Prepare Sweden will strengthen Swedish security of supply

When the pandemic hit, the Swedish healthcare system was suddenly left without protective equipment. Companies had to adjust production, pop-up factories were quickly set up and help arrived – but initially without a clear plan, structure or division of responsibilities.

Since then, the situation has only become more complex, with a changing security environment and wars in Europe, and the issue of preparedness has become central.

National initiative to gather experience from the pandemic

Against this background, Prepare Sweden has been launched – a national initiative where RISE gathers experiences from the pandemic and other crises in order to translate them into concrete working methods for the future.

"Prepare Sweden is a concept that we are developing, and we have started a dialogue with other actors – authorities, industry, research – in the ecosystem that shapes Sweden's preparedness. It's about increasing the resilience of society's supply systems, both at system level and among individual actors," says Christina Jönsson, Marketing Manager at RISE.

"The focus is on strengthening supply preparedness for critical goods and services such as medical supplies, electricity, food and technical components.

"During the pandemic, we saw that it was possible to switch production – from vacuum cleaner bags to face masks, for example. Swedish companies and authorities made a fantastic effort, and we organised ourselves spontaneously. Based on this experience, we need to build a long-term structure," says Christina Jönsson.

A framework for strengthening preparedness

Prepare Sweden is intended to serve as a framework for improving society's preparedness by increasing industry's ability to adjust production, while at the same time giving the authorities a better understanding of the industry's conditions.

"Achieving improved preparedness places completely new demands on the interaction between societal actors," says Christina Jönsson.

"It is about identifying vulnerabilities, creating common approaches and ensuring that both authorities and industry know how to adapt when the crisis comes.

"Many companies also need to understand that they can be critical to the functioning of society. This is where the initiative can help create awareness," says Christina Jönsson.

"In the long term, it's not just a question of increasing capacity, but also of having a common approach that is linked to requirements and the fulfilment of agreements between actors – and perhaps, in the long term, a certifiable readiness.

Neutral actor bringing together actors who would not otherwise meet

Within Prepare Sweden, RISE can act as a neutral actor – with a broad overview of industry, research and the public sector – and bring together actors who would otherwise rarely meet.

Among other things, by creating the conditions for the authorities to have good order expertise.

"It is also important to link crisis management, continuity planning and innovation with practical changes in production and material flows," says Christina Jönsson.

"RISE is also a technical enabler in this respect - for example, in situations where production changes require rapid verification, customised requirements or support to test a solution in practice.

It may be to ensure that a newly manufactured protective device really works, or that a critical component for the power system is up to scratch, even when traditional standards cannot be applied.

"We have industry networks, understanding of the value chain, test and demo environments, and expertise in everything from materials engineering to logistics. We can help identify vulnerabilities, develop specifications, test solutions and act as a liaison between parties," says Christina Jönsson.

The goal: increased resilience and preparedness

Prepare Sweden is now moving from concept development to implementation. The focus is on helping businesses and organisations to translate identified risks and needs into concrete measures that strengthen their supply capacity, resilience and preparedness.

We are engaging in dialogue with regions on how the business sector can be supported and are participating in Resilient Industri, which is led by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and funded by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MCF). Together with companies, we identify where they are on their preparedness journey and what support is required to take the next step from risk and vulnerability analysis to a verified ability to maintain, adapt or pivot production in the event of disruptions, crises and heightened alert levels. This work is based on the areas that the MCF identifies as key to strengthening supply resilience.

The crucial factor is not merely having plans in place, but being able to demonstrate that operations function when conditions change. Here, RISE’s role is to help companies understand their vulnerabilities, verify their capabilities and scale up effective solutions.

At the same time, a new market is emerging. Sweden’s supply resilience is shifting from general planning to concrete requirements, agreements, investments and deliveries. Public authorities are identifying goods and services vital to society, frameworks for supply resilience agreements are being developed, and increased resilience requirements are affecting local authorities, regions and the business sector.

Resilience is therefore no longer merely a matter of social responsibility. It is also a strategic business issue. Companies that are already investing in robust supply chains, production resilience and verified delivery capacity will gain a clear advantage when resilience becomes an integral part of future procurement and business deals.

– We are seeing a clear shift right now. The question is no longer whether companies need to address supply resilience, but how quickly they can build the capabilities that will be demanded by government agencies, local authorities and critical infrastructure operators in the future, says Christina Jönsson.