Denmark: Info-Society 2000

In Denmark, the Danish Ministry of Research and Information Technology (MRIT) issued the report Info-Society 2000, detailing Denmark’s strategy for the Information Age. This report marked the first step toward the radical

upgrading of the political priority given to the broader development of an information society. It was drafted by a committee of experts representing a wide range of ministries and government agencies, consumer interests and industrial associations and was chaired by the former Minister for the Environment, Lone Dybkjaer and a high-ranking civil servant, Soren Christensen. The report proposed that the Danish Government should develop a comprehensive strategy that could put Denmark on the “cutting edge” of the development toward an information society that would ensure that new technology was the source for economic development and enhanced quality of life, through increased openness and the interchange of information, as well as improved public and private sectors. The report stressed that Denmark should not simply copy other countries’ approaches to the Information Age, but should create instead a distinctly Danish model, based on Danish values that had evolved since the establishment of the egalitarian welfare state. The report listed a set of core values that the Danish strategy should be built upon, in order to secure future economic growth and enhance the quality of life for all Danes. In particular, information technologies should:

• secure free access to, and exchange of, information;

• support democracy and individual influence;

• contribute to personal development;

• make the public sector more transparent and facilitate the delivery of better services;

• support disadvantaged members of society; and

• strengthen the international competitiveness of Danish companies as the basis for the Danish welfare system (MRIT, 1994, 24).

The report also proposed that the strategic aims of the Danish info-society should be as follows:

“Before the year 2000, the public sector shall finish the work for a coherent electronic, public service network, to the benefit of citizens and companies.

Before the year 2000, Danish companies shall have mutual electronic interchange of business documents and furthermore make an effort to get in the forefront with the integration into their products of IT.

All Danes shall have access to the active use of IT in order avoid a division into an “A-team” and a “B-team”, in terms of information technology.

For central Danish culture-bearing media areas, a particular effort must be made to secure a Danish supply.

Based on Danish aims and values, Denmark shall try to influence EU policies in the area of IT and also try to achieve maximum benefit from relevant EU programmes.” (MRIT, 1994, 28-31)

In addition, the report proposed the areas for action, including the public sector, security, health, research, education, children, libraries, the mass media, traffic, companies, telecommunication services, open network, disabled citizens and everyday life. Each field of action was analysed in detail, and principles for the Danish approach and specific initiatives were proposed.

In March 1995, based on the recommendations of the Info-Society 2000, the Danish Government submitted to Parliament a statement on the objectives of its strategy and a political action plan for 1995. The action plan (From Vision to Action: Info-Society 2000) adopted most of the proposals of the Dybkjaer-Christensen report and set out a range of initiatives to be implemented in 1995. In June 1996, the Danish Government presented the statement on the objectives of its strategy and an action plan for 1996. The action plan for 1996, (Info-Society for All - the Danish Model) focused on 11 main areas:

dialogue, infrastructure, IT in schools, the Internet, health, security, research, environment and traffic, the telecom network, companies and working life.

In May 1997, the MRIT published an IT Policy White Paper entitled Authorities Heading for a Fall with the aim to set a stage for an open and broad debate about the opportunities and pitfalls of the Information Society. The White Paper also proposed Danish objective for the year 2000:

“Denmark, as one of the first countries in the world, will have prepared a set of fundamental IT rights for the citizens.

All Danes will have access to computers and the Internet with a Danish user interface at schools, libraries, one-stop counter service of town halls and the like.

Denmark will be a pioneering country in the development of IT products to be used by everybody. These products are computers, cash dispensers, automatic ticket machines, sign-posting etc.

The Danish public sector will have reached a spearhead position in terms of information, self-service and electronic commerce.

Danish enterprises will be up front in the global electronic marketplace.”

(MRIT 1997, 6-7)

The implementation of Danish Information Society is unique and different as compared to other countries (such as the US and Japan). First, the focus of the implementation is on social issues and application side (as opposed to technology supply as in, for example, the United States and the United Kingdom). The Danish strategy is much more concerned on how society at large can reap benefits from the Information Age.

Secondly, the Danish strategy, to a much larger extent, acknowledges the many areas where the public sector can play a significant role by co-operating with private industry and being a key user of advanced technologies. Thirdly, many programmes under the Information Society initiative focus more on the user. As an example, industrial use of e.mail, electronic data interchange and other advanced network technologies.