Since 2016, the Digitala Stambanan project has promoted the industry’s digital development through collaboration between businesses and academia. In the fall of 2024, a series of articles will share lessons learned from the project.

The Digitala Stambanan project began in 2016, inspired by a vision from Johan Stahre and Örjan Larsson, who had long discussed the future value creation within the industry. They realized early on the importance of sharing information to strengthen industrial competitiveness, especially in an era where the possibilities of digitalization are becoming increasingly important.

The project’s name clearly references the railway’s main line, which was built in the 19th century. Just like the railway’s development, which required visionary politicians, bold decisions, and significant investments, Digitala Stambanan has had the same ambition: to lay the foundation for the industrial development and welfare of the future. By connecting companies and actors along the value chains, we can create new ways to collaborate and develop our industry.

Prof. Johan Stahre
Prof. Johan Stahre

Chalmers

Örjan Larsson
Örjan Larsson

Blue Institute

Stages of collaboration and innovation

Digitala Stambanan has been carried out in several stages, see figure 1 below. Two strategic innovation programs—Produktion 2030, focusing on the manufacturing industry, and PiiA (Process Industrial IT and Automation), primarily targeting the process industry—have played a central role. By working together and sometimes in parallel, these programs have driven the project forward, supported by many industrial companies, technology providers, academic institutions, and research institutes.

Figure 1 The stages of the Digitala Stambanan project during the years

During the project, all these actors contributed their expertise and knowledge, and together, we gathered a significant amount of insights and experiences regarding the digitalization of the industry.

Article series in the fall of 2024

After several years of successful collaboration, we look forward to sharing this knowledge. During the fall, we will publish articles highlighting the challenges of digitalization in the industry, how we see that companies can address and benefit from technological development, and what we have achieved through the project. We will also emphasize the strength of this innovation collaboration and share participants’ experiences and insights.
We hope these articles will inspire more companies to embrace the opportunities of digitalization and understand the importance of collaboration for a future competitive Swedish industry.

Keep an eye out for upcoming articles on our website!

You can find all articles here