Our History
Øresund IT was initiated in November 1999 by Øresund University and Øresund Business Council. The founding marked a strong belief in the Øresund Region as a leading Scandinavian ICT region.
The organization, named IT-Øresund, came about to further increase the collaboration between industry and university in the Øresund region. The initiative was funded by Danish and Swedish public authorities and EU grants.
With the construction of the Øresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark, business and contacts across borders were expected to rise. To further this development, we took on a role as cluster facilitator within the ICT-sector.
In 2001 we joined Øresund Science Region, an alliance between regional platforms within life science, food, environment and IT. In doing so, cross-disciplinary cooperation became an important part of our agenda. The Bio+IT Post Doc program, started in 2002, is an example of collaboration with MVA, a sister organization within life science.
A marketing initiative, Øresund IT – the human-tech region, was launched together with Copenhagen Capacity and Region Skåne in 2002. At the same time we changed our name to Øresund IT Academy, the latter to illustrate the strong link with academia.
Øresund IT is as of 2005 a member-based organization. Public institutions, businesses and universities from both the Danish and the Swedish side of the Sound have joined the organization to actively influence and participate in a leading ICT-cluster.