Sweden – Ambient Sweden
Overall Scope
AMBIENT SWEDEN – Sweden a leading Internet nation in 2015
Sweden, as well as all European countries, has much to gain from being a leading Internet nation. The Internet is becoming more and more integrated into our everyday lives – both at home and at work, not just in Sweden but everywhere in the world. To ensure we maintain a leading position, we need to fully understand our strengths and weaknesses in the field. In the IVA Internet Foresight project, we have identified Sweden’s strengths and looked at threats and opportunities. We have also defined the concept of a “leading Internet nation,” i.e. what is required in terms of infrastructure, usage, knowledge and leadership in order to be a leader in the field. The initiative’s objective is to both secure and advance Sweden’s positions with respect to the Internet of the future. Based on the current situation and the latest research findings, the project will set priorities and ensure that the responsible organisations and individuals implement the requisite measures so that Sweden can be a leading Internet nation in 2015. There are several areas where, if we work in a strategic way, we can be a leader in the international arena. Success is dependent on cooperation between a number of players. In the Ambient Sweden project, researchers from the academic world are working with experts from the user and operator side.
The initiative Ambient Sweden is being run along six different tracks with clearly defined focus areas: new opportunities for the private and public sectors, common platforms for services and infrastructure, development within schools and in working life, research and innovation, international profiling and, not least, confidence and effective regulations and legislation.
For more information about Ambient Sweden, please see www.iva.se/ambientsweden
R&D Scope
The initiative Ambient Sweden is being run along six different tracks with clearly defined focus areas:
Track 1: New opportunities for the private & public sectors
Work objectives:
- e-services. A directive issued by the Swedish Government in the form of a government policy to enable users to access the services or information they are seeking.
- Further develop Mobile 2.0 for services adapted for higher speeds.
- IT for sustainability. Monitor and influence technical infrastructure development, making it as energy efficient as possible.
Track leader: Olle Olsson, SICS
Track 2: Common platforms for services and infrastructure
Work objectives:
- Establish a meeting place for service market players in order to achieve interoperability and create joint services.
- Monitor any other standardisation initiatives.
- Promote advanced traffic exchange between operators.
Track leader: Tove Madsen, Acreo and Göran Olofsson, TeliaSonera
Track 3: Development within schools and in working life
Work objectives:
- Introduce computer studies and influence school administrators and politicians
- Introduce IT-based teaching and create an environment where it is natural to use computers and the Internet to support education, not only for technical subjects.
- Swedish government agencies should lead the way in promoting a more flexible working life
Track leader: Bo Boivie, HiQ
Track 4: Research, innovation and enterprise
Work objectives:
- Promote Internet innovation and research to position Sweden as a world leader.
- Work with the forces that are focusing on promoting an innovation-friendly climate.
Track leader: Ulf Wahlberg, Ericsson och Staffan Truvé, SICS
Track 5: Effective regulations and legislation
Work objectives:
- Draw up proposals for directives for a commission that will work on an information security act.
- Drive an e-ID initiative to create an e-ID solution that can be used outside government institutions.
- Introduce a system for quality labelling of Internet connections.
Track leader: Katarina Renman-Claesson, Konstnärernas Riksorganisation and Helena Andersson, MSB Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
Track 6: International profiling
Work objectives:
- Organize and support a network that coordinates all relevant national activities to more efficient promote Swedish interests internationally.
Track leader: Östen Frånberg, IVA
Expected Impact
Why is it important for a country to be a successful Internet nation? In the same way as the industrial revolution helped increase prosperity in the 20th century, information technology and the Internet are helping to improve competitiveness in the 21st century. Sweden is a good Internet nation today, but can be better – or more prominent. For every indicator for the prospects for industrialisation in the 1900s, there are similar indicators for positive development of the Internet in this century. And we should add that the Nordic region is driving development of mobile telephony. Thus, the prospects for being a leading Internet nation in 2015 are better for Sweden than for other nations if we act wisely and in time, taking the right steps and making the right investments. Constructive use of the Internet throughout a society will naturally support economic, democratic and climate-improving development. The Internet can be seen as a tool to get what we want, not a technology that sets limitations on our actions. The Internet was commercialised in 1995, and in 2015 we will see a society where the vast majority of people are connected to it. Development in the area has been rapid, which means the Internet is a relatively new phenomenon that in many respects, like a new building, has not “settled down” yet. Such rapid development, both in terms of usage and technology, begs the question: Which inventions, products, processes will be launched over the next ten years? Can we predict this? Factors such as the need to reduce environmental impact, an ageing population, the desire for more effective and flexible work situations and the Internet as a tool for education, will all impact development. So far, development within media and entertainment has been explosive and it is likely that media and entertainment will continue to drive the economic development of the Internet for the next decade.
The Internet contributes to Sweden’s (or all nation’s) development in various ways:
Securing welfare through growth and increased international competitiveness
A high employment rate in advanced Internet-based products and services. Those employed help to increase competitiveness and growth in the following ways:
- High technology attracts significant investment
- Helping to improve the efficiency of work processes
- Well-educated employees are required
- Significant export income from products and services
A sustainable society through the use of modern Internet technology
By using the Internet, travel can be reduced thereby reducing the impact on the environment
- The number of people involved in distance working one or two days a week will increase with an Internet with higher capacity between the home and the workplace.
- The number of overseas business trips will decline when video conferences become increasingly similar to personal meetings.
- Technological developments are leading to less energy consumption for Internet infrastructure.
Effective industries and societal functions
- Logistics are becoming more efficient and increasingly important in international trade. Wal Mart, H&M and IKEA are good examples of companies with more efficient processes.
- In the health care sector people are requiring more care for their money. The Internet can help improve and simplify communication between the health care system and the care provider and between players in the care chain.
- Refined and intelligent machine-to-machine communication is becoming more efficient in industry.
A better quality of life through easily accessible Internet services
- Routine tasks carried out between private individuals, businesses and the authorities are being simplified and rendered more efficient.
- Greater freedom of choice through more exposure to different alternatives.
- Improved general communication between people who, for various reasons, cannot meet in person.
Involved constituency
Com Hem (ISP): www.comhem.se
Ericsson (Equipment and service development): www.ericsson.com
HiQ (Leading Internet consultancy company): www.hiq.se
ISOC-SE: www.isoc.se
IVA (Engineering academy): www.iva.se
KTH (Royal Institute of Technology – technical university): www.kth.se
PTS (The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency – Regulating body): www.pts.se
SICS (Swedish Institute for Computer Science – Research institute): www.sics.se
TDC (ISP): www.tdc.se
Telenor (ISP): www.telenor.se
TeliaSonera (ISP): www.teliasonera.com
Tre (ISP, pure mobile ISP): www.tre.se
VINNOVA (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems): www.pts.se
For further information on Ambient Sweden, please contact:
Staffan Eriksson, MSc
Project Manager Ambient Sweden
Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA)
Phone +46 8 791 29 53
Mobile +46 70 551 07 07
E-mail: [email protected]
