Pictured from the left: Matti Anttila (Huld), Ewa Tawaststjerna (Gofore), Anna-Kaisa Ikonen (Finland), Karianne Oldernes Tung (Norway), Mikael Nylund (Gofore) and Kristiina Krause (Estonia).
The meeting of the Nordic and Baltic Council of Digital Ministers was held this year in Tampere, and the ministerial group visited Gofore as part of a preliminary program. The event featured lively discussions, particularly about artificial intelligence, where the council of ministers believes cross-border cooperation should be encouraged.
The annual meeting of the Nordic and Baltic Digital Ministers culminates today, 6 November, in a meeting aimed at adopting a declaration to promote the adoption of a European digital identity wallet. Gofore has also collaborated with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) in its development.
In addition, the summit will discuss, among other things, the expansion of cooperation and the Nordic countries’ common vision to make the Nordic region the world’s most sustainable and integrated area by 2030. The themes of Finland and Åland’s presidency have been societal security, the well-being of children and young people, and digital equality.
Nordics lag behind in global AI development
The priorities for public digital decision-making were discussed at the event by our new Digital Government business director Ewa Tawaststjerna.
– We need to invest in digital public infrastructure, ensure good digital governance, put people at the center, and strategically plan for digital resilience and security, Tawaststjerna summarised.
She also emphasized the importance of utilising the opportunities of artificial intelligence early on. According to statistics, the Nordic countries and the Baltics are lagging behind both European and global development.
– AI is a general public good like electricity, which is still not available everywhere on the planet. However, those societies that adopted electricity early on have benefited the most from that technological revolution. Now we are on the brink of a similar transformation.
Legislation as the biggest AI barrier
According to the ministerial delegation, a certain lack of courage is a barrier to the use of artificial intelligence at the state and regional levels, mainly due to the rigidity of legislation and the slow pace of its amendment. Other challenges mentioned include the weaknesses of public administration data and the need to extend similar rapid adoption equally across different sectors of public administration. For example, Norway aims for 100% AI usage by public sector actors by 2030, but it is also important to ensure that the use genuinely enhances and enriches operations.
The ministerial group believes that cities and, for example, wellbeing service counties could be given more authority to innovate their own type of AI development. For instance, the Finnish Tax Administration’s AI development is considered exemplary. The group also agreed that small countries should collaborate in AI development and address similar issues, such as legislation.
The visit of the Nordic Council of Ministers was hosted by Ewa Tawaststjerna, along with Huld’s Director of Defense and Space Matti Anttila, and Gofore Group CEO Mikael Nylund. The delegation hosted by Finland’s Minister of Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen included, among others, Norway’s Minister of Digitalization and Public Governance, Karianne Oldernes Tung, and Head of EU and Foreign Affairs at the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digitalization, Kristiina Krause.
See more:
Nordic Council of Ministers
https://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council-ministers