The Corona crisis – reflections and learning

Times are changing and development in our area is rapidly progressing. Today we talk less about industry segments – automation and digitization are crucial success strategies regardless of industry. Collaborating across both regional and national boundaries to learn from each other feels natural. Cooperation is a means of competition and a prerequisite for being able to take the lead in digitization and the transition towards a more sustainable production.

Automation Region's service business network brings together product-focused companies that want to develop their service operations. Two of the network's participants are Fredrik Gustafsson, Väderstad, and Fredrik Oskarsson at Westermo. They act in different lines of business but in the network, they work towards a common goal – to make everyday life easier for their customers by developing their service portfolio.

It is with great anticipation that I take on the role of new Chairman of the Board of Automation Region. We have exciting times ahead of us with high goals and ambitions. In five years, we will be Europe's leading innovation environment for automation. It is a bold vision - and to succeed will require a great deal of courage, skill and energy.

As the industry is digitized, the pressure for coordination and cooperation on standards and interoperability between different systems increases. In a joint initiative, RISE, the Royal Institute of Technology, Lund University, the Swedish Institute for Standards and Automation Region are therefore establishing a new knowledge platform for standardization in the digitalized industry.