Toby Shapshak: Pattern Recognition

digital economy.

I was in Malmö last week speaking about African innovation at The Conference, an event organised by Media Evolution. It was held in a former slaughterhouse. The building is now a stylish conference venue, a stone’s throw away from the refurbished central train station.

Malmö’s design status was part of the reason James Haliburton came to the city to open strategic design consultancy Topp, which helped Samsung redesign its Tizen operating system and later became the largest smartphone maker’s strategic innovation and design partner. Topp’s other clients include Ford, Saab, Miele and Médicines Sans Frontières.

Haliburton says: “The reason I came back from San Francisco to Malmö was not only for the team I used to work with, but also because of the density of different feeder schools; both in design and technology.

“You’ve got Lund University, the oldest engineering school in Europe, plus some of the founding members of the world’s user experience and interactive design schools, who are based in Malmö,” says Haliburton.

He was the head of innovation at renowned design outfit The Astonishing Tribe, which was acquired by BlackBerry to help it build its BlackBerry 10 operating system.

As far as talent goes, Haliburton says Malmö has the highest density of talent (in technology and design) per capita in a single place.

“They don’t know their own value. They should, but they don’t. This is an amazing place. It really is.”

As cities around the world grapple with how to reinvent themselves for the new digital economy, Malmö offers a grand example of what can be done not only with an abundance of talent but also with the political will from local government.

It could spur not only a new generation of talented youngsters, but new economic activity.