When I visited companies a few years back and talked about the circular economy, many thought that it seemed abstract. This is no longer the case. Today, I am met with great curiosity and also an awareness that we must leave the throwaway culture behind us. At the same time, there is uncertainty surrounding circular economy in practice – how can it be implemented in my business?

Many industrial companies are grappling with the same issues: How can we utilise collected data in order to streamline our production? How do we maintain the machines in the best possible way? Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to work proactively, is a step in the right direction.

With 5,000 exhibiting companies and 200,000 visitors, the Hanover Fair is the world’s largest industrial fair. When it is arranged next, on 1–5 April 2019, Sweden is the partner country, which is both an acknowledgment and a challenge, considering our predecessors – Mexico 2018, Poland 2017, USA 2016, India 2015 ... A Swedish pavilion encompassing 1,200 square metres is to be built in one of the most central exhibition halls. There, visitors will come face to face with Swedish industry and automation – from research and development to the finished product.

From one year to another, the number of virtual assistants (voice-controlled AI assistants) on the U.S. market increased by nearly 400 per cent (Mary Meeker, 2018). The adaption on the market is faster than that of any previous technology. It is moving so fast that Google has suddenly realised that they have fierce competition to their most central product – the search engine. Americans are no longer searching by text but are instead using voice commands.

Robot Process Automation (RPA) involves automating and streamlining repetitive and administrative tasks. Monotonous tasks bore the staff, they take time to perform and human error can sneak in. Automation Region’s September breakfast meetings went under the slogan: Employ a robot and free up time for value-creating tasks!

How do digitization and modern automation affect the development of the industry and society of tomorrow? The Automation Summit conference will bring together decision-makers to discuss how we can best invest in Sweden's future. October 9th is the big day.