Blog: Rules of the road for data to accelerate Denmark’s digital growth
Lars Frelle-Petersen blogs about the need for focus on security in Denmark’s digital development.
Data constitutes the raw material in the wave of digitalisation that is changing our society. The digital transformation of companies is rooted in data as the basis for understanding a business and that knowledge being transformed into new ideas and more efficient operations. A recently concluded project under the auspices of the Danish Industry Foundation’s DataForBusiness initiative shows that 94% of respondent companies are prepared to invest in new data projects.
There is great motivation to use data, but there is equally great insecurity connected to doing so. 62% of companies in the DataForBusiness project view data security and getting started with work with data security as one of the central barriers to utilising the potential in the company’s data.
The insecurity in the DataForBusiness project exemplifies a looming crisis of confidence that has arisen with the spread of fake news, meddling in national elections and costly cyber attacks. This is a trend with grave repercussions – a lack of confidence means that we as individuals will not share our data or interact digitally, and it means that companies will have neither the opportunities nor the courage to drive digital innovation.
That is why we must focus on how we can restore confidence in data by using it responsibly.
Responsible handling of the algorithms behind artificial intelligence. Responsible handling of personal data, which is always only on loan. Responsible protection of our digital valuables, solutions and systems in the same matter-of-course way that we protect our physical valuables.
See also: Key indicators: Danish companies lag behind in use of advanced technology
Best possible conditions for creating confidence
Denmark has the best possible conditions for creating that confidence. In the public sector we are accustomed to the collection of high-quality data, because citizens have confidence that their information is used appropriately in the healthcare or tax system, for instance. Denmark has also been ranked the world’s most future-ready country, thanks, among other things, to the population’s adaptive attitude to technology in the IMD World Competitiveness Center’s annual ranking of countries by digital competitivity, and we have the EU’s most digital companies.
That is why we must work together to create the groundwork for businesses and public authorities to utilise this data potential responsibly and for citizens and customers to understand and have confidence in this usage. To begin with this requires a conversation about what responsible use of data is and how we can make data usage and digital responsibility transparent for customers, citizens and partners.
In the long term, it also requires that we address private digital ownership in relation to personal data and implement the necessary regulation and innovation of the digital economy and public administration.
If we succeed in creating this shared fundament for digital responsibility in the use of artificial intelligence, information privacy and IT security, not only can we make companies confident in investing in data projects and individuals confident in giving their personal data to authorities and companies, we can also make digital responsibility a Danish strength on par with areas such as food safety.
