← The Monocle Daily
Loading summary
Transcript67 lines
- [00:00]
A
You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first broadcast on 25 June 2026 on Monaco Radio.
- [00:06]
B
The latest from Monocle Radio's pop up at Sweden's annual political jamboree, Al Madalen Week. How well positioned is Sweden to lead Europe's energy transition and the Finnish satellite company helping Ukraine resist Russia? I'm Andrew Muller, the Monocle Daily start. Hello and welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you From Al Madalen 2026 on the Swedish island of Gotland in our studios in partnership with Hitachi. I'm Andrew Muller. My guests Tom Edwards, Andreas Carlsen, Pia Sandvik and Sapo Altonen will join us with perspectives from Alma Dalen. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. This is the Monocle Daily and I'm Andrew Muller at Alan Week on Gotland. I'm joined first of all by Monocle's head of radio, Tom Edwards, here in our pop up studio. How has today been for you, Tom?
- [01:17]
C
It's been great. Sorry, what was your name again? I know it's been great, Andrew. It's been I think weather wise. Let's start with the weather. I'm English after all, the nicest, most clement day of all. And what's great, obviously we reflected on our sort of first impressions on Tuesday show a couple of days in. It sort of confirms many of our shared suspicions that is that this was a completely unique forum that it would showcase Sweden's, I'm going to say singular talent at convening and also that it's a forum that foregrounds genuine conversation where people want to advance a program, progressive conversation and actually not shy away from anything that's too challenging and really get to solution led business quick and together. It's been an absolute eye opener. It's been something of a revelation. Andrew, would you go along with that?
- [02:12]
B
I would because what struck me was that it does genuinely seem to work as advertised in that they do this thing where everybody in Swedish politics and that is all the parties from right across the spectrum, including some which disagree in extremely on various things, all get together in one place and a matter of weeks really out from a general election even. And as far as I can tell the, the conversations in and among them are conducted at a fairly affable pitch.
- [02:41]
C
It's pretty cordial certainly on UK general election terms. And, and the other thing that's interesting is it's a political sort of convention I suppose in that sense. But there are people here from the, the full GT ANDREW Business culture and I think that aids this impression that this is an event that is about advancing the discourse because it's quite hard to really move the needle on one without the engagement, the involvement, the participation of the. The other. And those conversations are happening at, on the sort of the main stages at individual hubs run by political parties or other media houses. But they're also happening, as is often the way, at the kind of conferences you and the Foreign Desk team visit and the Monocle Daily crew on the margins. You kind of can literally see sometimes eavesdrop on the kind of bilaterals, trilaterals that are happening on the margins and they are happening all the time.
- [03:40]
B
Andrew, who are you eavesdropping on? Tom, how much Swedish have you picked up in the 96 hours we've been here?
- [03:46]
C
Listen, it is true it is primarily Swedish and for a monoglot like myself that is a challenge on eavesdropping, but actually there's lots of conversations that are happening in English and I've been dazzled by the facility, certainly of lots of the Swedish ministers who bounce in and out of Swedish and English and German and Japanese at one point yesterday, all of those truisms about our European brothers and sisters being somewhat more polyglot than us on our. Me on my island.
- [04:14]
B
I feel obliged to offer in defence of your people, Tom, that we were popped in on earlier by the United Kingdom's ambassador to Sweden who does actually speak entirely fluent Swedish, of course.
- [04:28]
C
And again, that was the. And that's one that is indicative of the sort of the tone setter here that the ambo will pop in to have a few words and see, kind of check in, make sure we're okay as is, as is her ambassadorial responsibility, I guess. But it's been a really, really interesting, dynamic, friendly, sunny forum, a forum I think that only, only Sweden could, could do. And what's great, of course, we've got your foreign desk special coming up. We've got other shows coming up this week and we'll be hearing and playing all sorts of other conversations that we've had on the airwaves in the coming days on Monaco Radio.
- [05:08]
B
Just finally, Tom, I do want to throw something out there because, you know, Monocle does take an interest in urbanism, urban environments, the way that the built environment affects the people who live in it. Do you think there is something about the town of Visby that helps create the strange atmosphere of Al Nadal? And I mean strange in a good way because it is an absolutely beautiful spot, sort of Cradled by these handsome city walls that were built, I think circa the 13th century. And the town itself is just this absolute postcard.
- [05:42]
C
I mean, it's kind of ridiculously photogenic. And I have done that thing which you occasionally do in small Swiss villages or other spots where you say, wow, this place must be incredible when this mad junket's not in town. But it's. Yeah, it's an astonishingly beautiful medieval village. It has beautiful vistas, it has cobbled streets, it has some precipitous hills, which I've learned to my cost. And of course it's surrounded by the ocean. One of the things which I will literally never forget, Andrew, was we were. Don't know if serenaded is the right word at the close of play yesterday by a full form aerial display by the absolute pride of the Swedish Air force. It was the full bells and whistles visible from, well, certainly probably Kaliningrad, which is possibly the point of the exercise. Deafening, captivating, a little bit terrifying. And so, yeah, it showed, it showed the island of Gotland. It showed the beautiful town of us being in an. In an incredible light. It will stay long in the memory.
- [06:46]
B
Well, on that subject of yesterday's aerobatics, to let the listeners in on a here is real life broadcasting anecdote, I was attempting to interview somebody a couple of blocks away from here. I literally pressed record and at that moment the Saab Gripen E screamed overhead and we both just looked at each other and went, yeah, this isn't happening.
- [07:08]
C
Let's leave this for 10 minutes. And you know, in your family history there's a bit of kind of loud noises, artillery, the sound of aircraft. I don't know when I was last adjacent to a number of fighter jets, Andrew. It kind of. Well, I just, I set off down the street. I wondered how I was doing it. I was just being moved by force of vibration.
- [07:30]
B
I mean, however much fun people have been having here this week, I don't think anyone was having more than those pilots. Just finally then tomorrow, and I won't necessarily hold you to anything, but having done Alma Dalam once, do we fancy another crack at this?
- [07:45]
C
Absolutely. I think what's amazing is, you know, we're very much about showing up, but Monocle, I hope that our listeners know that because they see us when we rock up in their town at their trade shows, we go to meet them in their places of business that they run. The, the advantage, the critical import of going to find people where they are, asking them what's on their mind, asking them why they're there sounds basic, but that is so fundamental to good journalism. And in the era of slop and misinformation and so forth, the value of just turning up and having a conversation, you know, it blows us away every time we go anywhere. You've reported from Andrew, how many countries? 80 and counting, something like that. And it's an exceptional privilege. And I think it's really critical for us across all of Monocle, the expressions of Monocle, to make sure we're keeping on pushing and keeping on delivering.
- [08:42]
B
Tom Edwards, thank you for joining us. You're listening to a special edition of the Monocle Daily at Al Madalen. One of the selling points of Almadalen is that it's a place where even the most senior Swedish politicians are. Are accessible to more or less anybody. While one can see the value of this for the citizen, how much fun is it for the politicians? I spoke to Andreas Carlson of the Christian Democrats. He's Sweden's minister for infrastructure and housing. And I began by asking about what Alma Dalen says about Swedish politics.
- [09:22]
D
I think in a time when the powers are putting things to defend, divide the conversation with more polarization. Almedalen is space where we actually can talk to each other, not just about each other and to arguing, finding the weakest spots in discussion, but to see the strength in a Swedish society when we cooperate over the party lines, but also talking with the industry in different measures, authorities, agencies from the state, but also the civil society. Literally, or more or less, everyone is here in the Swedish society. And it's also an opportunity for inhabitants in Sweden to just go here for a vacation and grab a minister in the government to ask us a question after a seminar. So it's both, you know, important for the economy and the industry and to have good talks and fruitful discussions, but also an open space where you can ask questions and have debates in an open way.
- [10:27]
B
Has that, for example, happened to you personally at Al Madalan this year? Do you get a citizen with a question about infrastructure just bowling up to you after an event and saying, I have something I want to say.
- [10:37]
D
Yeah. And I had a really specific question recently today about the driving license and the permit, which is in my responsibility as a minister for infrastructure and transportation. Also talking about the housing policies. Different people come and ask about stuff like that. You know, what can we do about this and what can we do about that? That's the strength of Almedalen. I've been involved in politics for 20 years now, and I remember the first Time I went to Almadalen, I was engaged in a smaller community municipality in Sweden, also in the Youth party. But I could reach ministers and ask my questions. So I tried to make some room also for that kind of conversations here in Visby. As a minister today, but as a
- [11:24]
B
politician, do you have to come to Al Madalen with a certain willingness to drop your guard? Because I know Sweden is, I think, probably a quieter and safer country than most, but Swedish politics, and indeed Alma Dalen has not been without incident over the years. Is it a specific mindset? You have to allow yourself to get into that I'm just going to be out there, I'm going to be available and I will have to deal with whoever wants to talk to me.
- [11:50]
D
Of course you never drop your guard too low, so to say, in politics. But this is a place where it's okay to don't have an answer to all the questions. You can discuss, you can debate, you can have an open mind in discussions and to see what different discussions actually lead to in the outcome after Al Mundal. And it's one of the best results in Apex. But I think if you go to Al Mudal and as a politician in the same sense that you have back in Stockholm or the part of Sweden in the ordinary normal work days, you will not be successful. You need to have some time for discussion and discussion questions. And that's what I try to do here.
- [12:33]
B
I think that dynamic would surprise the citizens of many more rancorous and divided democracies. And I've mentioned this to a few other interviewees that I was just struck the first day I arrived by that little stretch of park down by the lake where all of Sweden's political parties all have a tent literally right next to each other. So your neighbors are your opponents. Do those discussions always remain entirely good natured?
- [13:00]
D
I would say yes. We have a responsibility as politicians, no matter the party, to safeguard democracy and have a good conversation climate. I think that's important. It's more important than ever to not, you know, work in polarization way of discussing the. But to try to find the common way. Of course it will be debates. Of course you will not agree on everything. And that's okay. That's a part of the political climate. But to try to find the best in your opponent's argumentation instead to find the weakest point and just make a scene of that. It will not make the climate healthier in terms of discussion. It will not strengthen Sweden as a climate country. When we work together in important questions. Unimportant questions for our inhabitants, for our industry, for having good competition and competitive frameworks for both industry and business, but also the society on the whole. That's something that we all win, we will win on.
- [14:04]
B
But is there a different tone about Al Madalen when it happens in the run up, as this one is to a general election, when obviously. Well, I say obviously, I assume people are keener to score points and to gain advantage than usual.
- [14:18]
D
Yeah, of course, of course it's a political event and we will have all the flavors of political debates also here in Almedalen, but in between you can have fantastic opportunities to meet with people in different seminars and debates. Almedalen is not just one event. It's like events going on at the same time in different clusters in different spheres. And for example, transport and infrastructure and housing ministers. One cluster with the shipping sector, aviation, railway, roads, also housing and real estate, of course. But the strength with Albert island is that you have all those lines in between the different sectors that normally doesn't meet in that way that we do here in Almedal. And that creates creativity, gives innovation possibilities, which is one of our strengths in Sweden, that we cooperate quite well. Government, business, academia and the civil society. And that has made Sweden one of the most innovative countries in the world. And Almedalen, I will not say, is maybe not a part of that, but in that sense and with that culture in mind, Armadalen is the success and one of the world's, I think, biggest democratic event at the moment. So that's something we are proud of.
- [15:37]
B
But at this Armadalen or any others, can you give us an example of, for example, conversations you might personally have had with your own political opponents? The people. The people who right now were trying to put you out of a job.
- [15:49]
D
Yeah. I had a conversation yesterday with the economic. Political. Economic spokesperson and the biggest opposition party. And we discussed how to give good conditions and competitive frameworks for the truck providers and the industry of Volvo and Scania. What can they do to lead the way in the transition to more sustainable production and also operation. So that's something that we agree on higher level that Sweden will still be a frontrunner in the transition. We will have competitive truck industry also in the future. And of course we can discuss details in the road further, but we agree on that this is something that will not be a division, depend on which part to is in government.
- [16:46]
B
Just finally then, and to test from a slightly different angle that ideal of Al Madalan in all the years you've Been coming here and having such discussions with your own political opponents. Have you ever walked away from one of those discussions going, God, maybe they've got a point, of course.
- [17:03]
D
And that's the whole idea. Yeah.
- [17:06]
B
That was Andreas Carlssen, Sweden's Minister for Infrastructure and Housing. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. Sweden, a country of barely 10 million people, always punched vastly above its weight as a tech innovator. Is it possible, however, that Europe's detachment from Russian energy and American friendship might furnish still further opportunities? Our next guest on today's Daily is Pia Zanvik, CEO of Technology Industries of Sweden, the umbrella organization for Swedish industry and tech. I began by asking about how her organization fits in with Sweden, Sweden's unusual labour market.
- [17:46]
A
We represent 4,600 member companies. They stand for 30% of the export and 40% of the stock market in Stockholm. And not everybody are limited, of course. We actually have two things. We are the ones that negotiate collective agreements and more specifically the salary increases for the whole Swedish labour market, because everybody relates to that. So we do that with the unions. But that's both blue collar and white collar workers. And we have had this model for a very, very long time. The other thing we do is also policy connected to what is important to have to continue to keep our member companies and industry overall competitive. And I have to say something more about the Swedish model because it's interesting, because when we negotiate, which we do pretty much every second year, it depends on how long the agreement is. It's decided for every time you do it, but between those times, because then we are really on each side of the table negotiating hard. But the rest of the year we are collaborating together with the unions, we meet politicians together and say, this is important for industry, we need a very functioning energy system, we need competence, etc. Etc. And that's really what creates respect for our different roles. But also that we have a common agenda because we are both interested in keeping an industry in Sweden that is competitive.
- [19:10]
B
Because I think in a lot of other countries, the relationship between those three entities you mentioned, the workers, the employers, the government, is often essentially antagonistic. Is it ever like that here? Is it always this kind of, I guess, somewhat cozy, creative cooperation that we see embodied here at Al Madala when
- [19:30]
A
we negotiate, I mean, then we are really, of course. But we also know one thing, that we have to come to an agreement because it's not just important for our member companies, it's also important for the whole labour market. But of course we have Different. When we start these negotiations, it's quite often that we have different pictures of. Is it going to be, is the future bright or is it dark? And how much can we afford? How much do our workers need? So, of course we are balancing this. But at the end of the day, when we know at midnight at the last of March next year, we have to have an agreement, because otherwise it won't be good. And it's interesting because both actors have skin in the game. It's interesting for us to come to an agreement, it's interesting for us to keep the industry competitive. But that's also in. That's also the largest interest for the unions, because if we don't have it, then their members don't have jobs.
- [20:38]
B
Is that framework, do you think, though, important in keeping Sweden competitive?
- [20:43]
A
Definitely, because, you know, when we have an agreement, we don't have any strikes. That's part of the agreement.
- [20:50]
B
So if we, I guess, look at it more broadly, how competitive do you see Sweden now in your areas of interest? Is it doing everything it possibly could be?
- [21:02]
A
I would say the Swedish. Swedish companies are very competitive. And we have to remind ourselves every day that Sweden is a small market. And then we have to be global competitive. Our member companies have to be that. Industry overall has to be that. And that is also, I think, why we put so much money into R and D. We put around 3.6% of GDP and 75% of that is from industry and the rest is from the government. The figures are the highest in Europe. And the share that is put by industry is also very important, the largest. There are a lot of companies in EU that are only basically having state funding actually for R and D. So that's why they have kept them competitive. And we have a very strong collaboration between, I would say, research at universities, research at the companies with industry, but also with the market. So, I mean, this is a whole system that really works together and we have global competitive. Look at the automotive industry. If we compare to some other countries in Europe, they are struggling for the moment and they have invested heavily in the green transition in really being sustainable. So because they think that that's part of being competitive in the future. If you don't do that, you will have problems.
- [22:27]
B
It seems like an especially pertinent question to ask at Al Madalen, which is this, in many respects, curiously, Swedish institution. But are there other aspects peculiar to Sweden which are making it such, which are providing it with such opportunities in these fields and which are making it attractive to other companies from around the world, who could be investing anywhere but are choosing Sweden? What is, what is the advantage here?
- [22:57]
A
I will say there are some things. First of all, I think this R and D, as I already talked about, but you also know for the moment we have a very. Well, it's boring, but we have a very good energy system. It's working, it's robust, you can trust that you get the capacity you need to competitive prices or actually low prices. And it's working. But that's also a challenge for the future. If we look at startups, normally they of course start here, but we also have well functioning capital markets. Market in the rest of eu, we don't have that at all. So I think that's also attractive. And we have highly skilled workforces. We have a lot of students going through higher education, a lot of going through engineering education, becoming master of the science and so forth. We think we should do more in all these areas. We are not. It's good, but we're not satisfied. So, I mean, these are reasons why you should, why you should come here. And we also have a very strong collaboration between politicians and the industry. They normally understand what their role is to continue to have a competitive industry.
- [24:09]
B
So at this event again, and you presumably have been talking to the people who form the current government of Sweden, the people who will, if the opinion polls are to be believed, will likely form the next government of Sweden, what have you been saying to them? What does your part or your area of endeavour need more of or less of that will make Sweden perhaps even more competitive?
- [24:32]
A
Yeah, I would say four things. First of all, it's like continue to develop and invest in the energy system that's really necessary. Not just nuclear power, everything, wind, solar, everything, because that's part of it. They're building lots of data centers now and that is important because we need it for the capacity that's coming through, AI, et cetera. So that's one thing. Infrastructure is also an important one because we have to be able to transport things in every possible way, both roads and trains and everything. And competence continue to focus on educating STEM people because we need that in our industries. And the last thing is because even though we are competitive, there are a lot of competitors around us. China is running fast and we have to do so too. So we think that we need to work much more strategically together between industry, universities, research institutes, authorities that are relevant for the areas, and together with the politicians, set a strategy. What is important for Sweden to do? How can we collaborate? Should we share risk to actually get things done. How do we need to influence EU so that they do good things? Because it's worrying what we need to. It's. It's like a moment now where we have to run the, run the game in a. In a good way or even excellent way. Investments that create industries that are continuous to be competitive and not close borders, not throw good money into bad businesses. So that's. We call it a technology board that has a mandate to decide what we should do in Sweden, what do we need to influence the EU on? So really be around the table. But it's not like, you know, in Sweden we say we sit together around the table and drink coffee and nothing happens. This is something we need to get done. So it's about also taking decisions about where do we want to be, but also execute on that, that agenda that we set together.
- [26:33]
B
That was Pia Sandvik, CEO of Technology Industries of Sweden. You're listening to a special edition of the Monocle Daily at Al Madalen. Today's final guest is Seppo Altunen, Vice president of Nordics and NATO at eisi, the Finnish satellite manufacturer which fields the world's largest constellation of Synthetic Aperture radar, or SAR satellites. I began by asking Seppo to explain as basically as he could, what SAR is.
- [27:03]
E
Yeah, it helps to image through darkness, clouds, rain and snow, perfect for the Arctic weather conditions. So Synthetic Aperture radar satellites is what ISI makes. ISI is actually the world's leader, the number one provider of SAR satellites.
- [27:23]
B
So these are satellites, to be clear, that can see everything. You can't hide under clouds from of these things.
- [27:28]
E
Absolutely correct. Actually it's radar. So it sells basic radar signals and then bounces back and when it penetrates, basically snow, rain, darkness. And when you live in the high up in here in the north, where you tend to have like six months of darkness or 70 pounds of cloud coverage and a lot of snow, it's very good to have a sensor that you always can count. And obviously, particularly for defense intelligence use, having a sensor that is always available is immensely valuable.
- [27:58]
B
So what would be a characteristic defense and or intelligence application of one of these satellites?
- [28:05]
E
Yes, certainly. So ISI has been supporting Ukraine since 22. And obviously in what you see today in the battlefield in Ukraine is that drones provide the visibility close to the contact line around 50km day. But what happens in the depth comes from space. So you can image basically airplanes, ships, ground equipment through any weather conditions at any time of the day.
- [28:29]
B
I mean, you're able to quantify how important your satellites in particular have been to Ukraine because I have read various battle damage assessments that credit your satellites with having destroyed Russian kit and facilities running into the tens of billions of of dollars worth.
- [28:46]
E
So obviously we are not giving statements on behalf of Ukraine. But you're right that the Ukrainians put out statements that they have had seen good effectiveness of leveraging ISIS, are in their defensive battle to defend their democracy. And obviously what we've been seeing now is that a lot of NATO countries, allied nations now are building up their defence capabilities. And obviously we have had big demand for NATO allies to build up sovereign space capabilities using ISI satellites because I
- [29:15]
B
know from having, well, I was in Ukraine myself reasonably recently and what's noticeable when you get there now is that the place is absolutely alive with people from various foreign defense tech organizations trying to figure out what we're learning in Ukraine about the future of warfare in terms of the use of your satellites. What, what are we learning about how the next five or 10 years might play out?
- [29:38]
E
Yeah, what is very clear is in a way that space and drones and AI have come very much into the commonplace of the modern way of defending nations. And it's very clear that the innovation pace that we have been seeing in Ukraine, that has also fueled our innovation roadmap and also defence innovation in general has accelerated a lot of these technology areas.
- [30:02]
B
But can you narrow that down further? Is there a way or is there say something in particular that a satellite such as yours is doing now? Is there something it is doing now that it couldn't have done perhaps five or ten years ago?
- [30:14]
E
Yeah, certainly. So. So I think it's very clear that the space used to be area for strategic intelligence. So it was the big superpowers who had this type of space assets. And now with Ukraine you can see that with the innovation that companies like ISA have breathed market, we have been reducing the size and the price to bring this type of capabilities also for smaller nations. So you see that space gets integrated in defence forces in the west in a modern way at broad scale from not only statistic intelligence, but tactical operational use.
- [30:46]
B
So there's a real democratization of this stuff. It's not, it's not just a superpower privilege anymore.
- [30:51]
E
Absolutely correct. So what you see happening now, for example, ISI has said we have been quickly growing to the world's number one provider of synthetic capital to radar satellites. So we have been launching 72 satellites already and the company assist in less than 10 years. And the growth has been very, very rapid. And it's really this, that space is entering the defense domain, but also civilian domains at very rapid growth rates.
- [31:16]
B
Are there risks attached to that, though? I mean, if we arrive at a point where everybody, more or less, who wants access to this sort of facility can get it, does that mean we end up with a world where everybody knows what everybody else is doing?
- [31:29]
E
Yeah, I mean, it's very clear that the world and the battlefield is getting much more transparent, both with power of drones, as we discussed, but also space. But of course, we tend to see that it actually, you know, increases safety. Right. You know what the world is, and you have objective access to information that improves decision making.
- [31:49]
B
I mean, I know at the moment, trying to predict the future with any of this technology is extremely difficult because certainly what people in the drone sector have said to me over and over and over again is that in Ukraine especially, entire generations are happening in a matter of weeks. You go to the front line now and the equipment they're using is different from what they were using three months ago. That being the case, are you able. Is a company like yours able to think month years, even decades ahead?
- [32:19]
E
Yeah, I see both aspects. So I think what we are seeing in Ukraine is the big importance of keeping very rapid innovation pace. So you need to have a system that you can basically update and keep innovating. But at the same time, we are seeing that space, fundamental technologies, There are so many things that now happen at the same time that fuels innovation. So I think what we are doing is basically combining a strong research and development with very agile way of working. And we have some examples of extreme agility. So Isa developed now, for example, full systems to Poland in less than a year, from contract to making. And also we are proud here in Sweden to sign contract with Swedish defence. We did same thing with Finnish defence, Netherlands, and the list goes on and on, and all happened basically at very, very rapid pace.
- [33:06]
B
Do you ever encounter any resistance to this from not so much defence ministries, but from actual militaries? Because I know, again from conversations I've had that your traditional soldiers, traditional pilots, traditional sailors, they're not really all that thrilled about this. They don't like the idea that the world may have moved on from tanks and fighter jets and warships.
- [33:31]
E
Yeah, I think it's kind of like every player in the world today, I think, are grappling with the pace of innovation, how things are happening. But I think what we have been seeing, seeing is that we typically tend to bring our capabilities into exercises. And it's very good that we learn the problems of the war fighter, what is important for them and they can learn of the new possibilities of technologies and that kind of accelerates the adoption. But I think overall, I think what we are seeing right now is that with the fuel of Ukraine, you see a combination of very traditional mass war warfare means like tanks, artillery and so forth. At the same time you see like rapid actualization of digitalization drones, space. And I think both of these things are happening and both of these things are true.
- [34:15]
B
Is there an opportunity here perhaps for the Nordics and even Europe to lead? I mean, where would you say Europe is now when compared to, I'm sure, the other entities that are working very hard in this realm? China, Russia, the United States?
- [34:32]
E
I think overall, I think Europe needs to do more. So if I think about the pace in the space, innovation is very much kind of driven from the US and China. Isaac is a nice, nice, basically contradictory example that we are actually the number one in the synthetic aperture radar satellites. And obviously we are growing very quickly. We are building, doubling the company every year since we started. But overall, I think that we need to invest in this type of technology in Europe, both for our security, so developing sovereign capability in the current geopolitical circumstances are extremely important, but also for driving economic growth. And here you see space industries combining both right now.
- [35:15]
B
Well, just finally then, to bring us back to where we are. What do you do at an event like this? Are you basically walking, talking from stall to stall, handing out cards, saying, buy our satellites, they're great?
- [35:28]
E
I think that overall it's very important for us to engage with military and political decision makers and industry. I think that really it is ecosystems and dialogues that bring things together. And obviously we are proud to support or having Swedish armed forces as a customer and also like Finnish armed forces. And we see a lot of opportunity in Nordic space industry today, a lot of growth opportunities. And today, for example, we had a good panel combining some of the innovation, discussing the innovation capability we are bringing with some of remarkably strong Swedish companies as well. And I think by combining skills and complementary assets, that's really a good recipe for growth.
- [36:08]
B
That was Seppu Altonen, Vice President of Nordics and NATO at eisi. And that's it for this edition of the Monocle Daily at Alan, A big thanks to our guest today, Tom Edwards, Andreas Carlson, Pia Sandvik and Seppo Altonan. Today's show was produced by Tom Webb and researched by Agnes Alkvist. Our sound engineer was Lily Austin in Al Madalen and Steph Chungu in London. I'm Andrew Muller here in Gotland. The Monocle Daily is back at the same time tomorrow. Thanks for listening,
- [36:46]
A
Sa.