Election 2022: Digitization issues conspicuous by their absence...again
With less than a month to go until the general election, party leader hearings and debates have started. It is clear that we are now entering the political bubble and although election fever is not yet at its peak, the temperature is starting to rise. Swedish Radio has been interviewing all the party leaders for two weeks.
Messy government formation
The formation of the government has attracted a great deal of attention in terms of who can be considered for cooperation and who cannot be included. It is likely to be a messy process. During the interviews, many questions arose about how the parties will put this together to form a functioning government after the elections on 11 September.
Ulf Kristersson (M) made it clear that the SD will not be part of an M-led government.
Magdalena Andersson (S) does not want to draw any "red lines" that must not be crossed except that it would be inappropriate if the Sd was in government.
Per Bolund (MP) is running for a seat in a red/green government that includes S, MP, C and V.
Nooshi Dadgostar (V) is demanding to be in a social democratic government to give his support and after a messy term, Sweden would need a strong majority government consisting of S, V, MP and C. According to V, it is a way to open a door instead of giving ultimatums or setting red lines.
Annie Lööf (C) sees Magdalena Andersson as the best candidate for prime minister as she has both the openness and the leadership required to be prime minister. However, continued cooperation with the Social Democrats requires that they put their policies in the middle and that the Liberal Party is not in the government.C would also like to work with Ulf Kristersson, as M and C share many policies and values. However, this requires M to cut ties with Sd and choose to cooperate with C and across the block boundary.
Johan Pehrson (L) is campaigning for a change of government but made it clear that the Sd cannot be part of a government that the L supports or allows. If Magdalena Andersson is instead given the task of forming a government, Pehrson announced that the L has always been constructive in opposition and is not opposed for the sake of it.
Ebba Busch (KD) is running for election to form a government with M but does not see that Sd can sit in the government.
Jimmie Åkesson (SD) is open to letting a government with M, Kd and L emerge where the Sd is outside given that the substantive policy is the right one, but then the Sd wants a written agreement and timetable for reforms.
Government options are anything but crystal clear
As I said, there is a lot of math when it comes to politics today and the various government options are anything but crystal clear. However, there are two options in particular that stand against each other - Magdalena Andersson, where the big challenge will be to get V and C to work together, and Ulf Kristersson, who will have to get L and SD to get along. But as this parliamentary term has shown, the unclear parliamentary situation can also open up for new collaborations.
Domestic policy issues ahead of the elections
Climate change, healthcare and education - these were some of the topics discussed during the interviews. Issues that are important election issues for the Swedish people.
Lack of link between climate and digitalization
The parties emphasize the need to transform our energy system to double electricity production as soon as possible and phase out fossil fuels. However, discussions on climate change often end up in a debate for or against nuclear power and there are divided opinions.
TechSverige would like to emphasize that a stable and cost-effective electricity supply and electricity transmission throughout the country is central as society becomes increasingly digitalized. The tech industry enables more sustainable solutions that require an increased use of connected devices that require more electricity but ultimately have a positive climate footprint given that the solutions are more energy efficient.
MP's goal is 100% renewable electricity by 2045 and for many of the energy sources metals are needed where one of the proposals is to introduce a deposit on mobile phones as a first step to increase the collection of old small electronics in general that can be reused. In connection with the investigation into a deposit system for small electronics, TechSverige has instead advocated stricter producer responsibility. This was also what the report recommended rather than a deposit system for mobile phones or electronics in general, a responsibility that the government has now also chosen to strengthen. It is significantly more cost-effective and is likely to have better environmental effects than a deposit system for mobile phones, which will be very costly to set up and would quickly become outdated. TechSverige believes that the focus must be shifted from recycling to increased reuse and extended lifetime of products.
During the party leader interviews, there is no mention at all of new technology and the potential of digitalization to contribute with products, services and innovations that promote reduced emissions and increase sustainability in society. TechSverige emphasizes the importance of accelerating the use of tech in the climate transition - no green transition without digitalization. We see that the next government must raise the ambition for a broad use of tech in the climate transition and that investments must be increased to achieve Sweden's climate goals through digitization. According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 70 percent of the UN's 17 global sustainability goals in the Paris Agreement's Agenda 2030 can be achieved with the help of already existing smart technology such as AI, IoT and robotics. There is no time to waste in not taking advantage of technologies that already exist here and now, not least in the major emitting sectors. We would have liked a clearer discussion and link to how existing and new technologies are part of the solution to the climate challenge.
More hands will not solve the welfare challenge
When it comes to health care policy and its major future challenges, nothing was discussed to any great extent. Busch believes that we have an outdated healthcare organization where an organizational change is needed by the state taking responsibility for healthcare instead of 21 regions. KD believes that an organizational change can free up more care capacity and reduce the pressure on staff and care.
According to the latest Novus survey, healthcare is the issue with the highest priority for Swedes. The political response is usually blunt investments in the form of more employees. Unfortunately, this is the wrong way to go. With an increase in staff density according to historical trends, 80 percent of the additional working-age population would need to work in welfare between 2021 and 2031, which is completely unreasonable (SKR Economic Report 2022).Healthcare is therefore facing enormous demographic challenges where the tech sector and the possibilities of digitization need to be obvious pieces of the puzzle for long-term solutions. This needs to be addressed much more clearly in the agendas of all parties. In the report A tech agenda for Sweden, we present a number of proposals to take advantage of digitization as an important tool to meet the future increased need for care by, among other things, accelerating the use of new innovative healthtech solutions and welfare technology, for example for self-monitoring, increased security and prevention, not least for the chronically ill, the multi-sick, the elderly and people with disabilities. Tech is a prerequisite for qualitative distributed health and social care where security, independence and increased participation in their own health are clear benefits. There are also major benefits for society. The use of healthtechl solutions and welfare technology needs to be accelerated by taking new approaches to incentives for the individual, reimbursement models, standards, and initial investments in organization and digital skills.
Skills needs in the shadows
Schools and education were raised in a number of interviews. Here, however, the debate is rarely about what students learn in school, but more about who organizes the schools.
Johan Pehrson mentions that they want to invest in teacher training, which TechSverige takes up in the report A tech agenda for Sweden, where we want teacher training to be reviewed and a national digital skills boost to be implemented among teachers and principals. We are in the midst of a structural transformation in society that is driving the digital transition. This will increase the need for skills enhancement initiatives in the school system and working life, but also to enable innovations in several important development areas, not least climate change.
Andersson emphasizes in his interview that the Social Democrats want to stop recruitment to the gangs by offering good schools and jobs and emphasizes the responsibility of companies to counteract segregation by considering hiring someone who is in Sweden and is unemployed and not bringing labor from other parts of the world.
There is a major shortage of tech skills. TechSverige has long pointed out the need for more training places, increased throughput on IT courses, and better conditions for retraining and skills development. All these efforts are needed to overcome the shortage in the longer term. But it is impossible for a small country like Sweden to be self-sufficient in all skills.Therefore, labor immigration is needed. TechSverige considers it important that the government actively works to increase Sweden's attractiveness as a knowledge nation through predictable regulations and processes for labor immigration.
Digitization issues are conspicuous by their absence
Based on the domestic policy issues discussed during the Swedish Radio party leaders' hearing, it can be said that there is potential for improvement from a business perspective. Conditions for companies to grow and contribute to solutions to many of the challenges we face today, which in turn spill over to possible jobs, were not touched upon to any great extent.
We would have liked to see more discussions on how we can build Sweden strong for the future through strengthened competitiveness and growth. Part of this depends on our ability to take advantage of the opportunities of digitization and embrace technological development. Unfortunately, we can note a total absence of the digitization issue during this hearing.