Almedalen 2019: IT and telecom industry issues discussed widely

Wow, so many good, wise and driven forces we have in our country that contribute to development. This became clear when we at IT&Telekomföretagen were on site in Visby during Almedalen Week.

We can also note that digitalization, innovation, artificial intelligence, digital security, skills supply and entrepreneurship were issues that were widely debated, which is gratifying. Another topic that many conversations revolved around was climate issues and sustainability. My colleagues and I participated in many panels and conversations to share industry perspectives and drive a sustainable digital transformation of Sweden with a world-class digital sector. While we still call for increased understanding, knowledge and engagement around digitalization at all levels and across all industries, I think there has been a lot of progress in recent years. That feels hopeful.

Trust and confidence - crucial for the industry and for the future of society

Among other things, we at IT&Telecom companies invited to a very well-attended and appreciated seminar: "Security deficiencies, overweight and disappearing jobs - can we trust the IT industry?". The issue of trust and confidence in the industry is crucial for development and therefore, with the seminar, we wanted to tell both what we are already doing in the industry and what we want to do to address the challenges. We also wanted to contribute to an open dialog to find wise ways forward that make the IT industry, but also people in general and society as a whole, even better equipped for the future. Because it is not only trust and confidence in the IT industry that is important to work on, but also trust in and the conditions for the digitalisation of society as a whole. A lot of what needs to be done cannot be done by the IT industry itself. The government, various industries and interaction between the public and private sectors need to take collective responsibility.

Almedalen's hottest seminar

All in all, it was a very lively and interesting conversation with the colorful panel that was well moderated by TV journalist Sverker Olofsson. You can watch the seminar afterwards here: