S-GE market study Sweden’s ICT Market – Opportunities and Challenges preview

Opportunities and Challenges

SWEDEN’S ICT MARKET

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

SWEDEN’S ICT MARKET This report outlines the current state of the Swedish ICT market and examines in more detail various sub-sectors, which are growing and are likely to provide opportunities for Swiss ICT companies.

This report also lists trade events and professional associations which may help Swiss companies to gain a greater understanding of the Swedish ICT market and identify potential partners and customers.

Finally, the report examines regulatory issues, risk and success factors and suggests market access strategies.

Using this report, Swiss ICT companies should be better prepared to identify potential opportunities and strategies to enter the Swedish market.

Language: English Number of pages: 48 Author: Gunnar Niblaeus Other architectural Reports: Are you interested in other architectural Reports for other sectors and countries? Please find more Reports here: www.switzerland-ge.com/reports

Contents

4.3. Regulatory issues _________________________ 38

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _______________________5 2. INTRODUCTION _____________________________6 3. SWEDISH ICT MARKET ANALYSIS _____________7 3.1. Overview _______________________________ 7 3.1.1. Historical review _________________________ 7

4.3.1. The principle of public access to official documents

39

4.3.2. Public Procurement ______________________ 39 4.3.3. The Personal Data Act ____________________ 40 4.3.4. The Patient Data Act _____________________ 40 4.3.5. Archiving accounting data _________________ 41

3.1.2. General characteristics _____________________ 8

5. RECOMMENDATIONS _______________________ 41

3.1.3. Swedish regional ICT clusters ________________ 9

5.1. Background and recent developments ___________ 41

3.2. The market in 2013 _______________________ 10

5.2. Target sub-sectors and market opportunities ______ 41

3.3. SWOT analysis ___________________________ 11

5.3. Market entry strategies _____________________ 42

3.4. Future trends across the ICT sector ____________ 12

5.4. Market and trading risk factors _______________ 43

3.5. ICT segments ___________________________ 13

5.5. Success factors __________________________ 43

3.5.1. IT Outsourcing _________________________ 13

5.6. Conclusions ____________________________ 44

3.5.2. ERP Systems __________________________ 14 3.5.3. Communication services __________________ 15 3.5.4. Industrial IT ___________________________ 16 3.5.5. Mobile applications _______________________17 3.5.6. Internet of Things _______________________ 18 3.5.7. IT Security ____________________________ 19 3.5.8. E-Government _________________________ 20 3.5.9. E-health _____________________________ 22 3.5.10. Cloud services _________________________ 24 3.5.11. IT entertainment _______________________ 25 3.6. Statistical data __________________________ 26 3.7. Key Swedish market entry points ______________ 33

4. ACCESSING THE SWEDISH ICT MARKET _______35 4.1. Trade events ____________________________ 35 4.2. Start-up infrastructure _____________________ 35

6. USEFUL CONTACTS ________________________ 44 6.1. Government organizations __________________ 44 6.2. Trade, membership and professional organizations__ 45 6.3. Regulatory bodies ________________________ 46

List of tables

Table 1: Networked Readiness Index 2013 _________________________________________________________ 8 Table 2: ICT-related regional clusters ____________________________________________________________ 9 Table 3: IT Outsourcing actors ________________________________________________________________ 13 Table 4: ERP Systems actors _________________________________________________________________ 14 Table 5: Communication services actors _________________________________________________________ 15 Table 6: Industrial IT actors _________________________________________________________________ 16 Table 7: Mobile application actors _____________________________________________________________ 18 Table 8: Internet of Things actors______________________________________________________________ 19 Table 9: IT Security actors___________________________________________________________________ 19 Table 10: E-Government actors _______________________________________________________________ 21 Table 11: E-health actors ____________________________________________________________________ 24 Table 12: Cloud services actors________________________________________________________________ 25 Table 13: IT Entertainment actors _____________________________________________________________ 26 Table 14: Trade events _____________________________________________________________________ 35

1. Executive Summary With a long tradition in international business relations and a generally open and curious attitude among its people, Sweden offers an ideal environment for the development and early commercialization of new products and services, especially in the ICT sector. The country not only ranks top in numerous business-related indicators, but also in “softer” areas such as quality of life.

ICT plays an important role in Sweden, repeatedly having been identified as a critical field with enormous future potential. As one of the fastest growing sectors in the country, the dynamic Swedish ICT industry disposes of a vast business potential for innovative firms, meeting sophisticated users and demanding customers here, who are the drivers behind world-leading solutions.

This dynamism comes with an ongoing consolidation of companies, many of which have been sold to foreign corporations, which employ about 40% of the ICT workforce today. Foreign companies interested in doing business in Sweden come upon a market which is growing but still graspable, regulated by competitive and transparent corporate taxation, which offers easy-tofind access to information and key persons and constitutes a natural entry point and hub for the Nordic region. Location-wise, Kista Science City in Stockholm lends itself as an ideal entrance point to the market, being the leading hotspot for telecommunication and IT in the world.

For Swiss companies, entering the Swedish market is especially attractive due to the significant similarities that Sweden and Switzerland share in mind-set and business structure, as well as the strength of the brand “Swiss made”. Interesting opportunities also arise from the fact that many small companies in Sweden are in need of capital and other growth triggers.

Furthermore, Swiss knowhow could meet demand from Swedish banks that often have aging ICT systems. Not least, business relations between Sweden and Switzerland have been brought to a new level through the conclusion of the Gripen Deal whose offset business affects large economic fields.

The Swedish ICT market is particularly interesting for Swiss firms that are active in one of the following areas, which have been identified as “pockets of growth” and important general market drivers within the sector:    

Mobility Cloud Services Big Data Social Features

In addition, the Swedish government has recently taken strong measures to promote e-Government and e-health solutions by initiating respective national strategies as well as authorizing increased public spending.

Although Sweden has a strong national ICT market itself, there are plentiful opportunities for Swiss companies to profit from the above-mentioned similarities, the stable political framework and the positive investment climate.