Digitalization within the public sector progresses slowly in Sweden, posing a risk of falling behind other countries. To address this challenge, Frends is heavily investing in driving the digitalization of the Swedish public sector. A key figure in this endeavor is Robert Jakobsson, who now assumes the role of Head of Public Sector at Frends Sweden.
"In the public sector, the digitalization trend mainly focuses on collaboration and reusability. All necessary information already exists in each municipality. It's just a matter of streamlining processes and utilizing data to achieve improvements," says Robert.
Frends aims to provide efficient tools for Swedish municipalities to modernize their processes and meet the growing demands for automation and efficiency. To expedite the digitalization of the public sector, Robert Jakobsson has taken on the role of Head of Public Sector at Frends, following a year as Senior Sales Manager at the company. With over 15 years of experience from TEIS (Tietoevry Integration Server), where he specialized in the public sector and integration solutions, Robert brings valuable expertise to his new role.
He particularly underscores the importance of keeping pace with the rapid digitalization to avoid security risks and meet the ever-increasing demands from citizens and customers.
"Many municipalities attempt to solve their challenges by investing in new operational systems, even when they already have functional tools and all the necessary information at hand. However, the focus should shift towards optimizing and enhancing existing processes. By effectively managing the available information, municipalities can streamline their daily operations, achieve significant cost savings, and expedite the process of digitization," says Robert.
Robert underlines another critical aspect: without a greater inclination towards digitalization within municipalities and access to the necessary tools, the public sector risks facing challenges in fulfilling its societal mission.
"Kalmar exemplifies successful digitalization"
A prominent example of successful digitalization is Kalmar municipality. By simplifying internal procedures and optimizing the use of existing data, they have significantly raised their level of digitalization. This has enabled information sharing across operations and enhanced accessibility for citizens. Through automated case management, the municipality can now achieve greater efficiency with fewer resources, with the Frends integration platform playing a decisive role in this.
"Frends can provide valuable customer data insights through its interfaces. It's about creating efficient processes to maximize the utility of information – which is one of our significant strengths," explains Robert.
Despite progress, numerous municipalities continue to struggle with integration debts, often stemming from limitations within existing systems or the high costs associated with implementing new solutions. Frends' ready-made processes and solutions are tailored to facilitate system integration and address the backlog of integration needs, thereby speeding up digitalization.
"With Frends, users within the organization can quickly outline desired processes or integration needs without starting from scratch. By defining event chains and system connections, time is saved, and costly projects are avoided. This accelerates digitalization and reduces the need for coding for each integration," explains Robert.
A unified digital strategy
Another advancement in the digitalization of the public sector is the Swedish National Agency for Education's recommendation of the SS 12000 standard, which serves as an interface for information exchange between school operational processes. This marks the first time that the agency recommends a technical standard, clearly indicating its commitment to driving the integration of digital solutions within educational institutions.
By adopting this common standard, the possibilities for smoother information exchange and more efficient operational processes within schools also increase. Robert Jakobsson firmly believes that this will play a significant role in accelerating the pace of digitalization across the public sector.
"At Frends, we look forward to being a part of this development," concludes Robert.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Jakobsson, Head of Public Sector Frends Sweden, robert.jakobsson@frends.com
