Climate transition and digitalisation, in collaboration.
I am an innovation specialist and strategic adviser on the climate transition of cities, based in Stockholm. Since 2018 I have been CTO at ElectriCITY Innovation and one of the initiators of Stockholm Green Innovation District.
My work moves between policy, technology and collaboration: from EU projects and national innovation programmes to working prototypes, sensors and data models. The conviction behind it is simple: the climate transition and the digital transition cannot be separated.
The best technology is the kind you don’t see. From an interview in Smithsonian Magazine about Hammarby Sjöstad, 2026
Now Autumn 2026
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ElectriCITY Innovation CTO, since 2018
ElectriCITY is a citizen driven innovation platform that has made Hammarby Sjöstad one of the most extensive district scale testbeds for climate transition in Europe. I am part of the management and responsible for technology, data and the combined project portfolio: energy sharing between properties, energy communities, smart charging infrastructure, battery storage, digital metering and city logistics.
Current projects include OTTO, ENERBridge, OPTILOR, UTTC, Från skog till återbruk, DASHER and the Virtuell IMD pilot. The full project portfolio is published by ElectriCITY. In April I spoke at Innovationsdagen 2026 about how innovation can drive the transition through collaboration and joint procurement.
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Stockholm Green Innovation District One of the initiators
Stockholm Green Innovation District brings together five neighbourhoods in southern Stockholm, from Årsta to Sickla, in a shared innovation district for sustainability and climate transition. Together with the City of Stockholm, Nacka municipality, KTH, IVL and RISE I work on the roadmap towards 2030 and on Greenovation Twin, a digital twin that connects data about the district in real time.
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AI in organisations Advice and workshops
I help organisations get started with AI for real and find their way through the questions that follow: how sensitive information is handled, what GDPR requires, when local models are the right choice and how results are quality assured. It has taken different shapes over the years: workshops and training, advice to management teams, pilot projects and hands on work with the teams that will use the technology. The form follows the organisation, and method comes before tools.
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Housing cooperatives The blind spot of the transition
Housing cooperatives are a blind spot in the transition of the building stock. In Sweden some 1.3 million homes are managed by boards that take on the task alongside their own jobs, without formal training in building technology, energy or procurement. The innovations of the sector rarely reach all the way there.
My work is about innovation aimed at precisely this group: how new technology, new services and new ways of owning and sharing energy can be made comprehensible and workable for a board, from the way decisions are made and procurement is run to the technology in the building and the support of the members. Experience from work in several housing cooperatives and joint property associations, including Skistar Vacation Club.
Areas
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Urban climate transition
Strategy and delivery at district level: energy systems, energy sharing between properties, energy communities and the rules that govern them.
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Digitalisation of buildings
Digital twins, open data models such as RealEstateCore and ProptechOS, sensor infrastructure with LoRaWAN and metering data as a basis for decisions.
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AI in practice
Ways of working with public and local AI models that respect data security. Maps new applications in climate and digitalisation on a daily basis.
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Funding and consortia
Applications and consortia in Horizon Europe, CETPartnership, Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas. Long experience of reviewing and writing project applications.
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Prototypes as proof
With today’s AI tools the path from idea to a working prototype takes hours rather than months. That moves the conversation from studies to something that can genuinely be tried, and lets digitalisation and the transition move at a different pace. A prototype showing that something works convinces faster than a report describing it.
Background
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2018 to present
CTO, ElectriCITY InnovationPart of the management, responsible for technology, data and the combined project portfolio in the Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0 testbed: energy sharing between properties, energy communities, smart charging infrastructure, battery storage, digital metering and city logistics. Runs innovation projects at national and European level, from application to delivery.
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2001 to 2018
Project manager, the Swedish Internet FoundationSeventeen years at the foundation that manages the .se top level domain. Responsible for, among other things, Bredbandskollen, the national Swedish broadband speed test, and for building and operating the global DNS infrastructure.
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1998 to 2001
Technical project manager, CellPointMobile positioning and early mobile services.
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1997 to 2001
Teacher, MedieskolanTeaching internet and digital media.
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1995 to 1998
Consultant and teacher, Network ManagementNetworks and internet infrastructure during the first years of the web.
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1995 to present
Founder, Rickard Dahlstrand Internetkonsult ABOwn consultancy in innovation strategy and internet development. Clients over the years include the Swedish Internet Foundation, Södersjukhuset, PacketFront, IT-Auktion and Sveriges Radio.
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Education
Art history, Södertörn UniversityA background in art history colours the way I look at cities, technology and form: the whole decides whether a solution works.
Selected recent projects
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2026 to 2029
OTTOSecure connection of industrial control systems to modern digital solutions, without putting operations or security at risk.
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2025 to 2028
ENERBridgeControl system data from buildings is brought together so that smaller property owners can take part in energy communities.
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2025 to 2029
OPTILORLocal production, storage, sharing and control of fossil free energy between properties, businesses and residents.
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2025 to 2028
Digital utbildning för bostadsrättsföreningarWeb based training in the energy transition for cooperative boards, with a community for the participants.
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2024 to 2027
Från skog till återbrukDigital value chains for timber that make circular construction and full traceability possible.
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2023 to 2026
UTTCUrban Twin Transition Center, support for Swedish cities in the digital climate transition.
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2023 to 2026
RESCHOOLEuropean innovation project for local energy communities on the European market.
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2023 to 2025
DigiCityClimateDigital platform that connects climate data, research and residents in the city.
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2023 to 2024
Greenovation TwinDigital twin that visualises data about the innovation district in southern Stockholm.
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2022 to 2024
Sortera rättLess plastic in household residual waste through better sorting and material recycling.
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2021 to 2040
Stockholm Green Innovation DistrictInnovation district across five neighbourhoods in southern Stockholm, from Årsta to Sickla.
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2021 to 2024
Mikronät i Hammarby SjöstadLocally shared energy and energy communities, with pilots in Hammarby Sjöstad and Tamarinden in Örebro.
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2021 to 2023
Energieffektivisering i Norra DjurgårdsstadenThe model for citizen driven energy efficiency is tested in a more recent district.
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2021 to 2023
FastighetsautomationOpen platforms for building automation and flexible energy use in buildings.
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2019 to 2021
FastighetsdatalabbetEcosystem and national platform for sharing property data between actors in the sector.
Links
- ElectriCITY InnovationCitizen driven innovation platform in Hammarby Sjöstad
- Stockholm Green Innovation DistrictThe innovation district in southern Stockholm, from Årsta to Sickla
- Smithsonian MagazineFeature on Hammarby Sjöstad as a model for other cities, 2026
- Med data blir elanvändning smartareInterview on data as the key to climate neutral electricity use, in Swedish
- LinkedInProfile and updates