The world is changing at record speed, and our authorities must acquire the ability to adapt quickly in order to contribute to total defence. But how? In a new initiative, both employees and senior managers at Swedish authorities will research the answer to this question with the help of the University of Gothenburg and RISE.
Swedish authorities, municipalities and regions are stable, reliable machines. Politically controlled, they do what the law requires. But in an unstable world where geopolitics are constantly changing and challenging issues such as climate, biodiversity and an ageing population are on the agenda, the Swedish public sector must also rethink its approach.
On behalf of the Government, the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency (formerly MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces have produced a policy document on how our authorities, regions and municipalities should contribute to total defence. They demand that the authorities be able to immediately adapt their activities in the event of a crisis or war. According to the policy document, authorities should be able to manage on their own for the first two weeks of a crisis situation.
“It's urgent. Sweden is currently under constant hybrid attack from foreign powers. Our authorities need to acquire the ability to adapt; it's a matter of complying with a new regulatory framework. That's why we're making this initiative: Forum Totalförsvar (Total Defence Forum),” says Johan Magnusson, professor of information systems at the University of Gothenburg.
The Total Defence Forum has two parts. The University of Gothenburg promises to supervise 15 doctoral students who will conduct research into what hinders the transition in their own public sector organisations where they work.
In the second part, RISE will offer leadership development when authorities need to make the transition.
“In the development programme, we coach and train management teams in public organisations on how they can strengthen their respective organisations' ability to adapt. We integrate the latest knowledge from our own research, that of our doctoral students and others, and support the leaders,” says Carl Heath at RISE, who is also a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.
In this way, the initiators believe they can bring about real change in the authorities that make up Sweden's total defence in a short period of time.
“We are starting now; we have chosen not to wait for initiatives from above. At the same time, we know that there is considerable interest. The Minister for Civil Defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, has attended one of our information meetings, as have representatives of county administrative boards and directors-general of authorities,” says Johan Magnusson.
Municipalities and regions play a central role in the transition during crises and wars; they are the ones who meet citizens in their everyday lives and take care of them. County administrative boards also play an important role in emergency situations. This was evident during the pandemic, when many decisions could not be made through the usual decision-making channels and mandates were pushed down through the organisations.
“It may be easier now that the pandemic is still fresh in our minds, but unfortunately, no analysis has ever been conducted of how various authorities performed at that time. We believe that Forum Totalförsvar will lead to a great deal of new and valuable knowledge,” says Johan Magnusson.
Contact: Johan Magnusson, Professor of Information Systems at the Department of Applied IT at the University of Gothenburg, telephone: +46 (0)73-310 03 27, e-mail: johan.magnusson@ait.gu.se
Carl Heath, senior researcher and focus leader for digital resilience at RISE, e-mail: carl.heath@ri.se