Foreword

Norway has a well-functioning and efficient public sector. There are nevertheless major challenges. We must deliver even better services to citizens, businesses and voluntary organisations. To accomplish this, we must use new technology, be innovative and be able to change.

These challenges cannot be resolved in individual agencies or sectors. We need to collaborate across agencies and sectors to create seamless services that meet the needs of the users, regardless of who provides the service.

Digitalisation shall promote a more efficient public sector, more value creation in the business sector and, not least, a simpler everyday life for most people.

This digital strategy follows up Meld. St. 27 (2015–2016) Report to the Storting Digital Agenda for Norway. The strategy defines the common goals and focus areas for digitalisation activities towards 2025, and will support digital transformation throughout the entire public sector.

No one should be passed back and forth between different public actors. That is why we must work together to meet the needs of the users. The goal of having one digital public sector requires that we change our work methods and structures, have the right skills, and perform more tasks digitally. We shall offer seamless services, use common solutions rather than establishing individual ones, and ensure that the common solutions work across administrative levels and sectors.

We must share and reuse more public data, and we must ensure that regulations are digitalisation friendly. This requires that we cooperate in new ways, and that the local government sector also be given sufficient influence in national digitalisation initiatives through good models for cooperation and collaborative governance. This is therefore a common strategy for both the local and the central government sectors. Digitalisation in the public sector shall simultaneously contribute to increased value creation in the business sector.

Norway is at the forefront in using technology. We should benefit from this. In our work, we have placed emphasis on including a broad range of actors, both inside and outside public administration. The local government sector has made important contributions. We would like to thank everyone for their valuable input and strong commitment along the way.

Large and important tasks lie ahead of us. We will now work together to implement all the good initiatives.

Oslo, 11 June 2019