Strategic prerequisites for Swedish technology leadership

Sweden is still one of the leading research and innovation countries in the world. At the same time, many other countries have invested more government resources in research and innovation than Sweden and are planning to continue increasing their investments.

In order for Sweden to maintain and strengthen its position as a research and innovation nation, long-term government R&D investments at an internationally leading level are required. Therefore, Sweden should have a spending target for government R&D.

The goal should be for government R&D investments to correspond to at least 1 percent of GDP by 2030, with the ambition to increase to 1.2 percent of GDP by 2035.

Sweden currently lacks a comprehensive national ability to prioritize, coordinate and protect strategically important technology. This leads to fragmentation, weaker impact and limited strategic leverage internationally.

Sweden should therefore establish a national technology council with a clear link to the Government Offices. The council will strengthen the country's strategic capabilities in technology, innovation and competitiveness by bringing together authorities, business, academia, institutes and investors around a common direction, strengthened coordination and faster and more strategic decisions.

The council should work closely with industry, research and security policy processes and be tasked with:

• analyze and prioritize strategic technologies, niches and convergences.
• Identify technology, vulnerabilities and strategic dependencies worth protecting.
• analyze strategic skills needs and conditions for attracting, developing and retaining cutting-edge expertise.
• analyze needs for investments in research and technology infrastructure.
• strengthen coordination between authorities and national initiatives.
• provide information for the government's technology policy and strategic priorities.
• follow up on the implementation of technology policy initiatives and Sweden's strategic positioning.

Budget: At least SEK 20 million per year for analyses, foresight, processes and follow-ups.

International exchange of technology and knowledge, which previously largely took place through open markets, is increasingly influenced by geopolitically driven regulations of trade, investments and collaborations linked to strategic technology.

Sweden is also heavily dependent on EU policies and initiatives in research, innovation, competitiveness, climate change, security and international cooperation. EU-based initiatives also provide a natural platform for strategic R&I collaborations with countries outside the EU.

To take advantage of these opportunities, Sweden needs to strengthen Swedish actors' relationships with prioritized countries through national efforts.

National strategy for cooperation within the EU and with third countries

Sweden should develop and continuously update a coherent national EU strategy for research, innovation and competitiveness. The strategy should cover the entire EU long-term budget, including FP10, the Competitiveness Fund and related instruments. It should also clarify how these are interconnected and which Swedish priorities should be pursued in the long term.

A central starting point should be to identify and utilize synergies between different EU-programme and between the EU level and national initiatives.

The strategy should be linked to:

• Sweden's objective for competitiveness
• climate change
• security
• technological sovereignty

The aim is to strengthen Sweden's ability to position itself in areas where we have potential to take leading roles and reduce strategic dependencies.

In areas where Sweden has the ambition to be a leader, Sweden should take a prominent role in EU cooperation with leading third countries. This requires strategic partnerships with these countries, bilaterally or together with, for example, Nordic countries.

The strategy should also ensure access to strategic technologies where Sweden has a more limited role but where dependence is high. Strategic collaborations should also be used to strengthen access to international cutting-edge expertise and develop long-term talent relationships in prioritized technology areas.

National strategic EU function

For the strategy to have an impact, strengthened operational capacity and national coordination are required. Sweden should therefore establish a joint function that strengthens Sweden's presence, influence and positioning in the EU's technology, research and innovation policy, including collaborations with countries outside the EU.

The function should be tasked with:

• identify priority areas and formulate strategic Swedish positions.
• act as a strategic co-financier of EU initiatives.
• Identify areas where Sweden can take a leading role in the EU's R&I collaborations with third countries and strengthen bilateral relations.
• proactively identify and influence new EU initiatives, regulations and programme.
• Mobilize business, academia and authorities for coordinated interventions.
• strengthen Swedish representation in expert groups, partnerships and committees.
• develop support structures for mobilization and participation.
• create incentives for Swedish actors to participate in and lead EU-project.
• support coordination, consortia and strategic presence in Brussels.

Budget: At least SEK 100 million per year from 2028 to strengthen Sweden's representation, coordination and strategic influence within EU-programme and processes.

Regulations, regulatory interpretations, permit processes and unclear responsibilities are often obstacles to the implementation and scaling up of new technology. Slow and unpredictable processes risk leading to innovation and investments being moved to other countries.

Sweden should therefore introduce a coherent regulatory sandbox function to enable faster testing, verification and introduction of new technology.

The function should contribute to:

• shorter and more predictable permit processes
• faster testing
• better conditions for pilot and demonstration environments
• reduced double regulation between authorities
• strengthened collaboration between authorities and innovative actors
• increased coordination and clearer guidance for businesses and public actors

Budget: At least SEK 20 million per year for processes, analyses and guidance.