One or zero? A report on the digitalization of Sweden

"One or zero? A report on the digitization of Sweden" is written by Nima Sanandaj on behalf of IT&Telecom companies and highlights the societal benefits that digitization enables, how Sweden's lead in international comparison is shrinking, and what now needs to be done to realize the opportunities.

Used properly, digitalization is our most powerful tool

"Sweden should be the best in the world at using the opportunities of digitalization", says our current government. What does that mean, really?

If used correctly and given the right priority, digitalization can help solve many of our most important and urgent societal problems and challenges. IT&Telecom companies have been talking about this for quite some time now, and slowly the idea has been gaining ground far beyond our industry. Today, almost everyone is talking about digitalization.

But are we talking about the same thing? We're not so sure. In many cases, we still talk about digitization as an IT issue, a special interest or an industry issue. About turning analogue information into digital, about automating and streamlining existing processes. But the realization that the current digitalization is something much bigger and involves a revolutionary structural transformation in almost all areas of society, where old truths are turned upside down and existing business models are replaced by new ones, has not yet landed where it needs to. Digitization is a concern for all of Sweden, and for all parts of our government. No one today can credibly chart the way forward without a digital foundation.

The purpose of commissioning this report is to shed more light on both what digitalization actually enables, i.e. what we should be the best in the world at, and where we actually stand. We believe that knowledge about both of these things is crucial to how well Sweden can manage the transition we are now in the middle of.

We believe that a continued strong and competitive IT and telecom industry operating in Sweden is a prerequisite for implementing and making the most of digitalization. Therefore, we have also asked the author of the report to highlight how the companies we represent have had, and have, an impact on the ongoing structural transformation of our society and on our growth.

Our hope is that the report will serve as a basis for taking the discussion on digitization to the level it deserves - as a societal issue rather than a matter of ones and zeros.

David Mothander, Federal Director IT&Telecom Industries