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Tech giants from Stockholm

Did you know that the tech giants such as the music streaming service Spotify, the mobile payment provider iZettle and the payment provider Klarna all come from the Swedish capital of Stockholm? Sweden is a leader in numerous innovative fields - including digitalization. Year after year, the country ranks among the three most innovative nations worldwide and has been the undisputed number ONE in Europe for four years now. Of course, the country relies on digitalization to maintain its leading position. "Thanks to close collaboration and co-creation we leverage the opportunities of digitalization to create added value and make Sweden a global leader in cutting-edge, sustainable industrial production", explains Ulf Troedsson, CEO of Siemens Sweden.

Siemens and Sweden have a long tradition of successful partnership dating back to 1853. They kept in touch throughout the years – and became even closer in recent times. This is clearly demonstrated by the successful cooperation between Siemens and Northvolt (battery production), Sandvik (a long-standing PLM software customer) and Scania (eHighways). "These cooperations will be intensified. And thanks to the integration of future technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Edge Computing, we will continue to support Swedish industry in progressing to the next level of digital transformation", Helmrich emphasized.

Which future technologies are of particular relevance to Swedish CEOs? For Klas Forsström, CEO Sandvik Machining Solutions, Additive Manufacturing clearly plays the key role – because many young people have a strong interest in this topic and Additive Manufacturing enhances the attractiveness of the industrial business. Jan Brockman, Chief Operations Officer at Electrolux, emphasized: "The most important future technology is the one that is most useful to consumers and provides added value within a short time." He also advocated the introduction of uniform standards and appealed to politicians to make this happen.

Setting benchmarks for the future: MindSphere

SKF Group CEO Alrik Danielson is convinced that "what Siemens has in mind with MindSphere will set future trends." In fact, for a technology to be disruptive and trend-setting, it must be put into practice – which is actually the case with MindSphere. Scania CEO Henrik Henriksson stressed that autonomous driving is of prime importance to Scania – and is likely to fundamentally change the company's business. It is quite possible that Scania will develop more and more into a transport logistics provider.

For Peter Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt AB, the most important change is how software and hardware interact with each other in today's modern world: "When you deliver hardware to a customer it's just the start of a journey. With connectivity and machine learning you can analyze user behavior, i.e. how your product is actually used in practice. This is a major change and it also requires industry to learn from its consumers' applications."

All the panel discussion participants agreed that industry underwent fundamental change in recent years, thus representing a highly interesting field of activity. "It's clean, it's bright and it's the future": Alrik Danielson and Ulf Troedsson got straight to the point with their statement "Industry is cool".

Infobox

Electrolux AB is a Swedish multi-national home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm.

Northvolt was founded in 2016 with the mission to build the world's greenest battery, with a minimal carbon footprint and the highest targets for recycling, to enable the European transition to renewable energy.

Sandvik is one of Sweden's largest global industrial groups. Founded in Sandviken, Sweden, in 1862, the company is a major player in the special steel industry worldwide.

Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer of commercial vehicles and buses, and is also a leading provider of industrial and marine engines. With headquarters in the Swedish city of Södertälje, it is one of the most profitable vehicle makers in the world.

SKF Group: Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF) is a Swedish corporate group offering a wide range of products and services focusing on bearings, seals, lubrication, mechatronics (linear systems, actuators, tensioners) and related services. From 1929 to 1953, SKF in Germany operated under the name of Vereinigte Kugellagerfabriken AG (VKF), with headquarters in Schweinfurt.