Digitalization is one of the greatest opportunities of our time

After three years of waiting, in early July it was time for seminars, panel debates, political speeches and mingling. Yes, it was time for Almedalen Week again. Now, with a few weeks distance, I thought I would try to summarize the impressions of Almedalen in the election year 2022. A not entirely easy task given the terrible act that was carried out and which so completely overturned the conditions for the event. It was an attack on the very idea of Almedalen - to be a place where all opinions and ways of looking at things can be expressed. Therefore, it is even more important to continue the work of strengthening the democratic society where violence has no place and to continue the open discussion where it is self-evident that you should be able to have an open dialog between different opinions.

We at TechSverige participated in Visby with several employees and a large number of our member companies were also there. It was an intensive program with a smorgasbord of seminars and activities and we participated in interesting panels and conversations - in individual contexts and from stages and studios.

There was a steady stream of discussions on everything from how to make the best use of digitalization to how to tackle the skills shortage. And it is gratifying to note that the issues of the future were hotly debated. Digitization, digital security, welfare, digital infrastructure, skills supply and sustainability were just some of the issues discussed where we shared the industry's perspective to strengthen Sweden as a world-leading technology nation.

Digitization for sustainable growth, innovation and prosperity

It was also gratifying that so many people participated in the seminar we organized on "Digitization for sustainable growth, innovation and welfare". Personally, I think the highlight of the seminar was when committed representatives from the parliamentary parties' youth associations debated and looked to the future. There was a deep consensus that digitalization and innovation have an important role to play in meeting future challenges such as the green transition and that policy makers need to remove barriers and facilitate development. In addition, there was a call for stronger digital leadership, where digitalization is an issue that the entire government needs to take responsibility for and digital skills need to be raised. One of the final words was to stop putting proposals in the drawer and have more action. A lively and stimulating debate that bodes well!

But if the youth associations gave hope for the future of digitalization issues, the vision on these issues - so important for Sweden - was sadly absent from this week's party leaders' speeches. It is remarkable that not one of the party leaders addressed these issues in their speeches. Digitalization is here to stay and a large part of digitalization, its societal benefits and value for the economy, lies ahead of us.

Tech and digitization are obvious pieces of the puzzle for long-term solutions

We are facing major challenges for the future linked to sustainable growth, jobs and welfare. Take healthcare, for example, with demographic challenges and where gains can be made with digitization in the form of heavy and time-consuming tasks being released in favor of more time with patients while increasing safety for the individual and raising the quality of care and care. Challenges where tech and the possibilities of digitization will be obvious pieces of the puzzle for long-term solutions. This means that both the business community and politicians must take responsibility for taking advantage of developments. During this year's Almedalen, the lack of digitization issues was noticeable among the party leaders. Let's hope for improvement next year. For Sweden's sake.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of you who had the opportunity to attend and visit our seminar and for allowing us to take part in seminars and being invited to panel discussions, roundtables and meetings in various forms. And I would like to extend a special thank you to our member companies for attending and visiting our seminar and for the conversations and engagement in general! Thank you also for organizing the seminar and creating meeting places and describing your business and the challenges you face. And for highlighting together the image of the important role you play for Sweden.

37 concrete policy proposals to strengthen Sweden as a world-leading technology nation

After a few weeks of much-needed rest during the summer, we are now entering the final phase of the election campaign. We cannot vote digitalization away, it is here to stay. In our seminar, youth associations complained that politics is often last on the ball and it is only when an issue becomes important in people's everyday lives that politicians tend to put it high on the agenda. So let's all have a little discussion about the importance of tech in everyday life and maybe it can be the start of a visionary digital leadership with an ambitious digitization and tech policy during the next term. Do you need some inspiration for the discussions? Then take a look at our report "A tech agenda for Sweden" where we list 37 concrete, political proposals aimed at strengthening Sweden as a world-leading technology nation.

Christina Ramm-Ericson
Head of Industrial Policy, TechSverige

P.S. For those of you who did not attend the Almedalen Week, you can watch our seminar afterwards here.