Smart societies must be built on a solid digital foundation

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Of course, the robots will come. Of course, buildings will talk to each other. Of course, we will soon have self-driven busses. But, we do not get a smart, green welfare society without a solid digital foundation. This subject is not discussed enough in Norway.

Everyone with the slightest knowledge of house construction knows that basic work is crucial to the final outcome. At the same time, the work with foundation walls and doors  are not visible and for many it is a bit boring. Thus, the foundation wall is often both hidden and forgotten. When did you last hear a homeowner say to his dinner guests: Come see the world’s best foundation!

Forget the most important thing

Sensors and artificial intelligence that can analyze large amounts of data in real time will change the world. Buildings will control its own energy consumption and talk with the neighboring building to learn. Doctors will receive data support to provide more accurate diagnoses and provide personal care to patients. Cities can control traffic to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Cars will run by themselves, the refrigerator will order food and drones will deliver your goods at the door.

The technological transformation goes fast and sometimes it seems that it’s almost only our imagination that limits what the next artificial intelligence project, the next ripple or the next app can do for us.

Of course, it is interesting to let the imagination run freely. Free thinking in thought work can also be important in the innovation work. But too many forget that new exciting digital solutions requires a digital foundation. A platform that holds the entire digital architecture together. Unfortunately, this foundation is often both porous, skewed and inadequate. It is also often under-dimensioned and therefore not suitable for future development.

Many companies and parts of the public sector in Norway are firmly building on an unstable digital foundation. The Reason: a combination of limited attention on this subject during a long period of time and error priorities. The consequence may be inefficient operations, slow scaling, poor security and limitations for choosing new future solutions. This may result in weaker competitiveness. For companies in the private sector, it may mean the hook on the door. For the public sector, it can lead to high costs and low productivity. At worst, sensitive personal information can be ignored and national secrets are revealed.

Location, Location, Location

Any property developer will tell you that there are three things that apply when building or buying a house: location, location, location. Translated to the digital universe, the three investment guidances will be read as follows: Quality, Quality, Quality.

Digitization has globalized almost all industries. Should Norwegian companies come to the finals in international championships in the future, they must invest in a digital soil that ensures the ability to exploit the data they own, enable scaling, take care of safety and have the ability to run large-scale analysis based on cognitive technology. In addition, such developments and market dynamics have been in many areas and companies must also be able to use new technologies quickly. The person waiting for the drawings of the whole house, who is ready before the foundation wall is being built, is in danger of building in vain. Competitors who first build a solid and flexible foundation – instead of waiting for the architect’s solution for the entire “building” – may have won the market.

Yellow light for Norway

When Prime Minister Erna Solberg recently opened the Digitalization Conference IBM Watson Summit in Oslo, she said in her speech: “Most of you people think we are too slow, but we actually score very high on digitization. We will keep the leader shirt and deliver first class digital services for both residents and industries. We have given all ministries a deadline for this year to plan how all appropriate services are made available digitally. “

It is possible to disagree with Solberg’s belief that team Norway is running with the yellow digital leader shirt in digital infrastructure. Still much can be done to ensure that ICT renews, simplifies and enhances the public sector. However, the Prime Minister added something important. She said: “One of the most important things we do is to create common components and standards in a growing number of areas. We are now building a solid and modern digital foundation for public Norway.“

The administration is melting slowly, but Solberg shows with her speech that she has seen the need to shake up the public IT in Norway. Our experience is that a large part of business is less clear in the direction and order of work than the prime minister. In a world driven by data that can be very cost expensive.