Norway remains among the leading countries in Europe in digitalisation
The index that measures digital maturity in the EU / EEA area shows that Norway is still among the leading countries in digitalisation in Europe. Norway is ranked number five after Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands in the recent survey.
DESI Index (Digital Economy and Society Index) Norway measures digital competence, the spread of broadband and mobile networks, the use of digital services in business and society, and the use of public digital services. Norway was ranked third after Finland and Sweden in 2020.
– Even though Norway has fallen to places in the last year, Norway scores well above the average in all main categories. At the same time, the index shows that we must continue to work purposefully. We must step up our efforts to share public data and access to fast broadband. The government has set ambitious goals in both areas, which will probably pay off in future polls, says Minister of Local Government and District Bjørn Bjørn Arild Gram.
Norway is doing particularly well in public digital services. This is especially true within the indicators “users of eGovernment solutions” and “digital services for business”, while Norway on the open data indicator is below the EU average.
– This is partly due to the fact that data collected for this indicator does not reflect the development that has taken place in 2020. Norway is among the very best in the use of public digital services, and we work systematically and purposefully to improve. But so do other European countries – especially our Nordic neighbors. We must therefore keep up the pace, says Gram.
Norway is also doing well in digital competence and the use of digital services in business and society. For the sub-category digital competence, Norway scores particularly well on the proportion with basic digital competence and shares with basic software competence.
For the subcategory use of digital services in business and society, Norway does particularly well in the proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises that use basic digital services. These are important prerequisites for being able to reap the benefits of continued digitization.
In terms of the deployment of mobile and broadband networks, Norway is well above the EU average, but has fallen slightly since 2020, when Norway was at the forefront in Europe in this category, together with Denmark.
– There is now high speed on the 5G development in Norway. We know that the Norwegian mobile players have extensive plans for the development of 5G and that the district package for the development of mobile broadband will in all probability contribute to progress in later measurements, says Gram.
The European Commission designs the DESI index. This year, several changes have been made to the indicators in the index. The results for 2020 and 2021 are therefore not completely comparable.
For some of the indicators, there has also been significant development on the Norwegian side, after the data was collected by the EU Commission. This applies to e.g. the indicators for open data and 5G coverage, respectively, where we both expect a far better score at this year’s high, but which will not reflect in DESI until 2022.
Ministry of Local Government and Modernization’s press phone: 22 24 25 00