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Hello CEO: Malin Ekwall, Randstad

#vitecherupp Hello CEO Techagenda
In our article series Hello CEO, we are currently focusing on the upcoming parliamentary elections on September 11. Malin Ekwall is Director of Randstad Technologies in Sweden. With extensive experience in IT skills supply, her driving force is to help people and companies achieve their full potential in tech.

What do you consider to be the main priorities for the next parliamentary term (2022-2026)?

- The skills shortage in tech is and has long been a fact. The shortage of IT specialists and digital skills will bring countless challenges when it comes to securing the country's growth, welfare and our competitiveness globally," says Malin Ekwall and continues:

- One of the top priorities should therefore be to secure Sweden's access to the tech skills needed, as this will be crucial for us to keep up with digitalization and remain competitive. We need to simplify and make it attractive for people from other countries with cutting-edge skills to move here, but also invest in skills development in the form of both upskilling and reskilling. Education in tech needs to take place from an early age, partly to awaken an early interest in both girls and boys, but also to promote digital inclusion.

What are the key messages you want to send to our policy makers ahead of the autumn elections?

- Technology is evolving incredibly fast. Skills that are relevant today may be outdated tomorrow. Therefore, lifelong learning, i.e. upskilling and reskilling, must be in focus and a clear plan is needed for this. We also need to ensure that education in relevant areas, such as IT and technology, takes place from an early age. This gives children and young people the right conditions to acquire the skills that will be required and in demand in the labor market of the future.

- This is absolutely necessary to ensure the digital skills of the future in the increasingly digital society, and these are issues that we need to solve together. Without the right skills in tech, there is a great risk that Sweden will fall behind in terms of digitalization and technological development.

What are your expectations of TechSverige ahead of the election campaign?
- My expectations are that TechSverige will continue to carry out its important work on these issues and to raise the profile of the industry. I would also like to see them continue to focus on and highlight the need to secure the tech skills needed in Sweden.

What can the tech industry do together to bring our most important issues into the political debate?
- We need to work together to ensure that we remain one of the world's leading countries when it comes to digitalization, startups and tech companies. The collaboration needs to take place between all parties, where we who work with skills supply in tech, the companies that drive the actual technology forward and the industry organization are included.

- I think the most important thing is that we act together, and in that, the membership organization plays an important role in bringing trade associations together in a united agenda.

In the report "A tech agenda for Sweden", TechSverige has gathered input for politics ahead of the election campaign and the next parliamentary term. Which of the ten areas identified in the report do you think is the most important for our decision-makers to focus on?

- To ensure Sweden's competitiveness, we need to secure our access to the right skills in tech. For me, as the leader of a competence company in tech, there is therefore one area in the report that is particularly important, and that is to attract talent and secure the need for tech skills because it will be absolutely crucial for Sweden's development and competitiveness.