28-08-2025
Insights from Sigma Technology & Tendium's talk at Almedalen 2025
In an era where both innovation and resilience are central to Sweden’s future, open data emerges as a powerful enabler. During a conversation at Almedalen 2025 between Anna Nyblin from Sigma Technology and Samuel Repfennig from Tendium, the two explored how open data can foster transparency, efficiency, and innovation, while also addressing the associated risks and barriers.
When we talk about open data, we usually mean the kind of information that should be made public and accessible to everyone.
Samuel Repfennig
PO & Data at Tendium
At its core, open data refers to information that is freely available for anyone to access, use, and share. In the public sector, it is often tied to transparency, enabling citizens to understand how tax money is being spent.
At its simplest, open data is information that anyone can:
It’s data that’s been published in a way that’s transparent, structured, and machine-readable (like CSV, JSON, XML) rather than locked away in PDFs, emails, or paper binders.
Why does it matter?
“We want to contribute to transparency in the public sector—what it does and what it spends money on,” – Samuel Repfennig
Samuel highlights that open data can fuel innovation in almost endless ways, limited only by creativity. He describes a simple yet illustrative example: access to data about where the sun shines could enable an app showing which outdoor cafes have sunlight at any given moment.
More concretely, Tendium uses open data extensively to ease the process for suppliers engaging with public sector tenders. With access to competitor analysis, contract information, and public sector spending patterns, companies can develop more effective strategies and accelerate economic activity.
Anna adds that both suppliers and the public sector show a huge appetite today for understanding and utilizing open data, combined with new technologies like AI, which is set to transform how business is conducted with public funds.
While open data offers immense benefits, Samuel cautions about striking a balance between transparency and security. Certain sensitive information, such as specifics of an IT system a hospital uses, should not be openly published as it might facilitate cyberattacks. Likewise, critical infrastructure details (like electricity networks) must be protected from malicious exploitation.
“There’s a balance to strike. Some information should not be shared openly. You don’t want to give malicious actors insights into critical systems.” – Samuel Repfennig
The democratic values of transparency and accountability must be maintained without compromising security or operational integrity. As AI use in decision-making grows, handling and sharing data responsibly becomes even more crucial.
Sweden faces structural challenges. Different authorities store data in fragmented systems, making integration difficult. Additionally, private vendors often profit from holding procurement data, limiting incentives to share it openly.
“Procurement data in Sweden often sits in private advertising databases. Many of these providers actually make money from the data they hold, so they don’t really have an interest in making it open and accessible.” – Samuel Repfennig
Finland has created a national procurement database that connects every step of the procurement cycle, from early announcements and market dialogues to contract awards and final invoices. By using a single ID number for each procurement process, they ensure that all related data points are linked together. This allows both the public and businesses to clearly see what was purchased, by whom, from whom, and at what cost. The result is unparalleled transparency, enabling analysis not only of spending patterns but also supplier performance and long-term procurement efficiency.
“Finland has kicked off an initiative where they take a very holistic perspective on the procurement process and all the data it generates. They want to connect everything, from pre-announcements and market dialogues, to the final invoices, under one common ID.” – Samuel Repfennig
Ukraine, meanwhile, has leveraged open data as a cornerstone of its anti-corruption efforts. Through its ProZorro e-procurement system, all tenders are published openly online, with results that journalists, watchdog organizations, and citizens alike can track. This has significantly reduced opportunities for corruption, improved public trust, and opened the door for more businesses.
“Ukraine, to prove its commitment to fighting corruption, has made huge efforts in recent years to publish massive amounts of information openly online.” – Samuel Repfennig
Samuel also cites Kazakhstan as an example.
“In Kazakhstan, they’ve linked invoice information to the procurement it belongs to. That way, it becomes much easier to spot red flags, like if someone is overcharging for medical supplies when building a hospital.” – Samuel Repfennig
Currently, Sweden is reactive, waiting for formal data requests before evaluating what can be shared. Samuel advocates a shift to proactive data governance, where organizations regularly review and decide upfront what is safe and valuable to publish openly.
He also stresses the importance of raising awareness about the value of open data, not just for transparency but also for driving innovation and competitiveness. Efforts such as the recent decision by the Swedish government to publish company data held by Statistics Sweden (SCB) signal progress.
Samuel encourages identifying concrete problems that could be solved through specific datasets. He warns against reinventing the wheel by ignoring international open data standards and resources like the Open Contracting Partnership and the Open Government Partnership, which offer frameworks and assistance.
Raising awareness about the benefits of open data—beyond transparency, towards innovation and competitiveness—is crucial.
Örebro has taken the lead by publishing its entire supplier ledger online, making spending visible to all. This demonstrates that change does not always require complex systems—sometimes it’s as simple as sharing an Excel file.
As artificial intelligence advances, the need for accessible open data becomes even greater. AI models rely on large datasets to generate insights and drive innovation.
The dialogue between Anna Nyblin and Samuel Repfennig clearly demonstrates that open data is a critical enabler for Sweden’s societal readiness and innovation strength. While challenges in system fragmentation, legal frameworks, and cultural attitudes remain, there is significant momentum toward greater openness.
By learning from international pioneers, adopting proactive data strategies, and embracing open data standards, Sweden can enhance transparency, foster innovation, refine public procurement processes, and ultimately ensure that public funds are utilized efficiently and responsibly.
The path forward lies in collaboration — “Team Sweden” — to unlock the immense potential of open data for the public good.
It’s information, such as procurement notices, contracts, or spending records, made publicly accessible for anyone to use.
The main risks involve exposing sensitive infrastructure details that could be exploited by malicious actors.
By enabling businesses, researchers, and developers to build new tools, services, and insights based on accessible datasets.
AI depends on large, accessible datasets to train models. Open data can fuel AI-driven innovation in both the public and private sectors.
By publishing existing datasets—such as supplier ledgers or contracts—in simple, machine-readable formats (like Excel or CSV), and gradually building more advanced systems.
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