Here are the finalists of the Competence of the Year Award
Today, the finalists for the 'Competence Award of the Year' in Tech Awards Sweden, an award and industry event organized by TechSverige and Foundry (formerly IDG), are presented. Five entries have made it to the finals this year. The nominees are: Digital Academy (Google), Digital Maturity (Adda AB and SKR), Tech After School (Hello World!), Space Academy (Space) and #HackYourWorld (IBM, Ericsson and Drivhuset)
This year's Skills Award recognizes solutions and efforts that strengthen the entire tech sector's access to skills. The winner takes responsibility for strengthening the attractiveness of the industry and works actively to cover the industry's large skills gap through various activities, such as skills development and lifelong learning.
The jury includes Beatrice Silow, Head of Communications and Culture, Nexer Group, and Chair of TechSverige's IT Competence Council:
Beatrice Silow, Head of Communications and Culture, Nexer Group- There were many strong entries in this year's competition and the jury had a difficult task to select the finalists as the competition was tough. The need for skills in the industry is extremely high and it is gratifying that there is both great breadth and excellence among the contestants. We can also note that there are many skills-enhancing initiatives focusing on young people, inclusion and diversity, which is promising for future skills provision in broad target groups.
The winner will be presented at Tech Awards Sweden on March 22 at Sergel Hub in Stockholm.
Finalists in the category 'Competence of the Year Award':
Digitalakademin (Google)
"Digitalakademin" is an educational initiative started by Google in 2015. The goal of the Digital Academy is for Swedish companies and individuals to become better at exploiting the opportunities of digitization. The Digital Academy offers free online training in 26 different areas, including digital advertising, social media, online sales and online security. To date, over 250,000 businesses and individuals have been trained in digital skills, both online and via live training sessions. Digitalakademin runs various initiatives to reach different target groups, for example, Google was on a digital tour last year where 21,000 companies were trained in digital skills in all 21 counties of Sweden. Digitalakademin also collaborates with the Swedish Public Employment Service and runs the Digitala jag platform, where individuals can learn about digital tools in 12 different languages.
Digital maturity (Adda AB and SKR)
Municipalities and regions have together strengthened the conditions for taking advantage of the opportunities of digitization through the national project Digital Maturity. 150 municipalities and regions have invested more than 22,000 hours in training and exchange of experience over two years with the support of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and Adda Kompetens. 5,000 employees and managers in the welfare sector have participated in the training offered by the project. Municipalities and regions have gathered around the evidence-based model Digital Maturity and have worked closely with the research consortium Swedish Center for Digital Innovation (SCDI) throughout the project. The project has been co-financed by the Swedish ESF Council. SKR and Adda continue to develop the project further through an investment in a national competence forum for municipalities and regions and a partner program for suppliers to enable and support the public sector's transition in a digital era. Both initiatives are expected to develop the skills of over 10 000 managers, leaders and employees in and for the public sector in 2023.
Space Academy (Space)
Space Academy started January 2022 and is part of Space. Space Academy's entire purpose is about democratizing access to tech knowledge through knowledge development, role models and networks and helping to bring talent to the market. Space Academy offers inspirational courses for school classes and tech camps during school holidays for young people aged 13-19. They bring together inspiring people from different backgrounds and roles and teach coding, game development and more. The initiatives are free of charge as they aim to include everyone, regardless of background and financial capacity. To increase diversity in tech, Space Academy has focused on schools from socio-economically disadvantaged areas.
Tech After School (Hello World!)
Hello World! is a non-profit organization that has inspired and spread knowledge about digital creation and programming to over 19,000 participantssince its inception in 2016 . In 2022, Hello World! has developed a new, scalable concept "Tech After School" with free courses at e.g. leisure centers, schools and libraries, with the aim of opening the door to more and wider groups of children and young people. "Tech After School" is a knowledge-promoting leisure activity aimed at increasing children's and young people's interest in digital creation and STEM subjects. It connects participants with role models and mentors, as the course leaders are hourly employed university students. They also gain insights into future career opportunities through inspiration and visits from employees of partner companies. The overall goal of the association is to democratize access to STEM and tech education. The activities address some of our most important societal challenges: the lack of integration, increased school segregation, exclusion and skills shortages in tech.
#HackYourWorld (IBM, Ericsson and Drivhuset)
#HackYourWorld is an initiative aimed at high school students where IBM, Ericsson and Drivhuset organize a three-stage rocket with kickoff, bootcamp and hackathon to awaken the interest in technology among young people. During the hackathon, they will focus on solutions for one of the UN's sustainability goals. Several of the winners have successfully continued working on their contributions after the competition. #HackYourWorld has been running for 6 years and interest is growing every year. Most recently, 1000 young people from 25 schools participated in the kick-off. #HackYourWorld is linked to the upper secondary school curriculum and participation can be done as part of the teaching. During both the kickoff and the bootcamp, participants learn about new technologies, sustainability, how to create an idea and how to work well in teams.
The jury consisted of:
Beatrice Silow, Head of Communications and Culture, Nexer Group
Haval van Drumpt, CEO, Tre Sverige
Joakim Djurberg, Journalist, Computer Sweden / Foundry
Per Schlingmann, Entrepreneur, Author, Lecturer
Arash Sangari, Program Manager Startup Sweden, Tillväxtverket
Ulrika Lindstrand, President, Sveriges Ingenjörer
Anna Eriksson, Director General, DIGG - Swedish Agency for Digital Government
Lena Miranda, CEO Linköping Science Park
Richard Oehme, Senior Advisor, Knowit Cybersecurity & Law
Mattias Höjer, Professor of Environmental Strategic Analysis and Futures Studies, KTH
Johanna Giorgi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Addsecure.
Åsa Zetterberg, Association Director, TechSverige (jury chair)