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VASTSVERIGE
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
Västsverige (West Sweden), is situated in the South-West of the Country covering an area of 31.000 square Km (7% of the national territory) and having a population of 1.528.455 people. The average population density is around 60 inhabitants per square kilometers, which is considerably higher than the Swedish average.
INFRASTRUCTURE
 Communications in the region are very good: motorways (340 km), roads, railroads, airports and harbours (the main is the Goteborg one which is also the most important port of Sweden).
ECONOMY
 The region per capita GDP in relation to the European Union (EU-25) average (100) is 111.7. This is a very dynamic region, where the manufacturing industry has a key role in development. Food processing, paper and cars industries play an important part in the regional GDP.

Volvo, Saab, SKF and Ericsson have all big plants in the region. Gothenburg, one of the main Swedish cities, is a big industrial pole for the whole country. There are many SMEs (30658 enterprises have 1-9 workers, 8856 have 10-49 workers, 1918 have 50-250 workers) , and a good number of big enterprises with more than 250 workers: 139.

LABOUR MARKET
 There are 712750 employees in the region. The unemployment rate is 6,30% of the active population (the female one is 5,80); the employment rate is 76,30% (male employment rate is 78,40%, while the female one is 74,10%). The percentage of total employment in services sector is 69,80%, while 27,30% works in industry sector, and only 1,50% in agriculture.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 The region spends more than 2% of its GDP in Research and Development.
DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
 Parts of the region, (mostly in the northern part) belong to EU objective 2, for the period 2000-2006.
REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
 The RPIA implemented in this region between 2003-2004 was named “INDIGO” ( Industrial Dynamics In Vaestra Goetaland ) and focused on the needs of small and medium sized businesses in the region. It aimed to develop and test new innovative ways of raising awareness ,improving the culture of innovation, stimulating and developing SME collaboration and clustering, and creating and implementing a new world-class support system offering state-of-the-art support throughout the entire region. Three main actions were implemented:
  • Developing a world-class innovation system based on knowledge transfer for industrial SMEs. This action mainly consisted of pilot projects and hands-on activities. The aim was to develop and test a new, demand driven innovation system for industrial SMEs in the INDIGO region.
  • E-strategies for development and growth in industrial SMEs. This action introduced companies to ICT and trained them on how to use the technology in a strategic way. Several pilot projects were used to develop and test the projects. The pilots focused on two main areas:
    1. E-logistics - In collaboration with the Skoevde University College, a pilot project including researchers, SMEs and external experts developed and tested new approaches to e-logistics for SMEs in industrial sectors with the aim of optimising the flow of goods and services both externally and internally in companies.
    2. E-business centres - As a way of encouraging SMEs in networks and clusters to make use of ICT tools, the concept of “E-business Centre” was developed and tested. The E-business Centre functioned as an information node within the cluster. New ideas on how to improve and enhance communication and exploit joint business opportunities within the cluster, as well as strengthening the cluster's interaction with the outside world were examined.
  • International contacts, networking and benchmarking. This action aimed at improving the results of the Programme by exchange of experience and good practice with other European regions. This action include information, networking and benchmarking with similar programmes/projects as well participation in conferences and working groups. Study visits in Vaestra Goetaland were also arranged for interested European regions.