Digital Futures is a Stockholm-based research centre that brings together KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and RISE to study how digital technologies can be used to address societal challenges. Established in 2020, the centre is supported by Sweden’s Strategic Research Area initiative and operates as a joint environment for academia, industry and the public sector.
Its work is organised around a broad agenda: smart society building, digitalised industry, health and well-being, and education. The research themes highlighted on the centre’s site include cybersecurity and trust, connected and cyber-physical systems, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Rather than functioning as a single lab or project, Digital Futures acts as an umbrella platform for cross-disciplinary research groups, visiting scholars, PhD students and partners who collaborate in both physical and virtual formats.
The centre’s methodology is based on combining scientific excellence with strategic renewal and community building. In practice, this means supporting long-term research while also encouraging high-risk, high-gain ideas, recruiting junior researchers, and creating channels for exchange with external stakeholders. A key feature is its partnership model, which is designed to connect researchers with industrial and public-sector actors across the Stockholm region and beyond.
Digital Futures says its ambition is to become one of the world’s leading university research centres in digital transformation. Its current activities also include an annual “Focus Period” in Stockholm, international events, and a partnership programme aimed at turning research into practical impact. The centre is located on KTH’s main campus in Stockholm, at Osquars Backe 5.