60 minutes that changed the hosts
After many long meetings and discussions, we held a well-attended and appreciated lunch seminar yesterday in the Riksdag on the theme How do we secure Sweden's welfare with the help of technology?
Anette Åkesson (M) and Teres Lindberg (S) were the hosts, and in total there were 24 of us who, after the sixty minutes, all understood more of the digitization issue and what difference welfare technology can make.
We demonstrated that welfare technology:
- Facilitates and streamlines both access to and use of welfare services such as health and social care
- Leads to increased independence, security and participation in society if we start from the individual's needs and conditions
- Contributes to better use of resources and higher quality in the welfare sector
- Is necessary to ensure our well-being as demographics change, fewer people seek jobs in the field, and the economy requires rationalization and productivity improvements
During the seminar, we showed concrete projects/innovations that, after their initial phases, are now in commercial operation and used by thousands of users.
At the same time, Darja Isaksson initially pointed out that Sweden is a country of silos where success stories are not always implemented on a broad front. Darja also pointed out that Sweden has historically been at the forefront of IT and telecom, but that we are now seeing clear signs that we have lost pace compared to other countries. Estonia, which has taken a concerted national approach to digitization and is now passing us, was cited as an example.
Sweden is at a standstill in this area, and the need for coordination and long-term plans for national scale-up of digital projects is greater than ever. Who is responsible - and what can our politicians do? Are laws and regulations standing in the way? The question of responsibility? Funding? Conservatism?
These issues need to be discussed in politics, as those present yesterday agreed: several of the politicians asked us to come back to give them further practical insights on digitalization and welfare technology.
So to be continued. One step at a time.
