Norway's Digital Priorities

Norway’s digitalisation strategy was lauched in September 2024. The strategy charts the course for digitalisation in Norway and has high goals and clear targets.

Norway is one of the most digitalised countries in the world, and with this strategy, the Government is laying the foundation for us to become the global leader. Digitalisation is not goal in itself. Rather, it is the tool we need to realise the new opportunities and solve many of the major societal challenges we are facing.

We know that our population is ageing and that we need to mobilise a larger workforce. We know that the business sector needs a stronger foundation and greater access to both skills and data. We know that we need to create new jobs, while reducing emissions and taking better care of the natural environment. And we know that we need greater investments in climate change adaptation, safety and digital infrastructure.

Digitalisation can aid us in all these transitions. Thus, digitalisation is not mainly about technology. It is about the people the technology is intended to serve, and how we use technology to build a safe and equitable society with abundant opportunities.

This strategy charts the course for digital Norway towards 2030 with the aim of making Norway the most digitalised country in the world.

At the same time, digitalisation comes with great responsibility and challenges. We have experienced how screen use affects our children, how disinformation is spread at record speed and how “deep fakes” challenge trust in society. We have also witnessed how some people can quickly be left behind with technology developing more rapidly than ever before.

Our children and young people need to have digital confidence and critical thinking skills. Older adults need to be able to understand and navigate the digital society. Everyone must be included and have equal access. This is a matter of trust and fairness. Digitalisation must benefit all members of society.

To be able to trust technology and that it will be used in our best interests, we must take the helm and steer the course of its development. Technology should not control our society; we should control technology. This is to the benefit of us all. Precisely because this tool is a means to achieving the goal and not the goal in itself.

We will implement the strategy in close collaboration with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, the social partners and the business sector. Together, we will leverage digitalisation to build and secure our country.

This strategy charts the course for digital Norway towards 2030 with the aim of making Norway the most digitalised country in the world.

At the same time, digitalisation comes with great responsibility and challenges. We have experienced how screen use affects our children, how disinformation is spread at record speed and how “deep fakes” challenge trust in society. We have also witnessed how some people can quickly be left behind with technology developing more rapidly than ever before.

Our children and young people need to have digital confidence and critical thinking skills. Older adults need to be able to understand and navigate the digital society. Everyone must be included and have equal access. This is a matter of trust and fairness. Digitalisation must benefit all members of society.

To be able to trust technology and that it will be used in our best interests, we must take the helm and steer the course of its development. Technology should not control our society; we should control technology. This is to the benefit of us all. Precisely because this tool is a means to achieving the goal and not the goal in itself.

We will implement the strategy in close collaboration with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, the social partners and the business sector. Together, we will leverage digitalisation to build and secure our country.

The strategy is available here.

Developments in recent years, and in particular the spread of social media and the breakthrough in artificial intelligence, have made it possible to spread disinformation faster and to more people than ever before. We see disinformation being used to create confusion and instability in populations. It might disrupt decision making processes, threaten human rights such as freedom of speech and free and fair elections, and increase polarization and hate.  

The Norwegian Constitution requires that the authorities of the state create conditions that facilitate open and enlightened public discourse. To ensure that the government fulfill this obligation in light of these challenges, it is implementing strategies contributing to freedom of expression, inclusion and resilience in the digital society.  

A National strategy for an open and enlightened public discourse will be presented in 2025. This will serve as a strategic superstructure for the government's work in facilitating genuine freedom of expression and information. The strategy will address several questions, i.a.:  

• How the government can build a vigorous civil defence for tolerance and diversity.

• How the government can ensure a broad connection to the public discourse.

• How the government fulfills its constitutional duty by supporting the infrastructure for freedom of expression.  

The underlying premise is the new digital public sphere. The democratization of freedom of expression and information via the internet has been formidable. This has overwhelmingly been positive in relation to the opportunity for most people to receive information and to express themselves. However, it has also as mentioned also resulted in new vulnerabilities and threats, including dissemination of disinformation and hate speech, especially considering the emergence of generative artificial intelligence.

Another strategy is particularly directed at strengthening the resilience in our population against disinformation. The strategy will pinpoint how the challenges are complex, and that fighting disinformation requires collaborative work for a strong democracy, where citizens have access to correct and reliable information that promotes freedom and diversity of expression. The strategy will address several topics, i.a.:

• How the government can develop media policies that support diverse and independent editorial media.  

• How the government can help strengthen media literacy so that people can assess for themselves whether information, images, and videos are credible.  

• How the government can ensure a robust follow-up of the major technology platforms and their impact on Norwegian public discourse and opinion-making processes.  

The strategy will highlight the balancing act required to fight disinformation through and while securing fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression.  

Furthermore, the Norwegian Government are working in several ways to secure the election against unwanted influence. While Norwegian elections are secure and conducted in a good manner, we have, in recent years, witnessed cyberattacks, fake news and influence campaigns connected with the conduction of elections in several countries. Artificial intelligence can significantly impact how voters receive information about elections, the political parties and the candidates. It can also impact the political public debate and agenda. Therefore, the government established an expert group to investigate the potential impact of artificial intelligence on elections. Among other things, the group collected experiences from countries holding elections in 2024.  

To the Norwegian government, it is also important that the Norwegian language is used in all areas of the Norwegian society, also digitally. The National Library of Norway has for several years worked to develop and make available resources for development of language technologies in Norwegian. (Med forbehold om Stortingets budsjettvedtak: ) From 2025, the National Library of Norway will train and make available generative language models. The models will be used to develop tools and services particularly geared towards Norwegian and Sami language and society. The measure is a part of the government’s effort for a national infrastructure for AI.  

More information at this link.