Quel est le point commun entre la ceinture de sécurité, Skype, le stimulateur cardiaque et Candy Crush ? Ce sont des inventions suédoises… Et oui, en Suède, il n’y a pas qu’Ikea, ABBA et les Krisprolls...
Après un rapide tour du paddock, on a pu constater que tous les pilotes et suiveurs du WRC connaissent et utilisent Skype, un logiciel de téléphonie gratuite et messagerie instantanée qui a changé la vie des grands voyageurs… En revanche, peu savaient que Skype était d’origine suédoise.
En effet, ce logiciel a été initié en 2003 par un homme d’affaires suédois, Niklas Zennstrom, avant d’être racheté en 2005 par eBay, puis par Microsoft à un tarif astronomique quelques années plus tard…
Vous connaissez sûrement le jeu Candy Crush Saga qui fait actuellement un tabac sur les réseaux sociaux ? Et bien son créateur, King, est d’origine suédoise. On pourrait aussi parler de Spotify (musique en ligne), de SoundCloud (stockage de musique), d’iZettle (paiement en ligne) et de biens d’autres logiciels et applications nés ou en gestation dans laSilicon Walleysuédoise, Kista, banlieue de Stockholm.
Pour faire le lien avec le monde l’automobile, la ceinture de sécurité a été brevetée en 1959 par un ingénieur suédois, Nils Ivar Bohlin, alors employé par Volvo. Certes, les premières expérimentations d’un harnais automobile étaient bien antérieures – un véhicule en était équipé sur la course Paris-Marseille en 1896 par exemple – mais c’est Bohlin qui a mis au point la ceinture à trois points d’ancrage, avec sangle diagonale et abdominale, qui n’occasionnait pas de traumatismes irréversibles aux organes internes en cas de choc. La première ceinture de sécurité a été proposée en série sur les Volvo Amazon et PV 544.
On estime qu’en plus de 50 ans, la ceinture de sécurité a sauvé un million de vies dans le monde et a épargné bien des blessures sévères. Les spécialistes affirment que la ceinture de sécurité est l’un des huit brevets principaux pour l’humanité du XXe siècle.
« Boucler sa ceinture de sécurité » est la première des dixGolden Ruleséditées par la FIA dans sa campagneAction For Road Safetyà laquelle Michelin est associé, tous comme les plus grands pilotes de F1, rallye, Endurance, depuis 2011.
Pour en revenir à la Suède et à sa capacité d’innovation, le pays est aussi à la pointe de la recherche et de la technologie dans le domaine médical (recherches sur la maladie d’Halzeimer), pharmaceutique, électronique, biotechnologique, nanotechnologique (régénération cellulaire), environnemental (traitement de l’eau…). Après-tout, Alfred Nobel n’était-il pas Suédois ?
What is there in common between car seat belts, Skype, pacemakers and Candy Crush? They are all Swedish inventions. There is so much more to Sweden than Ikea, ABBA and Krisprolls...
Simply ask around the service park and you’ll see that most WRC professionals know and use Skype, the free web phone and messaging service that has changed the lives of frequent travellers. But how many of them are aware that Skype originated in Sweden?
It was introduced by businessman Niklas Zennstrom in 2003 before being acquired by eBay in 2005, then by Microsoft who paid an astronomical sum for it a few years later.
The game Candy Crush Saga similarly originated in Sweden, not to mention other household e-names such as Spotify (music streaming), SoundCloud (music storage), iZettle (online payment), plus other software and applications developed in Sweden’s Silicon Valley in Kista, a Stockholm suburb.
Closer to the world of motorsport, the seat belt was patented in 1959 by Swedish engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin while working for Volvo.
Although the first trials involving restraining harnesses date back much farther (they were used on the Paris-Marseille race in 1896, for example), Bohlin was the first to suggest a three-point solution, with lap and chest straps. The first models to fit seat belts as standard were the Volvo Amazon and PV 544.
Seat belts have since saved an estimated one million lives worldwide, not to mention the reduction in serious injuries. It has been suggested that the seat belt was one of humanity’s eight chief patents of the 20th Century.
Indeed, “belting up” is the first of the 10 Golden Rules listed by the FIA’s Action For Road Safety campaign in association with Michelin and which has been backed by the world’s top F1, rally and endurance racing drivers since 2011.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s taste for innovation has seen it emerge as a key player in the realms of medicine (Alzheimer research), pharmaceuticals, electronics, biotechnology, nanotechnology (cell regeneration) and the environment (water treatment, etc.), while Alfred Nobel himself was Swedish!
What is there in common between car seat belts, Skype, pacemakers and Candy Crush? They are all Swedish inventions. There is so much more to Sweden than Ikea, ABBA and Krisprolls...
Simply ask around the service park and you’ll see that most WRC professionals know and use Skype, the free web phone and messaging service that has changed the lives of frequent travellers. But how many of them are aware that Skype originated in Sweden?
It was introduced by businessman Niklas Zennstrom in 2003 before being acquired by eBay in 2005, then by Microsoft who paid an astronomical sum for it a few years later.
The game Candy Crush Saga similarly originated in Sweden, not to mention other household e-names such as Spotify (music streaming), SoundCloud (music storage), iZettle (online payment), plus other software and applications developed in Sweden’s Silicon Valley in Kista, a Stockholm suburb.
Closer to the world of motorsport, the seat belt was patented in 1959 by Swedish engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin while working for Volvo.
Although the first trials involving restraining harnesses date back much farther (they were used on the Paris-Marseille race in 1896, for example), Bohlin was the first to suggest a three-point solution, with lap and chest straps. The first models to fit seat belts as standard were the Volvo Amazon and PV 544.
Seat belts have since saved an estimated one million lives worldwide, not to mention the reduction in serious injuries. It has been suggested that the seat belt was one of humanity’s eight chief patents of the 20th Century.
Indeed, “belting up” is the first of the 10 Golden Rules listed by the FIA’s Action For Road Safety campaign in association with Michelin and which has been backed by the world’s top F1, rally and endurance racing drivers since 2011.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s taste for innovation has seen it emerge as a key player in the realms of medicine (Alzheimer research), pharmaceuticals, electronics, biotechnology, nanotechnology (cell regeneration) and the environment (water treatment, etc.), while Alfred Nobel himself was Swedish!
