Yesterday is not coming back...and no one is happier than me!

Now the countdown begins; in three weeks' time I will be spending my last day here at IT&Telekomföretagen - almost nine years to the day after I first stepped into the office at Sturegatan 11. A lot has happened, and even more has changed, during these nine years.

Back then, Computer Sweden was the major IT magazine where everything of importance about the industry and its development could be read, in paper format of course. Today, CS is completely digital and has been joined (and competed with) by national and local media, trade press, radio and a string of social media channels, all of which report minute by minute on what is no longer called "IT" but "digitization".

At that time, the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for IT were our only real entry point and contact with the Government Offices and the Government, and the Transport Committee (where IT issues were and still are located) was our only real speaking partner in the Riksdag. IT issues were a special interest for the industry and a few (more or less voluntarily appointed) IT policy spokespeople.

We are now addressing and talking to a Minister for Digitization who is responsible for the government's overall digitization policy. We have a close and frequent dialogue with virtually all ministries, and the IT policy spokespersons have been joined by a large number of MPs who have (voluntarily!) identified digitization as one of the most important issues on their own tables.

The shift is something we at IT&Telecom companies have been talking about, lobbying for and demanding for a long time, really ever since I came on board nine years ago. We have stubbornly maintained that digitization is not a technology issue, in fact not even an IT issue.

Many now argue, as I firmly believe, that digitalization is changing our society in at least as profound a way as steam power once did when industrial society took shape. Digitization creates completely different conditions in all areas; in addition to the development of new innovative products that change and challenge the existing ones, the way of producing, automating, robotizing the production of - and not least the way of consuming - goods and services is also changing. This means that business models, organizations and human cooperation are also affected and changed.

Digitalization inevitably has consequences for entire businesses, no matter what industry or sector you are in. Swedish companies and organizations must understand the extent of this development, and face it themselves through a fundamental digital transformation of their entire operations.

This applies - not least - to the public sector. Here, the challenges can be listed one after the other: we are living longer, which means, for example, that the demands on health and social care are increasing. At the same time, we are getting older and the number of people of working age is falling, which means lower tax revenues. Everyone's now good technological skills also lead to higher expectations and demands - we want to be able to access publicly funded services when and from where we want. So demands are increasing while the resources we provide are not growing at the same rate. The only way to solve this equation is to work and operate differently; we must be able to produce more but with the same resources.

I am convinced that digitalization is one of the key factors for success. But for that, many factors need to be in place. The fact that we have "new technology" today is good but not enough. We must now also ensure that legislation and other restrictions support, rather than challenge, this development.

And, happily, I now see that more and more of our decision-makers are starting to understand this. From no one wanting to tackle the issue head on, they are now fighting to be first on the ball: talking digitalization is hot! At long last!

I am proud to have been part of this development for nine years, together with my fantastically wise and committed colleagues at IT&Telecomföretagen. Today, I can stretch my back and give myself an extra pat on the back: our persistent work has paid off!

And if there's one thing I've really learned during my years in a trade association, whose job is largely about driving and creating change, it's this: Shame on the quitter! To repeat your message over and over again. To persevere. Because change and conviction take time. So does establishing new concepts and ways of looking at things. But it can be done, and during my time here we have done it both with "digitalization" and with "welfare technology".

Yet the development has only just begun. And if those of us who believe that digitization is and will be the single most powerful force for change in society by 2025 are right, we have one hell of an exciting journey ahead of us!

And I intend to continue on that journey. It was therefore easy to accept when I received an offer to try something new, but at the same time to take with me my conviction about the importance of digitization and my ability and willingness to engage and persistently show it. I am now very much looking forward to having the chance to continue working with this and, in the role of consultant and business developer at Gullers Grupp, take my knowledge and experience with me into new industries, organizations and companies. The message that the digitization of society is completely dependent on having competitive Swedish IT and telecom companies, I will of course also take with me into my new assignment, as well as the contact with all the wise and good people I have had the privilege of meeting and working with during my years here at IT&Telekomföretagen.

Thanks for yesterday! See you in the future!