Academic report, by a Commission or a Working Group

01 Jan Digitalisation for increased competitiveness

Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering (IVA)
2019
Digitalisation as a phenomenon is creating a profound change in society both in Sweden and globally. IVA believes that a broad and insightful discussion is needed on the changes that digitalisation enables, as Sweden's future prosperity will depend on society's ability to take advantage of the power in development and renewal that digitalisation bring. IVA's project Digitalisation for increased competitiveness wants to contribute to such a discussion. The following areas are in focus: digital infrastructure, security, skills, privacy and the initiatives and forms of collaboration that are needed to strengthen the international competitiveness of Sweden as a nation as well as Swedish industry. IVA concludes, among other things, that privacy needs to be discussed in a more nuanced and structured way depending on who is using the personal data and for what, and that the responsibility for digital infrastructure today is following a layered model with complex interactions between different actors. In addition, IVA considers that the responsibility for digitalisation issues at central-political level needs to be reorganised. The establishment of a coordination office within the Government Office is proposed. The coordination office should have financial resources and a mandate to pursue governance and coordination issues. The report is available in Swedish.
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01 Jan Sustainable new start for Sweden

Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering (IVA)
2019
The corona crisis has had a serious impact on Sweden. The pandemic has forced a shift in political and economic focus to support the most vulnerable. To deal with the immediate effects of the crisis, major public financial investments have therefore been made, both in Sweden and in the rest of Europe. At the same time, the need to transition to a competitive and climate-neutral society remain. The challenge is to maintain the long-term investments needed for Sweden and Europe to achieve the climate targets set, while at the same time making efforts to bring Sweden and Europe out of the pandemic. IVA's Sustainable New Start for Sweden project aims to point out important measures to get the Swedish economy moving again - without losing focus on long-term sustainability goals. Here, IVA's nine recommended actions are presented. The recommendations are based on analyses and suggestions from other IVA projects. Among other things, IVA calls for active cooperation within the EU, for the shortcomings in Sweden's electricity supply to be addressed, for the electrification of transport and industry to be accelerated and for public research investments to increase. The report is available in Swedish.
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