What significant changes do you see in your field in the near future?

The technology industry is now experiencing enormous pressures of change, and these changes are happening faster all the time. For example, the use of artificial intelligence is increasing rapidly. In the fifth industrial revolution, priority is being given to environmental protection, and this has a strong impact on business.

The machinery and equipment industry is becoming a smart and resource-wise operator. The trend is towards people interacting more and more with machines and devices, and interaction between people also takes place to an increasing extent remotely or in a virtual environment. The automated efficiency of machines is combined with human creativity, which can be seen, for example, in the sustainable use of resources and in safety aspects.

The background to all this is society’s increased awareness of environmental issues and higher requirements. Previous paradigms have caused significant damage to the environment, and now it is man’s turn to take responsibility for his actions by being a resource-wise actor.

The pharmaceutical industry is a vital sector that plays a significant role in healthcare by developing new drugs, vaccines and treatments. In recent years, development has been seen in the areas of biotechnology, precision medicine and gene therapy, for example.

In the near future, pandemics will have a big impact on the pharmaceutical industry. Companies around the world will compete in the development of vaccines and treatments, as well as diagnostics.

Another trend is precision medicine, which takes into account the patient’s genetics, environment and lifestyle when planning treatment so that the drugs can be more effective and cause fewer side effects.

The third trend is biological drugs, which are already used in the treatment of common diseases, such as diabetes and rheumatism. Their importance in the future will be considerable – half of the drugs under development are biological preparations.

However, the pharmaceutical industry also faces challenges, such as increasing regulation, expiring patents and rising drug development costs. There is also a lot of discussion about the pricing and availability of medicines. The continuous development of science and technology will certainly continue to support innovation in the field of drug development and healthcare.

The energy industry is changing rapidly, and the challenges and opportunities brought by the energy transition are constantly reflected in our work. The pace of change has increased significantly within a few years, as the EU’s ambitious climate goals and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine have awakened us to our dependence on fossil forms of energy.

We want to get rid of fossil forms of energy, and emissions trading and taxation are already effective guides for achieving this. As a result, new projects related to burning fossil fuels have decreased, while renewable forms of energy, the electrification of industry and the utilization of waste heat have become key. The amount of renewable forms of energy production, such as wind power, is increasing considerably in the Nordic countries, while the electrification of industry is increasing consumption.

Regarding the electricity system, stable basic production will decrease in relation to renewables, and price fluctuations will increase. To tackle price fluctuations, the electricity market needs consumption flexibility, which is provided, for example, by the production of green hydrogen. Another way is the effective optimization of production, which is suitable for both industrial production and electricity-intensive forms of heat production.