Despite the spread of the coronavirus, there are bright spots 

As a large global company, Microsoft was affected by the spread of the coronavirus at an early stage. In a conversation between Åsa Zetterberg, Director of the Swedish Association of IT & Telecom Companies and Hélène Barnekow, CEO of Microsoft Sweden, we get an insight into how the corona pandemic has affected Microsoft Sweden and the IT and telecom industry.

Åsa: When did you start noticing the Covid-19 crisis?
Hélène: As a global company, we noticed it with the outbreak in China. But when the the virus hit Sweden then it came still came very suddenly and we noticed it right away as some of our major customers were affected at once.

Åsa: How did your staff react?
Hélène: There quickly became a general concern, so we worked hard to show that we knew what to do and how. We have of course followed the Public Health Agency of Sweden's recommendations and when they said that everyone who can work at home should do so we got obviously got different reactions. All of Microsoft complies with what we call "The New World of Work" where work is not a place we go to, but something we do. That means we already have the technology and behavior in place to be able to collaborate effectively remotely. So while we were already set up to work remotely before the coronavirus crisis, we had obviously never done it this way before.

Åsa: What did you do first?
Hélène: Our main focus was to provide support to employees and customers. Who needs support now and how should we provide it? Our crisis team was activated immediately and we had daily check-ins with both staff and customers to check the situation and what the needs were. We went into a help mode right away and tried to be as accessible as we could.

Åsa: What did you find most difficult?
Hélène: That everything came from all sides. It was very difficult to know where to start. It was about everything from large companies that needed financial help to schools that needed to convert to distance learning in a few days. These were big, disruptive issues that usually take a long time to work on. But quite quickly we got a structure that facilitated how we would prioritize.

Åsa: The coronavirus crisis has affected individuals, businesses and society in many negative ways. But despite this, have you seen any bright spots during the crisis?
Hélène: No one has gone upåworked through this. And while we see that many people are affectedtaffected by the virus in such different ways, there are some aspects that can be seen as small glimmers of light.

We have experienced amazing and sometimes unexpected collaborations that were necessary to find new solutions together solutions to some of the challenges that COVID-19 has posed for society. It is clear that we are part of an industry that is equipped to the teeth to help. While in normal circumstances we feel that the digitalization of society needs to further and that there are initiatives and decisions that need to be taken to achieve the goals we need, it is clear that in Sweden we have come a long waya. If we did not have such a developed industry, we would have had difficulty finding many of the solutions that we now jobbated.

Åsa: Do you have any concrete examples?
Hélène: There are lots! We have in collaboration with Combitech and Siemens, using industrial 3D printers, developed a prototype of an adapter for ventilators. Lsolutionis designed to make a ventilator available to several patients at the same timeand is is currently being tested at the innovation department of one of Sweden's largest hospitals. As a result of the closure of the closure of upper secondary schools the City of Stockholm was forced to convert 28 000 students and 4 500 teachers to distance learning. This was of course a massive effort from everyone involved. To increase accessibility, we had, among other things open team meetings where all teachers could ask the questions they needed. One teacher said afterwards that what we managed to do together in four days they had been discussing for two years. We also made a quick response to help BRIS. Concerns among young people increased with the spread of the coronavirus and calls to BRIS increased significantly. Dwe were able to help them with a chatbot that effectively increased accessibility. So there are many great examples of how we have worked together to find quick and effective solutions to big challenges.

Åsa: Finally, looking ahead, after the corona crisis, what do you think is the most important thing we should take with us?
Hélène: There are many lessons to be learned. One is that we once again confirmed that the IT and telecom industry is an enabler. With the right conditions, we can bring about big and necessary changes in an efficient way. I hope that our politicians see this and that we focus together on how we can build the "new" way of working into our decisions, processes and systems. We see lots of enthusiasts in the public sector who both understand and want to use technology as a problem solver - how do we strengthen them going forward? I also want us as a country to learn from other countries. We have approached the challenges differently and there is a lot to learn here. So I'm actually looking forward to learning about that!