Wanted: political vision on digitalization

The other day, we organized a well-attended election debate with representatives from our parliamentary parties. The aim was to highlight the consequences of, and priorities in, our digital society; Is there a political interest and understanding of the issues ahead of this year's elections? Are there any differences between the political parties? How do they think Sweden should reach the government's stated goal of being the best in the world at taking advantage of the opportunities of digitization?

Representatives from 6 out of 8 parliamentary parties (MP was prevented at the last moment, SD did not respond to the invitation) took place on stage and for two hours debated... Well, unfortunately not the possibilities and potential of digitization but - again - the technology and infrastructure. In other words, exactly the same issues that have been discussed and debated year after year. The same issues that also took place at the debate we organized four years ago, before the 2010 elections.

The visionary thoughts about where we want to be in 10 years, in 20, were conspicuous by their absence. Our very own Bo Dahlbom, professor at the IT University of Gothenburg and initiator of the IT research institute Viktoria, made several admirable attempts to make the debate less about nuts and bolts and more about vision and innovation. But even he did not succeed in getting the political representatives to look up and think beyond their 4-year-mandate noses.

Take the discussions on IT in health and social care for example. Some stubbornly argue that digitization is mostly a threat - robots will replace real people and video cameras will monitor and follow your every move. Others are more nuanced in their dystopian description of where we are headed and recognize that there are also some benefits of digitalization - heavy and time-consuming tasks can be freed up in favor of more time with patients and users, safety increases for the individual, and the quality of care is raised and becomes more equal.

It is remarkable that none, none, of the politicians in our debate addressed these issues on the basis that we actually have no choice - that digitization is a fact that we have to deal with. With an ageing population, with fewer people of working age supporting more and more, a whole new approach is needed. We simply cannot believe that we can solve tomorrow's problems with today's solutions. What is needed now is new thinking and reforms, across several policy areas. When will our politicians wake up and take responsibility for this?

The digitalization revolution is here to stay. That is why everyone - business, civil society and politicians - must take responsibility for ensuring that Sweden gets the best possible, maximum benefit from this development. This requires vision and direction. It requires explicit goals and a view of digitalization as a fact and an enabler. Rather than a choice. We will vote on 14 September, but digitization cannot be voted on. It is here now and it is high time that our political parties take it to heart, formulate visions and initiate policy proposals to maximize the potential of digitalization.

For inspiration, we have reworded some of the political parties' election poster messages. Does anyone not agree with them?

PS. If you want to watch the debate afterwards, you can do so here