Digitalisation drives productivity and competitiveness, but many companies lack a holistic approach

21 October 2024

Swedish industry is an important part of Sweden's total defence and our economic resilience. It is a sector that has been largely digitalised. But a new report from Combitech, Smart and Safe Industry 2024, shows that digitalisation initiatives are often run as individual efforts and that there is a lack of a holistic approach. There are also major differences between companies and in the areas of skills development, leadership and safety.

Demoskop has been commissioned by Combitech to produce the report "Smart and safe industry 2024", in which they have investigated how production-related managers in Swedish industry view digitalisation. The results show that 65 percent of companies lack a formulated strategy for digitalization, despite the fact that three out of four state that they are working with digitization of their manufacturing processes today. This risks having economic and competitive consequences for Swedish industry and constitutes a vulnerability to digital threats.

The report also shows that:

Smaller industrial companies are lagging behind: Only 27 percent of smaller companies have a digitalization strategy, compared to 60 percent of larger companies.
Cybersecurity is not prioritized: Cybersecurity in production and manufacturing comes in sixth place in the priority. Only 22 percent state that cybersecurity is the most important technology area for continued investments and digitalization of the business.
Lack of skills development: Fewer than half of companies offer training in digitalization for their employees, despite the fact that technology development is now happening at a historically fast pace.
A management team issue: The report shows that the company management has a crucial role in driving digitalization and security work.

"The report shows that many companies are working with digitalization, and that productivity and sustainability are major drivers. These are positive signals, but at the same time I think it is worrying that the report highlights that many companies are lagging behind. There are about 1.2 million companies in Sweden, several of which are smaller companies. It is important that we safeguard this breadth and that we see industry as one of the cornerstones of Sweden's economy, with significant contributions to job creation, technological development and sustainability," says Combitech's CEO, Jessica Öberg.

Digitalization offers enormous opportunities and helps future-proof businesses, but it requires management to invest in and have a clear digitalization strategy that highlights the value. Companies also need to train their employees to make full use of the potential. It is also important to work with security, as digital transformation is about technology, security and people working together.

Important to create resilience

Digitalised industries, so-called smart industries, also need to be able to handle threats and protect assets as they increase. In a time of geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change, it is crucial that companies treat digitalization as a business risk.

"The manufacturing industry has an important role in our total defence, and it needs to be resilient. The crucial thing is to understand your business and be able to analyze where vulnerabilities and opportunities lie," concludes Jessica Öberg.

Read the report

Read the report here (link opens in a new window, in Swedish)

Press Release Article News

Ulrica Matsers

Head of Marketing & Communications

ulrica.matsers@combitech.com

+46 (0) 734 46 00 70

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