Creating a world-class Stockholm together with the ICT industry

Stockholm is an internationally recognized region in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). But that does not mean we can’t be better. In an increasingly competitive climate, we must be able to offer the best possible conditions for ICT entrepreneurs and companies. Stockholm will be a leading international city and together with the ICT industry, we can make Stockholm the preferred choice.

There are already obvious advantages for companies operating in Stockholm. Kista Science City is a cluster with an international reputation, whose success builds mainly on collaboration between the public and private sectors and academia. The cluster offers an environment with excellent network and development opportunities and strengthens our position as a leading knowledge region.

As a public operation, the City of Stockholm is considered by many to be a trailblazer. We have an operator-neutral digital infrastructure of world class that will be accessible to nearly everyone who lives and works in Stockholm within a few years. The City is also investing more than SEK 0.5 billion in the digitization of its municipal services. As a result, the City is an active buyer of e-services, which supports innovation and developments in the ICT industry. A dialogue is already taking place between us and the industry concerning the region’s development and competitiveness, especially in the Stockholm IT Region project.

Proof of Stockholm’s good ICT climate came recently when the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Stockholm “Intelligent Community of the Year 2009”. Despite this success, I am convinced that we can continue strengthening our attractiveness and competitiveness.

I personally believe that the key to success is collaboration. An important first step is to broaden our collaboration and exchange with the ICT industry. The City of Stockholm can then become even better at providing relevant municipal services to businesses and become more sensitive to their everyday needs.

A practical tool for achieving this goal is the Stockholm IT Region. Let us work together to create an international ICT reputation for Stockholm by developing Stockholm IT Region into a world class collaboration.

Sten Nordin
Mayor of Stockholm