About Knowit

About us

Our vision

We create a sustainable and humane society through digitization and innovation.

Our business concept

By combining strategic capacity with a passion for technology and creative solutions, we create digital opportunities and long-term value.

Our core values

We are decent
We are close and available
We are passionate about innovation

Knowit AB (publ) is a consultancy firm that creates unique customer values by offering digital and cross-functional solutions from three business areas: Experience, Insight and Solutions. What sets us apart is our ability to combine expertise in design and communication, management consulting and IT. Knowit has around 2,000 employees and operates in 14 locations in Sweden, six in Norway and one each in Denmark, Finland and Germany. Knowit AB (publ) is listed on the Nordic Exchange in Stockholm.

Three business areas

The Knowit Experience division has been described as the leading communication and technology provider in the Nordic region, and is active in four countries. We create a targeted digital presence and an enriching user experience via web, mobile and social media, helping companies, organizations and other enterprises to achieve their business-critical objectives.

Knowit Insight, with its almost 300 employees, is one of the strongest digital management consultancy firms in the Nordic region. We are specialized in helping our clients develop and strengthen the abilities needed in the successful organizations of the future.

Knowit Solutions helps companies and organizations to develop their activities through a range of IT solutions. Our expertise encompasses all parts of the system development process – from ideation, architecture and project management to system development, implementation, testing and security.

Finances, corporate governance and press information

Press information and details regarding finances, corporate governance and our share are available under Financial information.

Our vision – a sustainable and humane society

We create a sustainable and humane society through digitization and innovation via our three strategic focus areas:

The attractive workplace – to create a workplace where people thrive and feel safe.
The business model – to contribute with sustainable services that create long-term value.
Branding and governance – to create confidence and credibility in how the company is governed through transparence and clear policies.

Our sustainability efforts

Knowit’s role in society is growing in an increasingly digitized world. Understanding how society is changing means that we can be better placed to seize opportunities, manage risks, and shape our business. One of our most important tasks relates to sustainability.

For us, sustainability is about creating long-term value by integrating environmental, social, and financial risks and opportunities in business strategy and operations. Integrating sustainability contributes to creating an attractive and flexible company that is equipped for a changeable business landscape.

With a basis in our vision of a sustainable and humane society through digitization and innovation, we can be a positive force in matters relating to both environment and sustainability in a broader perspective.

Our policies reflect the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, which means that we shall conduct business in an ethical manner, showing respect for our own employees and those of other companies, as well as minimize our negative environmental impact. With a basis in the principles, we strive to develop our operations in accordance with sound business practices and correct behavior in the areas of human rights, labor law, environment and anti-corruption.

Our Code of Conduct, equality and diversity policy and environmental policy are rules which govern and reflect our work in the sustainability field.

How we contribute to a sustainable environment

With the future in focus

The trends that are often proposed to be significant for the future of society relate to a connected world, demographic changes, lacking resources, and climate change. These are the driving forces that affect our environment, the development of society, which companies people want to work for, and how we are perceived by clients and society.

An increasingly connected world

The development toward a connected world can be summarized as digitization and automation, which reinforce relationships, increase efficiency and facilitate innovation. New technology does not just change our way of life, but also our values and relationships.

With technical development comes threats to privacy, security flaws and data breaches, cybercrime, and growing gaps between groups within society.

The solution to many serious societal challenges depends on mankind’s ability to use new and existing technology. Based on our competence in new products and services, such as artificial intelligence, automation, and robots, we are well-positioned to take part in and influence the digitization of society in a positive direction.

New technology – lower consumption of resources

Energy, water, food, and raw materials are some examples of scarce resources. New technology can contribute to increased efficiency and lowered consumption of resources.

However, very little today indicates that technology development, in and of itself, is the answer. Instead, the recycling of resources must increase, and a circular economy should be promoted.

We have every possibility of creating new business models based on digitization, in line with the underlying ideas of the circular economy: lower input, greater efficiency, and less wastage of resources.

The climate – how we contribute to lower emissions

Sweden is aiming to have 60 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions in 2030, at the latest, as compared with 1990.

By developing services that help clients gain information on their direct and indirect impact, for instance by following up on energy usage, that provide transparency regarding the carbon dioxide impact of e-commerce, and that streamline logistics and transport, we can contribute to lower emissions.

Our competence contributes to increased efficiency with the help of smart power meters and other digital solutions. We also increase connectivity, promote the use of public transportation or renewable energy sources and provide systems that gather information about energy usage, so our clients can increase transparency as regards their CO2 emissions.

Read our environmental policy.

We are working for a fossil-free Sweden

Together with around 40 companies in the IT consultancy sector, we are working to create a route towards a fossil-free, climate-positive, and competitive IT consultancy sector. The plan is being devised within the framework of Fossil Free Sweden and will clarify how our industry, along with users of digital solutions, politicians, and other decision-makers, can facilitate a transition to a fossil-free Sweden by 2045, while also driving globally sustainable solutions.

Carbon Footprint Assessment

We are performing a Carbon Footprint Assessment for the year 2018 in order to understand what our carbon footprint is and what it would take for Knowit to become a climate-neutral company. The assessment will be made in accordance with Greenhouse Gas Protocol, an international reporting standard to estimate and report on the climate impact of an enterprise.

The carbon footprint assessment encompasses our direct emissions, such as travel to and from work and on business, as well as indirect emissions from electricity, heating and cooling of offices spaces, materials and goods in connection with the renovation of offices, waste, and transport. The results will be presented in Knowit’s sustainability report for 2018.

Environmental certificate

It is important for us to combine the needs and requirements of the client with our environmental knowledge. Therefore, we continually train our employees regarding environmental issues. Parts of Knowit are environmentally certified in accordance with ISO 14001:2015.

Download Knowit's ISO-14001 certification.

The most important thing we have – our employees

At Knowit, we have around 2,000 employees in six countries. The average age is 41 years and 25% of us are women, a number we are working to raise. Equality is an important issue and it is important to us that all employees shall be treated equally, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. We regularly send out employee surveys to identify how we can improve as an employer.

Our employee promise

GROW

We have an innovative environment that contributes to personal development, with an emphasis on security, involvement, and joy.

CREATE A DIFFERENCE

With our unique knowledge, competence, and characteristics, we contribute to a more sustainable and humane society.

TOGETHER

We collaborate and support one another to create the opportunities to be creative in our work. We share our knowledge and work closely with colleagues, clients, and partners.

Increased diversity in society

In 2030, 33 percent of the Swedish workforce between 25 and 64 years will be born outside of Sweden. Team leaders must understand and manage groups characterized by increased diversity and other differences.

We can reinforce our competence by employing new citizens and creating a healthy, attractive workplace, with a positive, inclusive culture that leads to both diversity and a gender balance.

Employeeship and attracting competence

We regularly measure employee satisfaction and the willingness to recommend the workplace. Both employee satisfaction and the willingness to recommend Knowit as a workplace remain very high. According to the employer branding company Universum's Career Barometer, Knowit was ranked in 20th place within IT/computers in the group Young Professionals, and is thus the only Swedish IT consultancy firm on the top 50-list.

The healthy workplace

The figures for poor health are around three percentat Knowit and in the IT sector in general. This is low, compared with society at large.

The largest health risk in our industry relates to psycho-social aspects, impacted by a demanding work situation and stress. During 2018, a project on the healthy workplace was initiated, with the aim to:

Significantly decrease total poor health,
Increase knowledge among employees and managers on stress-related poor health and the risk of burnout,
Decrease the average time of long-term sick leave through active rehabilitation measures, and
Increase physical activity among Knowit’s employees.

In order to make Knowit a healthier workplace, we are using both corporate-wide and local efforts. Employees get information on psycho-social poor health and stress. Managers and executives are trained as regards how to prevent stress-related poor health and burnout in the workplace. We are also working to speed up rehabilitative efforts for those on long-term sick leave and offer corporate healthcare and health checkups to all employees.

These activities are performed in Sweden during the period September 2018 through February 2019, and will thereafter be initiated in Norway. During 2019 and 2020, we will perform the same activities in our operations in Finland, Denmark, and Germany.

Our offices in Sweden have already implemented local activities such as group training, step challenges, personal coaching, and inspirational health lectures on diet, training, and mindfulness.

We expect to see the effects of our efforts within the project during 2019 in Sweden and during 2020 in other countries.

During 2019, we will continue the project to achieve our goals. We will be working to increase awareness among employees, provide further training to managers and executives, increase the focus on healthcare and implement further active measures to shorten the time spent in rehabilitative care.

Equality and diversity

We place high priority on the issue of equality and ensure that all employees are treated equally, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, and religion.

The proportion of women at Knowit continues to increase and is approaching 30 percent. The executive management team encompasses three women and three men.

Since 2016, Knowit has been performing a gender project to become a more attractive workplace among women. The consultancy development program GROW has been offered since 2018 and is aimed at female employees, to improve equality at Knowit and to retain and develop competence. Knowit’s many equality initiatives were honored as shared runner-up at the AllBright Awards 2018. The award is given by the AllBright Foundation to the company on the stock exchange that has made the most progress in the field of equality over the course of the preceding year.

Working against sexual harassment

We conduct active work to prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment. An updated plan of action to deal with offensive discrimination and harassment/sexual harassment was drawn up and introduced in 2018.

Great weight is attached to proactive efforts, focused on disseminating knowledge, offering forums for discussion, and creating a culture characterized by respect and security. The work is based on legislation and our responsibility as an employer, but also on psychological knowledge about needs in stressful situations. The goal is to create a process with concrete courses of action for managing incidents, including therapeutic support in safe conditions.

Gender-aware recruitment for improved equality

It is important to us that we reach all the competent candidates when we recruit for new positions. Regardless of gender. To facilitate this, we have applied more gender-awareness to recruitment, where we work actively with our job ads, so as to reach both female and male job applicants.

Our business

Services for humane digitization and a circular economy

Our strategy is based on creating long-term value for our clients through modern and creative solutions for digitization and innovation. We deliver projects that contribute to the development of society and take the human aspect into account, as regards both usability and privacy. One task is offering competence to increase the understanding of how digitization can contribute to a circular economy and an improved society.

Our competence in cybersecurity is an asset in both internal and external projects, to ensure that data and personal data are not used in negative or illegal contexts.

Security solutions at the forefront

Management of large amounts of data in the cloud creates increased complexity as regards security issues. We deliver both cloud services and security services related to implementation and operation. The same is true for AI applications, where technology and law are closely interlinked. We deliver both technical solutions and support for managing security related to privacy.

Services to reduce environmental impact

We offer services that contribute to more efficient use of physical resources, such as lower use of resources, servicification – for instance renting or sharing – and better recycling.

Labor law and human rights in accordance with our Code of Conduct

We operate on markets with highly functional legal systems as regards human rights and environmental impact. The suppliers and sub-consultants we work with must uphold the same basic values as us.

Our corporate culture, characterized by the meeting between responsible managers and employees, is based on respect, openness, and honesty.

In addition to observing the legislation and ordinances of the countries in which we operate, we also observe governing documents, such as company-specific regulations and policies.

All our employees and sub-consultants shall protect the tangible and intangible assets of Knowit and its clients.

Ethical business

We have robust systems for preventing corruption and wastage, and to increase transparency regarding risks. This is a basic requirement in order to deliver to government-owned companies and the public sector.

Pursuant to Knowit’s Code of Conduct, no employee may accept or give a bribe. Gifts or services may only be given or received within the framework of sound professional practices and on condition that they are within the limits of the laws in force for the markets on which we operate.

How sustainability is integrated into the business model and operations

We strive to minimize the impact on the environment. For that reason, our employees take an internal environmental education. Knowit AB and a few subsidiaries are certified pursuant to ISO 14001:2015.

To measure and follow up on how our employees travel while at work, as well as to and from work, we have performed an annual sustainability survey since 2015. The direct CO2 emissions caused by business-related travel have decreased year on year since we started these measurements.

Our policies

Code of Conduct

Our corporate culture is based on fundamental values regarding a sustainable society and is created in collaboration between responsible managers and employees and based on respect for the value and dignity of each person, as well as openness and honesty.

Code of Conduct

Communication policy

The communication policy provides us with joint guidelines for internal and external communication. It also describes how the responsibility for communication has been distributed.

Communication policy

Environmental policy

In their daily work, our employees, sub-consultants and other people working under our management in our offices should be aware of the company’s positive and negative environmental impact and strive to minimize the negative impact.

Environmental policy

Equality policy

Through information, we will increase awareness about equality matters and strive for an open attitude and equal treatment throughout the corporation.

Information security policy

The purpose of the information security policy is to protect our clients, Knowit as company, our brand, our employees and our operations from disruption, and reduce risks and harm by preventing and minimizing the impact of unwanted events or incidents.

Information security policy

Plan of action to counteract offensive discrimination and harassment

Knowit has zero tolerance of offensive discrimination and any form of harassment. The plan of action describes the measures taken to prevent offensive discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment. It also includes routines for how a report or statement regarding such incidents shall be managed and investigated.

Plan of action to counteract stress-related ill health

Stress-related ill health is increasing in society. This plan of action describes how we work within Knowit to prevent stress-related ill health, and how we work to rehabilitate people who are on stress-related sick leave.

Privacy policy

In our privacy policy, we describe the processing of personal data that occurs within the framework of our operations, the purpose of the processing, the legal bases for the processing, which entities we may come to share your personal data with, and your rights in relation to your personal data.

Quality policy

It is Knowit’s policy to market and deliver services, solutions and systems only of such quality that they fulfil each client’s expectations and deserve and gain the full confidence of the client. In this way, the client obtains value-adding, effective solutions to their problems.

Quality policy

Workplace environment policy

No employee should be affected by physical or mental illness or be injured as an effect of his/her work. If this were to happen, Knowit as an employer is prepared for managing the situation and assisting the affected person.