A person with dark hair is taking a photo or recording a video of a group of people standing in a row, using a mobile phone. The focus is on the mobile phone screen, whilst the background is blurred.

Open Research Days – inspiration and knowledge sharing at its best

Digital Futures hosted the Open Research Days on 20-21 April, covering research project presentations, greeting new partners AstraZeneca, Saab and Xylem, panel discussions, networking and mingling.

The program on Day 1 included a variety of topics such as 6G Communication Sensing Computing, Safe and Smart Power Systems, Trustworthy Software and Systems, AI for Environment, Smart Mobility and Digitalized Built Environment.

Digital Futures Postdocs presented their research in a classic poster session, and Director Karl H Johansson chaired a panel discussion on ‘How to get impact from digital transformation research’ with Simon Knight, Saikat Chatterjee, Hedvig Kjellström, Tobias Oechtering, Roberto Guanciale, Emil Björnson, and Elena Gutierrez Farewik in the panel.

Left to right: Petter Bedoire – CTO Saab, Ulf Carlsson – Director Innovation & Predevelopment Xylem Water Infrastructure and Anders Bergman – Digital Business Transformation Lead AstraZeneca.

Day 2 focussed on the Industrial and Societal Partnership Program, where Mikael Lindström, KTH Deputy President, welcomed Digital Futures’ new partners AstraZeneca, Saab and Xylem. This Strategic Collaboration also includes partners City of Stockholm, Region Stockholm, Ericsson, and Scania.

New and current partners then joined Mikael Lindström in a lively panel discussion, where the audience contributed with lots of questions and comments. Good remarks were such as “Digital Futures is not only the place to be – but to act”, It is important to be “excited about the right things”, “Projects should be based on real problems”, “Collaboration is key” and “Result should benefit the citizens of Stockholm”.

A man stands and speaks to an audience while five people stand together onstage in front of a projected presentation slide at a professional event. Some members of the audience are raising their hands.
Panel chair Mikael Lindström – KTH Deputy President, together with panellists Ulf Carlsson – Director Innovation & Predevelopment Xylem Water Infrastructure, Petter Bedoire – CTO Saab, Anders Bergman – Digital Business Transformation Lead AstraZeneca, o Karin Ekdahl Wästberg – Chief Innovation Officer City of Stockholm, and Magnus Frodigh – Vice President and Head of Ericsson Research.

The event covered more than 70 research projects, where Day 2 included a focus on Transforming Education, Social AI, Digitalized Medicine, Digitalized Health Care, AI for Biology, Robots and People, as well as industrial and societal innovation projects.

A woman wearing a green jacket speaks into a microphone whilst standing at a round table, gesturing with her hand. A projected presentation with text is visible in the background.
Elena Gutierrez Farewik, KTH
A man in a suit gestures while presenting to a group in a conference room. A large screen behind him displays an image of machinery labelled Subsystem A. Several people are seated and listening attentively.
Project ‘Towards Safe Smart Construction: Algorithms, Digital Twins and Infrastructures’ presented by Ulf Håkansson, PhD, Technical Manager, Skanska Sweden AB.
A group of six men stand in a small room, talking and holding coffee cups. Behind them, a screen displays a presentation titled SMART. Shelves line the walls, and a laptop is on a table near the screen.
2. Smart Predictive Maintenance for Pharmaceutical – SMART presented by Mario Romero.
Seven people dressed in business attire stand in a row, smiling, in front of a screen displaying Open Research Day and colourful abstract graphics. The background features wooden walls and a sign reading Station No. 5.
Johanna Gavefalk – Chief Communications Officer Digital Futures, Karl H Johansson – Director Digital Futures, Petter Bedoire – CTO Saab, Ulf Carlsson – Director Innovation & Predevelopment Xylem Water Infrastructure, Anna Kiefer – Chief Operating Officer Digital Futures, Anders Bergman – Digital Business Transformation Lead AstraZeneca, and Mikael Lindström – KTH Deputy President.

The event was co-organized by Professor Yifang Ban, Head of Division Geoinformatics at KTH, Associate Director for Dissemination & Impact at Digital Futures and Johanna Gavefalk, Chief Communications Officer at Digital Futures, supported by Vendela Hasselberg, Administrative Coordinator at Digital Futures and Sissi Rizko, Program Officer at Digital Futures.

More news

A woman with curly hair stands confidently with arms folded in front of empty theatre seats and a stage with SKANDIA illuminated on a red curtain backdrop.

Beyond the Cloud: Film and research initiative in Stockholm tackles AI and sustainability

21/04/2026

At KTH Royal Institute of Technology, discussions on artificial intelligence are moving beyond code and computation—into...

Poster with the text In the Belly of AI overlaid on a city slum with rubbish piles; the large letters AI contain blurred faces and binary code, with a cloudy sky above.

Beyond the algorithm: AI Film Festival sparks debate in Stockholm

31/03/2026

A thought-provoking film festival is turning the spotlight on the hidden impacts of artificial intelligence—inviting audiences...

A man with short brown hair and a beard, wearing a blue suit jacket and light blue shirt, smiles at the camera. The background is blurred with soft lights.

Belgioioso awarded prize for smarter infrastructure research

31/03/2026

Giuseppe Belgioioso, Assistant Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, WASP Fellow and Digital Futures Faculty member,...

A group of people sit facing a woman speaking at a lectern in a classroom or conference room, with a man standing nearby and a projection screen behind them.

Advancing Sweden’s AI Future: Insights from the Industry-Academia AI workshop at KTH

30/03/2026

On Thursday, 26 March 2026, leading voices from industry and academia gathered at KTH Royal...