Lingio CEO Yashar Moradbakhti elected to the board of IT&Telecom companies

Digital services Digitization Skills supply

Yashar Moradbakhti, CEO of Lingio, was recently elected as a new member of the board of IT&Telecom companies. With new energy, he hopes to highlight the conditions and opportunities for smaller companies in the business world.

- It is a great honor. IT issues are important for the whole of Sweden and all industries will be digitized. I am keen to create relationships and listen to small and new companies in the industry," says Yashar Moradbakhti.

Lingio has developed an app that offers language courses in professional Swedish. Using artificial intelligence and game mechanics, the company wants to make it easier and more fun for people to learn Swedish. The idea for Lingio was born in 2015.

- "When the media started paying attention to the tragedy in Syria, we started thinking about how our expertise in IT and technology could help those who came to Sweden," says Yashar Moradbakhti and continues

- My parents and I came here from Iran and have made the same journey as those who are coming now. Swedish language has always been an advantage to know well. The app is not only aimed at people from Syria, but also from countries like Somalia and Eritrea. But it is also aimed at people from countries in Europe who come to Sweden to work in the IT sector, for example.

Skills supply must be improved

One challenge Lingio shares with other IT and telecom companies is the skills shortage. In three years' time, 70,000 people are expected to be missing from the industry.

- "It is not possible to rely on a single initiative; society must have several different solutions. Here, IT&Telecom companies have an important role to play in showing how attractive the industry is," says Yashar Moradbakhti.

Attracting workers from other countries is an important key to solving skills shortages.

- Similar initiatives to those implemented in the US should be introduced. Simpler visa rules, better matching in the labor market and accessible housing are some of the elements needed.

How do you think politicians have handled digitization?

- They have been good at listening to businesses, but there is always room for improvement. At the end of the day, it's about relationships. The closer industry and policymakers get, the better the understanding of digitalization can be. The industry can offer knowledge and visions of where the global market is heading and that together we should have the ambition for Sweden to be the world leader in digital technology," says Yashar Moradbakhti.