Column: ”We need to exploit the benefits of the regulations“
If any trend is destined to last in the EU, it is the tendency to establish new regulations and regulate innovations and markets. You might easily be tempted to swear in frustration about this, but a little reflection will make us realise that the regulations have a purpose and that they are actually useful.
The regulations contribute to, among other things, healthy and fair competition, customer and patient safety, as well as standards that, in turn, create economies of scale. Naturally, they also add resource-demanding bureaucracy and administration, as well as control and audits, which in turn are time-consuming and costly, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Since the post-war period, Sweden has built an economy on high technology and complex technical solutions, for example, pharmaceuticals and medical technology. These industries are familiar with relating to and complying with regulations.
Yet, the latest regulations have created bottlenecks that may pose a problem unless we improve our efforts to develop the area.
No one has escaped the new regulations within in vitro diagnostics and medical technology, and for quite some time, we have also expressed concern and frustration about the lack of notified bodies to handle these issues.
In the short term, Sweden should study other countries at the forefront, review the required skills and train more people with the resources already available. In the long term, we will undoubtedly need universities that offer sharp programmes together with investments in research to be able to drive and develop the area.
In terms of competence, Sweden has been strong in pharmaceuticals, in which field we have one of Europe’s most active authorities, but we need to broaden our competencies to knowledge areas covering medical technology, IT and artificial intelligence.
Sweden is losing momentum and turning the trend will require more than maintenance – it will require acute efforts. If we are to continue to be a leader in innovation, we must also become a leader in bringing these innovations to market and customers!
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