The Government has maintained its plans to meet the EU’s Digital Decade targets while providing a wider strategy for the future digitisation of Sweden
Sweden’s new digitisation strategy is underlined by strategic focuses on AI, data infrastructure and national security
On 28 May 2025, Sweden’s Ministry of Finance published its 2025-2030 digitisation strategy, setting out the Government’s plans for its digital policy through the end of the decade. The strategy lays out five key areas which it sets its objectives around: digital competence, connectivity and the digitisation of business, the public sector and the welfare system. Alongside these key areas, the strategy establishes three horizontal goals:
AI and new technologies: AI and emerging technologies should be used and developed to drive societal benefit, sustainable development, competitiveness and innovation;
Data: Sweden shall have a robust and secure national data infrastructure that enables standardised, efficient and sustainable sharing and use of data where personal privacy is protected; and
Security: Sweden must have high digital resilience and reliability so that users and services are safe and information is secure.
These horizontal goals are referenced throughout the strategy, particularly those focused more on security and data protection, likely in light of the recent rise in cyber attacks and various geopolitical tensions.
The EU’s Digital Decade targets remain part of Sweden’s plans alongside a broader focus on the security and resilience of digital infrastructure
The strategy is clear that reliable connectivity is necessary throughout the country for the development and digitisation of society. While past digital strategies have mostly focused on the need for connectivity, the Government now wants to broaden its approach to address other challenges such as resilience, security and reliability. This new strategy maintains Sweden’s previous goal of achieving gigabit speeds for all households and businesses by 2030, matching the EU’s Digital Decade targets, which the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) has previously reported will be difficult to achieve. In terms of its broader scope around resilience and security, the Government emphasises the importance of connectivity to neighbouring countries though subsea cables, calling for an urgent expansion of this network due to ongoing geopolitical issues which have led to allegations of sabotage of these cables. For example, in November 2024, damage was done to a cable connecting Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea, drawing a later investigation from the Swedish police whose investigation found that the damage was not caused by sabotage.
The Government is targeting 50Mbps speeds for all roads and railways by 2030
The Government also set mobile-specific connectivity targets, setting a minimum goal of 2Mbps download speeds for the whole country. More specific goals have also been set for all populated areas as well as all public roads and railways, which will need to have download speeds of 50Mbps by 2030 to provide consumers with continuous and reliable coverage at all times, even on car and rail journeys. The Swedish Transport Administration (STA) will make significant investments in the coming years to upgrade the railway communication system, GSM-R, which runs on 2G networks, to the Future Rail Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), which uses 5G networks. As a part of this new approach to rail coverage, the STA has offered mobile operators the opportunity to connect new cables in longer tunnels to provide more continuous connectivity for rail passengers.
The digital transformation of the economy, the public sector and welfare services can lead to more efficiency and international competitiveness
The rest of the strategy is made up of goals for widespread digitisation and improvements in digital skills. On digital skills, the Government sets the goal of full digital inclusion for the Swedish population, for professionals to be enabled to continuously develop their digital skills and for increased access to cutting-edge digital expertise, which it argues can bring about more innovation and greater competitiveness. These goals are similar to the strategy’s aims for the digitisation of businesses, which call for the digital transformation of the economy with the use and development of new technologies such as AI. The Government also sets the goal of improving private sector compliance with government authorities through the use of AI to simplify processes and reduce administrative costs. The digitisation of the public sector and welfare systems follow similar goals of improving efficiency, reducing administrative burdens and creating more user-friendly digital services and systems. Erik Slottner (Minister of Public Administration, Government of Sweden) also explained that the new strategy’s goal is to “simplify everyday life for people” rather than solely focusing on the various potential economic benefits of digitisation.
