Season’s Greetings from all of us to all of you!

Picture of Season's Greetings card

2020 has been a year as no other, with challenges few of us have experienced before. It has also been a remarkable first year for Digital Futures.

We have initiated a strategic research programme with exciting cross-disciplinary projects on different aspects of digitalization.

Digital Futures hub was fully established and Inaugurated October 1 with a program that featured speeches from, among others, the Minister for Higher Education and Research Matilda Ernkrans.

Soon after followed Digitalize in Stockholm 2020 on November 9-10, a fully digital event with some 550 participants from 40 countries. If you missed it – some of the much appreciated keynote talks can be viewed here. The Future Digileaders workshop on November 11, brought together some 80 talented young researchers from over 20 countries.

When we close 2020 we have enjoyed a number of seminars and lectures, some 18 Fly-high Fikas and 16 Dive-deep lunches. Topics have varied a lot – from Democracy-by-Design to New Perspectives on Classic Questions in the Theory of Graph Algorithms.

Our Distinguished lectures have been popular with speakers such as Munther A. Dahleh, Director of the newly formed MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), Moshe Y. Vardi from Rice University and last but not least Fosca Giannotti, director of research of computer science at the Information Science and Technology Institute “A. Faedo” of CNR, Pisa, Italy. January promises to be just as interesting!

Now I would like to thank you for being part of Digital Futures exciting journey during 2020 – the brilliant minds working in our research projects, collaborating partners, hardworking committees and staff at the hub, great presenters and participants at seminars, events and workshops – thank you all! We have a lot to look forward to in 2021, more to come in the next newsletter. Stay tuned!

Wishing you a happy and safe holiday season and a wonderful New Year 2021!

Karl H Johansson, Director Digital Futures

More news

Four people sit around a table with microphones and audio equipment, recording a podcast. They are engaged in conversation, with one man gesturing whilst speaking. The background features shelves with decor and a large photograph.

Researcher Anna Furberg featured in Ellevio podcast on AI, data centers, and the energy system – now on Spotify!

25/11/2025

Digital Futures researcher Anna Furberg is one of the featured guests in the latest episode...

A bald man wearing glasses and a dark shirt speaks on stage, holding a mobile phone and gesturing with his hand. Behind him is a vibrant, futuristic cityscape backdrop with blue tones and digital graphics. A glass of water is on the table beside him.

Physical AI can make Swedish companies global winners– when will Sweden get its first physical AI unicorn?

24/11/2025

“Our really big societal challenges require AI to be integrated with the physical world,” said...

A person with short light brown hair and round glasses, wearing a loose black top, speaks on stage holding a device, with a screen displaying text and buildings in the background.

Google’s XR boss: “We need to stop talking to AI”– when technology is faster than humans, new interaction is needed to take advantage of the opportunities

24/11/2025

At Digitalize in Stockholm, keynote speaker Mar Gonzalez-Franco said she believes that we have a...

A man in a suit, wearing glasses and a headset microphone, gestures while speaking on stage. He holds a mobile in one hand, with a presentation slide about mental health and AI visible in the background.

From VR operations to smart hospitals with 5G– Singapore and Ericsson are leading the way in the global healthcare revolution

21/11/2025

Autonomous AI was the focus of this year's Digitalize in Stockholm, with talks and discussions...