s development. The goal is to develop a product / service for music creation and music production at a distance for professional musicians and to build a network for music production with songwriters, artists and producers from all over the world.
Financiers are Norrbotten Region, Luleå Municipality, Sparbanken Nord, BD-pop as well as Längmanska entrepreneurship fund.
PROJECT PERIOD:
April 2021 - March 2022
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson
+46(0)70- 288 45 20 michael.nilsson@ltu.se
Cloudberry Datacenters
The purpose of the research centre Cloudberry is to develop new knowledge about energy and resource-efficient data centers by conducting high-quality research.
The overall goal is to generate research results and knowledge that help to streamline energy use in data centers, reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and contribute to a more efficient energy system as a whole.
Cloudberry is financed by The Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) and Region Norrbotten.
www.cloudberry-datacenters.com
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2018 – December 2022
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
CREATERNITY
The new cross-border area at Luleå University of Technology CREATERNITY will contribute to the transformation required for sustainable industry and social transformation.
The transition to a sustainable industry provides opportunities to think new and thus develop the whole society. The latest technology in artificial intelligence, telecommunications and sensor technology allows us to connect people, products and processes.
By gathering researchers from 25 different subjects, CREATERNITY takes a holistic approach to the industry’s sustainability challenges, which leads to new innovations. CREATERNITY studies the technology needed to follow a material through the circular flow, and how humans are affected.
https://www.ltu.se/creaternity
PROJECT PERIOD
July 2020 – December 2024
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson +46(0)70- 819 54 84 karl.andersson@ltu.se
Datacenter Innovation Region
Datacenter Innovation Region provides an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises, with operations in Norrbotten and Västerbotten, to gain support for the development of products and services in the field of data centers and clouds.
The purpose is to promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, in collaboration with universities, institutes and technical data center test environment. The project also provides access to an advanced test environment. This is an experimental environment for research, innovation and demonstration of infrastructure and IT products for data centre facilities.
www.datacenterinnovationregion.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
September 2018 - February 2022
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson
Jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46 (0)70 619 22 31
Datacenter Innovation Region - Growth and Export
The Datacenter Innovation Region project - Growth and Export is based on results from the previous project Datacenter Innovation Region.
The project supports SMEs in the data center industry with the aim of increasing their competitiveness through market adaptation of products, market communication and market presence. The project makes efforts through, for example, prototype development, research and expert support for technical development and innovation evaluation.
Examples of innovations that the project is working on are:
n A self-service portal for data centers
n Energy recovery of excess heat from data centers
n A mobile module for data centers www.datacenterinnovationregion.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
June 2020 – April 2023
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson
jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46 (0) 70 619 22 31
DigiBy
DigiBy stands for Digital Services in Villages and is about digitizing service in Norrbotten’s countryside.
DigiBy is conducting pilot tests of new digital solutions to increase the knowledge and application of digitalization opportunities for service development in villages. The project will develop new methods for using existing technology and the service will be adapted to the conditions in the villages. The purpose of the project is, in a broad collaboration between the Norrbotten Region, all the municipalities of Norrbotten, Swedish Lapland and Luleå University of Technology, to conduct pilot tests to increase the knowledge and application of digitalization opportunities for service development in sparse and rural areas. The project owner is Luleå University of Technology.
www.digiby.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
March 2019 - December 2022
CONTACT:
Johanna Lindberg
johanna.lindberg@ltu.se
+46 (0) 920-491630
Digital 2030
This feasibility study will identify specific technology areas that are suitable to invest in for SMEs and other actors in Upper Norrland.
New Digital urban development – Campus Skellefteå
The aim is to obtain a basis for an implementation project where the intention is to contribute to small and medium-sized companies in Upper Norrland in the industry Cloud, Edge, IoT develop their innovation ability, attractiveness and collaboration with academia and other society. Financier is European Regional Development Fund.
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2022 - October 2022
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46 (0) 70 619 22 31
The project’s main idea is to connect world-class research with innovative hightech companies and the public sector and develop innovative and ground-breaking technical solutions for energy management systems with simulation tools and digital twins.
The goal is for energy efficiency measures, implementation of new loads, energy storage and local energy production to be handled in the simulation tool and the digital twin. The idea is that the solutions should be able to be used for the continued development of neighborhoods where lack of power is a limiting factor, where we adapt consumption within the local network to enable new properties or other loads to develop. As a case study, the Skellefteå campus has been selected. The project is financed by VINNOVA, led by Luleå University of Technology and CDT with partners such as Skellefteå Municipality, Skellefteå Kraft and ABB.
https://digitalstadsutveckling.se
PROJECT PERIOD: August 2022 - July 2025
CONTACT: Karl Andersson karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
DIT4BEARs
DIT4BEARs stands for Disruptive IT for Barents Euro-Arctic Regions.
The project works with four different use cases in the areas of smart roads, smart ID blockchain applications, waste management and the prevention of collisions with reindeers on roads. Overall objective is to enhance adaption and transfer of Disruptive Information Technologies (IoT, Big Data and Distributed Ledger Technologies, and other) for the societal and economic needs of Barents Euro-Arctic Region. The project faces challenges, relevant to the field of transport, waste management system, movement of people and goods within the region and transport security connected to winter roads maintenance and reindeer husbandry.
www.dit4bears.org
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2020 - June 2023
CONTACT:
Björn Backe +46 (0) 920 - 492111 bjorn.backe@ltu.se
IFPS
IFPS stands for Intelligent Food Production Systems.
The aim of the project is to, with the help of research in biological production and with expertise in AI and machine learning, develop a model of how residual heat from the next generation of steel production and from server halls in Boden, can enable a circular autonomous food system. The project will explore opportunities for circular land-based food production within an artificial ecosystem that includes a closed cycle consisting of fish, insects, microalgae and vegetables. Parties include Boden Business Agency, ONar AB, Boden Municipality, Tebrito. Main financier is FORMAS.
PROJECT PERIOD:
December 2021 - November 2023
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson
+46(0)70- 288 45 20
michael.nilsson@ltu.se
Secure information flows with a digital platform for trading in biofuels
The project will establish a digital platform for trading in solid biofuels that is used by a significant proportion of market participants.
This is the goal of the project funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, where CDT is one of several parties. In order for Sweden to be able to restructure the energy system and reach the target of zero net emissions by 2045, a significantly increased use of biofuels is necessary. Digitization of the biofuel market can contribute to an increased rate of change, but for digital commerce to be successful, safety aspects must be carefully investigated. This issue will be investigated by the project. It will also look at whether blockchains can be used to meet users' demands for safety, traceability and integrity in the digitalized trade in biofuels in Sweden.
PROJECT PERIOD:
June 2020 – June 2023
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson michael.nilsson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 288 45 20
SONDER
SONDER stands for Service Optimization of Novel Distributed Energy Regions.
In the SONDER project, a model for a distributed electrical grid, a “microgrid”, is developed and tested. The microgrid contains solar, wind and hydro electrical power production and supply for data centers. The solutions developed in SONDER contains communication between actors in the microgrid as well as case studies on incitement for data centers to provide demand flexibility to the power grid. SONDER is relevant to the transition to a renewable energy system as it will contribute increased knowledge and new methods for efficient management of distributed energy system resources, on a local as well as on a regional level. The Swedish part of SONDER is financed by The Swedish Energy Agency, and is part of an international consortium with partners from Sweden, Austria and Switzerland. Swedish partners are LTU, RISE and the data center Acon.
PROJECT PERIOD:
September 2019 - March 2022
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson
jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46 (0)70 619 22 31
TRE-m
The project will, among other things, develop new autonomous road maintenance concepts, recycling of batteries as well as testing and demonstration of liquid and gas fuels and biofuels from the region.
TRE-m is an ERDF-funded project with the Swedish Proving Ground Association (SPGA) as a beneficiary, where CDT is the project manager for one of the work packages.
The project will create growth in the industry, increased added value and sustainable adjustment through a deeper regional range of both research-related and market-related resources in tests and demos.
The goal for the project is to result in a structure for the development of the test cluster which has been proven to work by highlighting at least 10 new regional test offers linked to at least three regional test resources.
PROJECT PERIOD :
January 2020 - February 2023
CONTACT:
Björn Backe
+46 (0) 920-492111
bjorn.backe@ltu.se
Wireless ICT
New Wireless Innovation Arena
The project aims to scale up industrial pilots in the area of wireless ICT. Collaborating parties will join the forces to scale up vertical pilot cases into full-scale cross-European value chains and sustainable business cases, aiming to industrial pilots utilising fast, reliable, secure, and energy-efficient wireless ICT. Approach used to the prepared pilots is from bottom-up, listening carefully to the needs of the companies. Active participation of regional governments will ensure alignment between the business and the societal challenges thus making the value chains robust on a long-term perspective.
Thematic working areas are
• Health
• Future sustainable industry
• Autonomous vehicles
• Smart cities/regions
PROJECT PERIOD :
December 2022- November 2024
CONTACT:
Michael Nilsson
+46(0)70- 288 45 20 michael.nilsson@ltu.se
Wireless Innovation Arena focuses on the industry for wireless communication in Upper Norrland where organizations together with users create innovative services based on new technologies.
The project aims to create favourable conditions for small and medium-sized companies. Together with academia, institutes, large companies, the public sector and end-users, we will develop skills and competitive products and services. This will primarily be done in the area of wireless communication, specifically 5G, which is an important enabler for the internet of things to reach its full potential. An important part of the project is the 5G test environment, “5G Innovation Hub North”, at Luleå University of Technology, which is in collaboration with Telia. There, companies can easily perform different types of tests and experiments to validate new products and services.
www.wirelessinnovationarena.se
PROJECT PERIOD :
January 2019 – October 2023
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson
jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46 (0) 70 619 22 31
3CNet
3CNet stands for Climate Change Cooperation Network.
The project aims to develop and strengthen educational and research networks in climate change mitigation and adaptation, uncover, study and assess climate change processes and national policies. 3CNet will create and promote an institutional network, which will act as a living laboratory and collect, transmit and analyze data in climate change education. The main output of the network activities will be organizing a summer school in European and Russian approaches and policies for climate change mitigation.
Project parts include universities from Sweden, Finland, and Russia, as well as an NGO, which will act as an industrial partner of the project. Main financier is the Nordic Council.
PROJECT PERIOD:
November 2021 - December 2022
CONTACT:
Abdolrasoul Habibipour abdolrasoul.habibipour@ltu.se
+46 (0)920 492357
5G for healthcare in Upper Norrland
The overall goal of the project is to make Upper Norrland one of the natural innovation environments to develop and test solutions within 5G for healthcare.
The aim of the project is to strengthen the industry in Upper Norrland in the area of 5G Healthcare through new knowledge that has been added to small and medium-sized companies in a joint work on innovation. An important part of the project is to support the region’s SME with the aim of creating new innovations in the wireless communications industry.
Expected results are that new offers have been produced by participating SMEs based on activities within the project and that existing offers from participating SMEs reach markets outside the home region. In the long term, the project intends to have created new central meeting places and collaborative environments that live on and further develop after the project and have contributed to a more inclusive society.
www.5gvo.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2020 - April 2023
CONTACT:
Jan-Olov Johansson
jan-olov.johansson@ltu.se
+46(0)706192231
5G Indoor Hub
5G Indoor Hub intends to extend the already existing outdoor 5G coverage established by the ERUF funded Wireless Innovation Arena project.
By extending the 5G test network at LTU’s campus in Luleå to a set of selected laboratories, we enable experiments and tests of fully integrated Industry 4.0 enabled use cases and scenarios. The 5G Indoor Hub is a flexible research platform that allows problems from industry and research results from academia to meet and cross-fertilize via joint prototyping, practical evaluations, testing, etc. SMEs in the region will come to LTU campus to experiment and prototype their ideas.
PROJECT PERIOD:
March 2019 – ongoing
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson
karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
5G Edge Innovations for Mining
The project aims to create more intelligent mining systems that will further push the boundaries of autonomy, productivity and security.
The project will work with pilot demonstrations of 5G-connected drones in a mining environment, innovative use of modern AI technology and a hardware and software stack for edge-to-cloud applications. Examples of applications that will be developed include real-time video analysis, autonomous navigation, time-synchronized seismic sensors, augmented / virtual reality, etc.
The project is funded by VINNOVA, NextGenerationEU. It is led by Luleå University of Technology and CDT with parties such as RISE, BI Nordics, FieldRobotiX, ThingWave and Neava.
PROJECT PERIOD:
November 2021 - November 2024
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson
karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
Rural ICT Testbed #fulltäckning
The Rural ICT Testbed project works to prevent digital exclusion by increasing mobile coverage in rural areas.
The project creates opportunities for people to live and work throughout the country. The long-term goal is to create attractive and competitive areas in rural areas with access to mobile coverage. www.fulltäckning.se
PROJECT PERIOD:
January 2021 - October 2023
CONTACT:
Karl Andersson
karl.andersson@ltu.se
+46(0)70- 819 54 84
Let’s Create Music
The project will work to enable salable and sustainable music production regardless of geographical location.
A virtual music studio will be created and in a 5G testbed the project will work on reducing obstacles such as delay. Collaboration and creative processes will also be developed through research. The work will take place cross-border and locationindependent between the music/games industry, academia and business developers.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
- Develop a virtual music studio
- Create opportunities for musicians to work and live throughout the region
- Contribute to more people who can make a full-time living as musicians in the region
- Provide opportunities, reduce obstacles and delay with 5G
PRINCIPAL FINANCERS
European Regional Development Fund, Region Norrbotten, Luleå Business Region, Skellefteå municipality, Sparbanken Nord
PARTIES
BD Pop, Luleå University of Technology
PROJECT PERIOD
December 2022 - March 2026
CONTACT: Michael Nilsson
+46(0)70- 288 45 20 michael.nilsson@ltu.se
An interview with CDT’s new associated project manager, Annica Bray
Tell us a little bit about your background?
I studied and worked as a teacher and journalist, but for the last +20 years I have worked as a consultant in telecom, the mining and energy industry in Sweden and the world. I have specialized in project management, organizational development and boardroom professionalism. Today, I work in the board of Skellefteå Kraft and Skellefteå Kraft Fibernät. Business development and innovations interest me a lot and for many years I have had assignments as an assessor for Vinnova in their calls for tenders.
Which projects are you working in and what are you doing more specifically?
I work in the Digital City Development project as a project coordinator. My mission is to drive the process and also ensure that all project participants feel included. I also have a role in the 5G healthcare project where my task is to get SMEs to use our test environment, which of course includes spreading knowledge about the project and the opportunities it offers.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
My great passion is riding, so every now and then I try to find time for that. In addition, I spend most of my spare time in Bygdeträsk where we have built a cabin. There is still a lot left to work on there. Our dogs take a lot of time and then I try to spend time with children and grandchildren as much as I can. If time allows, I listen to science podcasts or an entertaining book.