In our position paper, which can be downloaded here, we state that “Europe needs to step up and make software competence a core priority throughout all industry segments”. Software is already a part of every aspect of life and will be an essential part of any research project under the programme Horizon Europe. Therefore it is necessary to have directed research on software technologies and software engineering methods.
In the paper we also present some of the statistics from our survey with Statistics Sweden (SCB) showing among other things that in Sweden 35% of all companies develop software in house and 100% state a dependence of software for their business model.
In the end of the paper we present four recommendations:
- Introduce a dedicated budget and a program, within Horizon Europe, for initiatives focused on development of software and software intensive systems.
- Introduce a dedicated budget and a program, within Horizon Europe, for research on domain independent software and ICT technologies.
- Introduce a partnership program between academia and industry, within Horizon Europe, for initiatives to create knowledge in industry of how to use software as an enabler for new business models.
- Increase close collaborations with other EU Programmes like Digital Europe in order to meet challenges ahead.
As always when it comes to Swedsoft papers the draft has been sent out to all members for additional feedback. “We are pleased about all the feedback and suggestions that several Swedsoft members has given on the drafts. Together the members of Swedsoft can give a good view on what Swedish companies and Universities needs to stay competitive, together with partners from all over EU, in a global world” says Diana Unander, Swedsoft board member and coordinator for the position paper on Horizon Europe.
