Auckland native Andrew Dubber and partner Michela Magas live in the small village of Norrmjöle (pop 219), in the north of Sweden. There's a longer story to what took this innovation power couple to that part of the world, but the short version is that they were invited by Umeå city to move their business there during its year as European Capital of Culture in 2014. And they've been there ever since. Andrew and Michela are currently renovating a 200-year-old farmhouse in a forest by a lake and close to three beaches in Västerbotten County. It's quiet at this time of the year in Norrmjöle - which boasts the fastest broadband in the Western world - but the population swells in the summertime when cottage owners and tourists descend upon the normally sleepy hamlet.
New Zealander Andrew Dubber is Andrew is the director of MTF Labs and an author, academic and broadcaster. Photo: Michela Magas
