We have been the first in the Nordic region to adopt a number of radical innovations:

  • First in the air (first airport put into use in 1912)
  • First in the core (first nuclear reactor opened in 1951)
  • First online (first ARPANET connection outside the USA in 1973)
  • First on Mars (the georadar RIMFAX, which is developed at Kjeller in Lillestrøm, enables the Mars Perseverance Rover to scan the ground conditions on the red planet and is the most important tool for searching for life on other planets in use today).

Some of the most important R&D institutions in Lillestrøm: 

The Research Alliance NORIN 

Institute for Energy Technology IFE 

NILU 

NORSAR 

University of Oslo (UiO) – Department of Technology Systems (ITS) 

Oslo Metropolitan University – OsloMet  

Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI)