Could the use of ICT tools be the way to increase competitiveness in Swedish industry?

When operators gain increasingly critical roles for the performance of industries, the operators' competitiveness becomes more significant in order to maintain the sustainable competitive advantages of the company. The research project ‘Operator of the Future’ aims to increase the competitiveness of future Swedish operators, by providing them with advanced decision support tools. Multiple factors must be considered when specifying operator needs and designing support tools. This paper focuses on operator maturity for use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, professionally and domestically. Further, important aspects of social sustainability are discussed relative to the implementation of ICT tools. The empirical data is collected in three global Swedish production companies and analysed further as result of the paper.