New government, new opportunities but no minister for digitalization
For the first time in many years, the government lacks an explicit minister for digitalization. At the time of writing, the division of former minister Farmanbar's responsibilities is not clear. It seems that the areas that TechSverige monitors and influences are divided between different ministers. In the first statements, Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner (KD) was given responsibility for digitalization issues. Some parts may be on the desk of Minister for Infrastructure Andreas Carlson (KD). Information and cyber security issues will be moved from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Defense, where Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) is Minister for Civil Defense. Responsibility for some other information security issues is already in the Ministry of Defense under Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (M).
Progress and challenges
In the government declaration, the Prime Minister described Swedish business as a greenhouse for prosperity and innovation, but also as an important environmental movement - a world leader in sustainability and green transition. The government will be an aggressive partner in this work.What this means in more concrete terms remains to be seen, but TechSverige has a clear hope that the opportunities of digitization will be taken advantage of and that we will have a higher ambition in the field of digitization.
It is positive that the digital infrastructure of healthcare is anchored in the Tidö Agreement and the Government Declaration, and that vigorous action is now being taken on the digital transformation of Swedish healthcare. These priorities are in line with TechSweden's proposals in A Tech Agenda for Sweden.
The key word for the government's priorities for the Swedish Presidency of the EU in 2023 was competitiveness, including a greater focus on digitization and technology policy. Accelerating digitization is one of five priorities that TechSverige, together with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and several industry organizations, has highlighted ahead of the Presidency.
The skills shortage is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses and an important issue for ensuring Sweden's competitiveness. It is positive that the government declaration is clear that the rules for highly skilled labour immigration will be improved. This is an issue TechSverige has raised during the election campaign.
Another priority for TechSverige is information and cyber security. The government declaration states that resilience to hybrid threats will be increased and cyber security will be improved. What this means in practice remains to be seen, but it clearly raises expectations.
The government declaration states that all of Sweden must be given the conditions to live. However, there is no mention of the fact that access to stable, high-capacity broadband, including 5G, is a prerequisite for working, studying and communicating throughout the country. In a review of the parties' election manifestos, broadband expansion was one of the few issues that unites the parties where investments were highlighted. It therefore seems almost surprising that this is completely absent from the government declaration.
We look forward to constructive discussions with the new ministers and to clarifying the importance of our members for the Swedish economy and social development. TechSverige has listed 37 action points in A Tech Agenda for Sweden. We hope to have the opportunity to contribute to the implementation of these during the mandate period.
Christina Ramm-Ericson
Head of Industrial Policy