Nordic Five Tech (N5T) is an alliance of the five leading technical universities in the Nordic region: KTH and Chalmers in Sweden, Aalto in Finland, DTU in Denmark, and NTNU in Norway. This year, we gathered at KTH’s campus for our annual meeting and to celebrate the alliance’s 20th anniversary.

We discussed how universities should respond to the world order characterised by increased conflict, unrest and security risks that has emerged in recent years, with geopolitics being the main theme. These themes were covered thoroughly in keynote speeches delivered by the Finnish Ambassador to Stockholm, the CEO of IVA, and representatives from industry and academia.

As has been noted many times before, it is clear that there are now many conditions and circumstances that significantly impact university operations. We must navigate in a new way, exercising sound judgement and being aware of the risks inherent in various types of collaboration.

At the same time, it is clear that the relevance of our universities is increasing. Technical research and education are needed more than ever as technology is used to develop societal resilience and defence capabilities while global competition for technological supremacy continues.

This makes it more important than ever that we hold fast to our fundamental values of open academic discourse, free research, and a commitment to international exchange, even in these challenging new times. Rather than replacing our moral compasses with something else, we must develop and strengthen them!

I am also pleased to confirm that our five universities enjoy very close and positive relationships, and that we are part of a successful and technology-oriented family of advanced universities. With this, we are ready to take on the next 20 years!

The changed and, in many respects, more complex global situation also affects universities’ activities. We must be more discerning and careful when evaluating collaborations with universities, international recruitment and industry partnerships.

This may involve security checks, checks relating to protection legislation or export controls, and customary background checks. Maintaining good judgement in everyday life about what is compatible with laws and regulations, and what is appropriate in terms of our fundamental values of academic freedom and open science, is also important. Sometimes, things that are compatible with the regulations may still be inappropriate for other reasons.

KTH has developed a system for responsible internationalization that encompasses both formal and discretionary elements. Managers responsible for decisions regarding international collaborations, for example, should be able to receive support with complex considerations, as well as with the more regulated controls that are justified.

However, geopolitics affects us in many ways. Universities are part of societal resilience and our collective total defence capability. It is important that we have crisis and emergency plans in place, setting out which societal tasks must continue and which additional tasks may be required when society is exposed to various challenges.

KTH has many research areas characterised by potential dual use, as well as research highly relevant to defence capabilities. This leads to complex considerations about whether certain research should be carried out, and how research with special protection values should be handled.

I would say that we are well organised with regard to what is usually termed responsible internationalization, and that our capabilities are constantly evolving to meet the need to be as open as possible while remaining as closed as necessary.

We have also established a centre for total defence to better fulfil our role in society’s total defence, making use of our broad expertise in areas important for total defence. This means we must define activities that are important for society and total defence. We ensure compliance with security protection legislation and export control regulations, and analyse key vulnerabilities and protection values.

The situation today is far removed from that which we faced just four or five years ago. Developments have been rapid. Although there is still work to be done, we have come a long way.