New year, new opportunities for AI 

AI

Many in AI Sweden probably breathed a sigh of relief when the fuss about the AI Commission's report Roadmap for Sweden, which was launched on November 26, had subsided and December entered the Christmas and New Year celebrations. But now it's 2025 and AI issues are still high on the agenda. 

There has been positive news. Shortly after the AI Commission delivered its roadmap, the government announced that Sweden has been selected to host one of seven European AI factories. It was a quick injection of funds that landed well.  

There are also guidelines for the use of generative AI in public administration and AI skills development. This is welcome. Now, generative AI may not be the AI area that will generate the most questions. This is also reflected in Diggs and IMY's summary:  

Use generative AI to take advantage of the potential of AI for needs in the administration's activities, for example to improve efficiency and quality where the technology enables faster and better results than humans can produce. However, use generative AI with great awareness of the applicable regulations, risks and responsibilities involved, especially when handling sensitive data.  

However, it is an important start. TechSverige has emphasized that guidelines and recommendations can be important to get more people, in both the public and private sectors, to get started and contribute to lower compliance costs. Now it is important that the guidelines start to be used and updated as needed.  

The Minister for Civil Affairs, Erik Slottner (KD), also kept his promise when the report was launched - to get started quickly. The government commissioned 25 authorities to report on what cooperation there is with other authorities and what training or other skills enhancement measures have been offered to staff. They are also to report on the challenges they face in terms of ethics, law and security. It is good that the government wants to receive reports already before summer 2025. 

These small but important steps forward have continued. 

The Government is investing around SEK 28 million in 2025 to enable seven higher education institutions to develop courses focusing on AI for professionals in various sectors. According to the assignment, they must also report on how they are working to develop the range of AI courses on offer, and on efforts to integrate AI elements into the courses where it is relevant. These are much-needed and important initiatives. The next step is the long term. According to their assignments, higher education institutions are already required to dimension education based on the needs of the labor market, and it cannot have escaped anyone's attention that AI development is leading to a great need in the labor market. Dialogue with the business community is a key factor in this. TechSverige is at your disposal. 

It is not only the government that now needs to continue working at a high pace. The AI Commission has another six months or so before its work should have been formally completed at the latest, a time that can be used to investigate a number of outstanding issues. The Commission could contribute to the Task Force proposed in the report and advocated by TechSverige being set up to add operational power to the work within the framework of a tech office. TechSverige has also written to the government asking the Commission to develop proposals to exempt certain public data sets from fees, to develop a strategy for AI in primary schools and to develop a proposal for how the proposed task force to assist the public sector in working with AI can also include business actors.  

The Prime Minister is committed to the issue and will go to Paris for a summit with the appropriate name Artificial Intelligence Actions Summit. It is good that he is now invited as Sweden was not present at the first major international meeting held in the UK in 2023 and Sweden must protect its interests in the international arena. 

Moving forward, we also need to take the big steps.  

  • Increase ambitions and show clear digital leadership with specific goals and resources. Equip the Government Offices with a tech office with close links to the business community and ensure follow-up of the upcoming digitization strategy where AI is an important part. 
  • Increase the supply of skills by making long-term STEM investments, raising the reimbursement level for higher education in areas such as AI and cybersecurity, developing a digitalization strategy for schools, and introducing tax deductions for companies' investments in skills. 
  • Improve the investment climate for digital infrastructure with less regulation and clear rules without unhealthy competition from public actors. 
  • Increased efforts to make public data sets available and a policy that sees the necessity of data centers for competitiveness. 

Slottner, who is expected to present the government's digitalization strategy in the spring, had his ambitious digitalization policy confirmed by his own party leader who really raised the stakes in Las Vegas. Minister for Energy and Industry Ebba Busch (KD) delivered an eye-catching speech in which she sold Sweden as a country where curiosity and hard work have created a dynamic and innovative business community.  

In the tribute to Sweden's capabilities, AI was not actually mentioned. But if Slottner and others can begin to realize an AI policy, based on the AI Commission's roadmap, this will create a basis for Busch's next major speech, where the ability to implement strategic initiatives and prioritized initiatives for AI are also highlighted as Swedish strengths. 

Fredrik Sand
Business policy expert, TechSverige

Pia Högset
Business policy expert, TechSverige

Peter Kjäll
Business policy expert, TechSverige