TeliaSonera : "We continue to be the leading voice on digitalisation"

It was an important week for members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) such as Telia Company who have worked throughout the year to create inspiring and thoughtful debates for the leaders of business, politics, academia and civil society. There was a slightly different tone this year following what has been a year of profound global shifts.

'Increased uncertainty'
Johan Dennelind mixed a specific agenda for the telecoms sector with attending broader discussions that affect the business environment such as the effect on the EU from Brexit with UK Prime Minister Theresa May and how the Nordic Model of doing business could be a blueprint for other markets, which was attended by ministers from Telia Company's markets. 'There was certainly more open questions and increased uncertainty versus last year, the geo political situation has left a number of norms that we took for granted, under scrutiny and that was felt across the meetings. From our side we continued to be the leading voice on the Nordic and Baltic digitalisation model and positive effects it can have on society,' Dennelind says.

Accelerated digitalisation
Again, a recurring theme from many discussions and with many governments, was the need to embrace and accelerate the shift to digitalisation, which figured prominently in 2016 as well, and countries need to quickly turn words in actions.

Equally, the work of the Telecoms Governors´ which includes Johan Dennelind, discussed the trajectory of the telecoms industry globally which lead to a name change to the Digital Communications Governors.

It is clear that the industry is in a process of transition which echoed the key trends that are seen across Telia Company markets, such as opening up the eco system to partners and being leaders in breaking down the silo's between the public and the private sector to make the most of the potential of digitalization.

All In
The Governors also discussed the report prepared by Accenture on the Digital Transformation of Telecoms. A big focus for many contributors to the report, including Telia Company, is the role that culture and values play in breaking down silos, digitalizing industries and acting in a sustainable long term manner.

Dennelind shared the work on the All In strategy and gave a taste of what is to come when people, purpose and values are linked in a sustainable way. 'Our journey towards a new generation telco has formed a key part of the input we have given to WEF over the past year. I emphasized the way in which we are striving to meet customers' changing demands, and importantly how we build the culture and values that are necessary for us to succeed. I also wanted to show that there is hugely exciting evolution of All In to come in 2017 for all employees and their ability to contribute actively to their communities and the causes they care about,' he says.

'Support collaboration'
The UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) once again formed the basis for many discussions in Davos and Telia Company took the opportunity to co-host a breakfast in the 'UN Foundation SDG17 Space', along with other partners to highlight the need to do more to end violence towards children and to push more collaboration and get meaningful action on the issue.
'We know that to really get traction on the UN SDG's we need to support collaboration and SDG 17 sets that a main goal on issues such as child protection where we can make difference to society. We need to step up and we need to engage with others to make the most of our combined efforts and also encourage them to do more.'
In 2017 Telia Company will be an active partner for WEF and will work now to define the work programme for the next year further.

Digital Transformation Initiative

All In