The year in review

2021 –A special year

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As I write, SIS is celebrating its centenary. SIS has been through a great deal in a hundred years but I would still say that 2021 was a particularly unusual year. 2021 was a year utterly overtaken by the pandemic but it was also a year of looking ahead, with the adoption of our new strategy. SIS’ vision is to be a unifying force for a sustainable, innovative and competitive Sweden. In our strategy, we have made four commitments:

  • Develop and increase the use of products and services that create value
  • Strengthen Sweden’s position in influencing international standardization to increase trade and benefit society
  • Develop and promote standardization that contributes to a sustainable future
  • Create an organization equipped to meet the needs of the future

Our vision and our four commitments will guide our work and inform our development to 2030. Digitalization is an important aspect of this development. The pandemic forced us, like everyone else, to take the first step towards working online. In 2021, all our standardization work was carried out by means of online meetings and we are working hard to put system support in place to take the next step in our digital transition.

We have gained more customers during the year and sales of our standards are growing. SIS Subscription is mainly responsible for this increase in sales. The pandemic has also resulted in lower costs than in previous years, partly because we have not travelled at all. This means that we are well-equipped, not least for the extensive but necessary investment in modernising our IT.

A great deal has happened at home in Sweden but also at international level. SIS and Sweden have long exercised major international and European influence. We are among the six or seven countries that head the largest number of secretariats at CEN and ISO. ISO now also has a Swedish President in Ulrika Francke, who is also Vice President of SIS. In 2021, Ulrika Francke was President Elect but took over the presidency at the start of 2022. At the same time, I gained the important post of Vice President Technical at the European standardization organization CEN. I too took up this post at the start of 2022.

In 2021, CEN also adopted a new strategy which will guide its development up to 2030. This is a joint strategy for both CEN and CENELEC. During the year, the statutes of both organizations were also adapted to enable the United Kingdom to remain a member even after Brexit. At ISO, 2021 was a year in which the importance of standards for the climate and ISO’s ambition to support climate efforts were highlighted in the London Declaration.

Our approximately 170 employees at SIS have done an amazing job throughout the pandemic, largely remotely, working from home. The same can be said of the almost 5,000 people who work with us in our committees. Together with our members, you, your companies and organizations mean everything to us. We would like to say a very big thank you to you all. I am looking forward to meeting you all again and having the opportunity to share ideas, be inspired and develop SIS together.