Digital policy

In connection with the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Colombia, Minister for Public Administration Erik Slottner is visiting Colombia this week. The aim of his visit is to further develop cooperation on digitalisation and cybersecurity, and to present Sweden as an innovative, sustainable country in the area of digitalisation, with an advanced security approach.

On 22 September, the Global Digital Compact (GDC), the first framework for global governance of digital technology, was adopted in connection with the UN Summit of the Future in New York. The Swedish Government was represented by Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch. The GDC is one of the most concrete aspects of the multilateral Pact for the Future adopted by UN Member States ahead of the 2024 General Assembly. Other key discussions addressed the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, energy policy, development issues and how to achieve the global climate goals.

On 21–23 September, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch will take part in the opening of the UN Summit of the Future in New York. Ahead of the Summit, Sweden has played an important role leading negotiations on the new Global Digital Compact. In conjunction with the Summit, Ms Busch will attend a G7 ministerial meeting on continued energy support to Ukraine. She will also meet representatives of governments, banks and industry to discuss the role of nuclear energy in the green transition.

On 2–3 May, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Olatunbosun Tijani visited Sweden at the invitation of Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell. The purpose of the visit was to discuss opportunities for enhanced cooperation on innovation, digitalisation and telecommunications.

The text of the following statement was released by the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden on the occasion of the inaugural U.S.-Sweden Cyber and Digital Dialogue.

Sweden has signed a joint statement on principles for the development of the future 6G policies. The statement was presented on 27 February 2024 in connection with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It includes an agreement on common principles that will guide research and development of future 6G policies both domestically and internationally.

The telecommunications ministers of Finland, Estonia and Sweden stress that the resilience of critical underwater infrastructure is now more important than ever. The ministers underlined the importance of resilient infrastructure at the Telecommunications Council in Brussels 5 December 2023.

The Government decided today to refer a proposal to the Council on Legislation aimed at giving the Swedish Police Authority more effective tools to prevent terrorist content being spread online. The legislative proposal complements an EU regulation in this area.

Migration, EU–US relations, and security and defence will be on the agenda when Prime Minister Stefan Löfven meets his European Council colleagues on 28–29 June.

The Nordic and Baltic regions are to expand their cooperation to maintain their position as Europe’s leading region in the area of digital development. The countries decided today to reinforce their cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI). Sweden will lead this cooperation.

The development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) is a priority for the Government and the focus of the National Innovation Council meeting on 19 March 2018. Åsa Zetterberg, the Government's Chief Digital Officer, is invited to the meeting to take part in discussions on how the Government can contribute to the development and use of AI throughout society.

There is a great need to develop cyber security in Sweden. This national cyber security strategy is an expression of the Government's overarching priorities and is intended to constitute a platform for Sweden's continued development work within the area.

Open data for new solutions. This was one of the items on the agenda of the National Innovation Council meeting on 15 May. Ms Barbara Ubaldi, project manager at the OECD, where she leads the work on digital government and open data, was invited to the meeting to inform about open data initiatives in other countries. The Government has asked the OECD to review and deliver proposals on how Sweden can accelerate the use of data in the public sector.