Anna Bäck

Hello CEO: Anna Bäck, Kivra

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Our 1,400 members range from small start-ups with few employees to large multinationals with thousands of employees around the world. Under the banner "Hello CEO", we gather their views on the recent past and their thoughts on the future. Anna Bäck is the CEO of Kivra.

The coronavirus crisis has had a profound impact on our society - how do you see the role and contribution of the tech industry in these challenging times?

- In many places we have seen how digital services have helped in different ways during the pandemic.I think our role as a company is clear, we should not only during a pandemic but always seek opportunities to do good through our core business. As a company, you need to focus on what you are good at and direct your energy towards something good. The pandemic has hopefully sparked this idea in more companies. The Covid evidence is one example that proves it. We saw early on that we could contribute by being a secure digital channel for Covid vouchers. We reached out and put resources into showing the government why Sweden as a society would benefit from reusing existing infrastructure rather than building new, and later we also put resources into developing our service so that the Covid certificate would fit even better in the service," says Anna Bäck and continues:

- Looking back, we can see that the government, DIGG, the eHealth Authority and others have made several wise decisions along the way and that we have so far delivered 2.5 million covid certificates in Kivra. It shows that there is tremendous power in focusing on one's core business and then seeking both business and doing good opportunities. The increased mobility of people has also demonstrated the benefits of digitalization. Getting and having all your mail and essentials wherever you are

Looking ahead, how do you see the near future; what are your priority issues/focus areas?

- One of the biggest benefits of Kivra is being able to gather as many important things as possible in one place that you can access no matter where you are. Therefore, we are focusing on ensuring that even more mail and receipts are digitized, while developing and adding more services in Kivra. The Covid certificates are another good example, as we see that we can create even more social benefits by collecting more similar important things in Kivra. Already, invitations and notifications in healthcare are sent in Kivra and in the future we see that even more evidence like the covid certificate can be sent in Kivra so that citizens can get a better overview of, among other things, vaccinations.

What are the two most important messages you want to send to our policymakers ahead of the 2022 elections?

- Be proud of the strategy and implementation around the CVs. It is a fine example of collaboration between the public and private sectors where existing infrastructure has been used. It has partly resulted in a good solution here and now, but also driven digitization as more people have now opened their eyes to digital mail. My second message is, unfortunately, a reminder to the government to start paying for digital mail immediately. The Swedish market for digital mail has the potential to become a successful example to showcase internationally, but it is based on the state starting to pay for the services they use, otherwise there is a risk of putting a stop to itself.