Recap: Women in Tech Sweden x polisens IT

Important partnership

Åsa Johansen, managing director of Women in Tech Sweden, opened the evening. She shared the organisation’s mission – to provide network, inspiration, and role models, and how over the past few years, that mission has evolved. From running events, to taking on a broader societal role. Part of that shift is visible in who Women in Tech Sweden now partners with: public authorities like polisen are an increasingly important part of the picture, reflecting how large a presence the public sector has in Swedish tech.

Polisens IT – a mission in motion

Håkan Klarin, head of polisens IT, took over to deliver an outlook over the department. Polisen has only existed as a single unified authority since 2015 – previously operating as separate regional entities. The IT department sits at the centre of that ongoing work.

The mission hasn’t changed: reduce crime, make people feel safe. But crime is evolving – becoming more technical, more cross-border, and increasingly distance-based. That means polisens IT must leverage technology in their own operations, and ensure that systems hold up under crisis conditions and heightened preparedness.

Håkan also spoke to how the organisation is structured: no matrix management, but mission tactics – responsibility is pushed far out into the line, close to where problems actually occur, with teams owning what they build.

Over the past years, the organisation has undergone investments into psychological safety and working on bringing a perspective of collective intelligence to the table. Håkan’s view: the product gets better when you have broader competence in your teams.

The work behind police vehicles

The most concrete insight of the evening came from a software developer at polisens IT, working on vehicle development and the system used in Sweden’s new police cars. She described a development process built in close collaboration with end users: an expert group of officers from different regions, focused on operating under high stress and managing multiple tasks simultaneously. 

The best part of her job according to her? Seeing the systems in action, and being out on study visits in the day to day job of the officers.

The inside perspective

One of polisen’s own officers added to the evening with a reflection on what it’s like to work in an organisation where the tech team serves its own people. The short distance between the people who build and the people who use was something she highlighted. And the fact that the police car is, at the end of the day, her colleagues’ office and has to work in a high stakes environment – makes it so important that what is built is in collaboration.