Swedish industry is investing in the digital skills of the future

• September 4, 2023
• Andrew

A ground-breaking drive for digital skills development is taking shape in Sweden. Four of the country’s most prominent companies collaborate with leading higher education institutions to strengthen digital skills in industry, thereby securing Sweden’s industrial competitiveness on the global stage.

ABB, Ericsson, SAAB and Volvo Group have merged with Chalmers, Linköping and Örebro Universitet and KTH to launch “Expert Learning Lab”. The common vision is to develop expert trainings tailored to meet industrial challenges in the digital age.

With funding from Vinnova, the initiative plans to operate for at least a decade. Jan Gulliksen, Vicerer Sector in Digitisation at KTH, stressed the importance of this effort: “This is a great investment for Swedish industry.”

The involvement of businesses comes in the wake of criticism of traditional training methods. Many of the business community believe that existing training courses do not fully meet the specific needs of industry. Such dissatisfaction has inspired this new initiative, where training is tailored to suit the expectations and challenges of modern digital industry.

Mattias Wiggberg, researcher at KTH, points out the importance of renewing training to meet international standards. “Global competitive pressure is stretched. Up-to-date knowledge in digitalisation is crucial for Sweden to maintain its leading position, “he says.

The “Expert Learning Lab” initiative is highlighted by both Gulliksen and Wiggberg as a future model of lifelong learning. They anticipate that it will draw on expertise from all the disciplines of the KH and provide a new direction for industrial skills development in the coming decade.

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