Safety-critical software – this is how Sweden can take the lead

Summary

Software is playing an increasingly important role in products such as vehicles, robots and industrial machinery. When software controls functions that affect the physical world, failures can have serious consequences for people, the environment and critical societal functions. This places high demands on safety and reliability, as well as on the ability to test and verify products throughout their life cycle.

AI is also changing how software and products are developed. It can be used to develop software and incorporated into the products themselves. This can speed up development, but also brings new demands in terms of skills, working methods and oversight. As technology advances rapidly, skills need to keep pace. As AI takes over some of the tasks traditionally performed by programmers, a sound understanding of products, systems and architecture becomes increasingly important.

The landscape is also changing as trade, technology and supply chains become more regional, with security and geopolitical considerations playing an increasingly important role. Access to components, data, computing power and digital infrastructure can be affected by where technologies are developed and used. Swedish companies therefore need to navigate different markets and regulatory frameworks while reducing their exposure to strategically important dependencies. These shifts also create opportunities for Sweden and Europe to strengthen their capabilities in areas where safety and reliability are becoming increasingly important.

As products become less dependent on hardware design alone and increasingly rely on software for their functions and ongoing development, companies need to adapt the way they work. Development cycles need to be shorter, allowing new solutions to be tested and feedback gathered early on. Swedish companies need to make decisions and develop new solutions more quickly, even when information is incomplete and some risks must be accepted. This is a particular challenge for established industrial companies, which must develop new skills and ways of working while maintaining their existing operations.

Sweden has a strong industrial base, considerable technical expertise and extensive experience in complex product development. The challenge is to build on these strengths to develop and scale up safe, reliable products in which software and AI play an increasingly important role.

The working group presents three overarching recommendations on where Sweden should focus its efforts to strengthen Swedish competitiveness, achieve sustainability, and contribute to security in Sweden and globally. These recommendations are based on an analysis of Sweden’s current position in software for critical physical systems, international development trends, and a review of key issues identifying barriers and opportunities for further development. They bring together a number of proposals and actions, which are set out in greater detail in the report.

• Accelerate business transformation from traditional products to AI-driven, learning systems by developing new business models, organisational structures and stronger collaboration between stakeholders. Board members and senior management also need to strengthen their expertise in this area.
• Build expertise and experience in safety-critical physical systems. Adapt education and professional training more quickly to industry’s needs for safe and reliable software.
• Bridge the gap between development and market. Create environments where businesses, academia and the public sector can work together to develop, test and validate software under realistic conditions.