The Government of Norway is designing a new digitalisation strategy for the public sector to be launched in June 2024. The strategy will build on the work of the previous Digital Strategy for the Public Sector, which aimed to make everyday life simpler for citizens and business through better government services, more efficient use of public resources, and increased value creation (Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, 2019[1]). This Strategy was introduced in 2019 following OECD policy recommendations from the Digital Government Review and expires in 2025. 

Since its OECD Digital Government Review in 2017, the Norwegian government has pursued the strategic digitalisation of the public sector in line with its Digital Agenda, aiming to modernise, simplify, and improve the public sector. With this current strategy set to expire in 2025, Norway’s Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance is developing a new strategy for the digitalisation of the public sector to enable it to deliver more efficient, effective, and innovative public services.

To inform Norway’s new digitalisation strategy, the OECD has identified several strategic objectives and recommendations that could support Norway in building on its progress to ensure that the country has a digital government that is fit for the future.

Norway is one of the leading digital governments in the OECD, which has been thanks to ambitions for modernising, simplifying and improving the public sector through digitalisation. However, there is opportunity to build a more effective public sector that is fit for the future and responsive to the evolving needs and expectations of its users.

Norway has a strong and collaborative approach to its digital governance, which has been key to driving the progress since under the country’s existing digital government strategy.Leveraging the opportunity of a new minister and dedicated ministry, Norway could enhance its digital governance model to increase coherency, coordination, and make the best use of public resources.

While Norway has developed advanced practices for planning, funding, and managing digital government investments, there is a need for a more coherent approach across its public sector.Norway could aim to have a strategic and integrated whole-of-government governance model for digital government investments to ensure that it realises the intended benefits of its investments.

While Norway’s StartOff program offered a strong approach to GovTech by balancing risk mitigation with innovative procurement, the program has since been discontinued. Norway could aim to reintegrate GovTech into its public sector to support the development of innovative solutions to public sector challenges, particularly in line with key focus areas like AI and the ‘twin transition’ of green and digital transformations.

While Norway’s ‘national joint solutions’ are a strong basis for the country’s digital public infrastructure, there is declining user satisfaction with these services. Norway could aim to evolve its ‘national joint solutions’ to ensure that they are secure and resilient, support interactions across sectors, and maximise value to users.

While Norway has recognised data as a key priority of its existing digital government strategy, there are challenges that mean that the country is falling short of its own expectations in this space. As such, Norway could take concrete steps in enhancing data access, sharing and re-use in the public sector by ensuring the right data governance foundations, the systematic use of guidelines and standards, and monitoring the impact of data sharing initiatives.

Norway has deployed artificial intelligence across its public sector to explore how it could help the sector become more efficient, effective, and innovative. As Norway seeks to expand its integration into the sector, it could aim for a more strategic and coordinated approach to AI that ensures that its use is effective, responsive, efficient, and accountable.

Norway has made strong progress to date in developing talent needed to support the digitalisation of its public sector. However, Norway could aim to have a more strategic approach to digital talent across its public sector, better coordinating efforts to attract, retain, allocate and develop talent.

While Norway has showed progress towards user-centred service design and delivery, there are some remaining challenges that the Government could address to improve its approach within a decentralised system and ensure a better experience for its users.To overcome the challenges of this decentralised model, Norway could aim to evolve its design and delivery of government services to ensure that it is responsive to the changing needs and expectations of users.