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Information Technology Plan for Industry from 1998 to 2001

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Foreword We are in the midst of a digital revolution that will turn many of our previous ideas about industry and society upside down.

Knowledge and reason will increasingly replace machinery, equipment and natural resources as the most important competitive edge for Norwegian industry. This will engender a new attitude towards value creation. One simple way of measuring value added in a company is by understanding that the value of the end product must be greater than the cost of all the inputs. Until recently, much of the value created by Norwegian business and industry was based on abundant access to reasonably priced natural resources. From now on, corporate success will depend more on companies' ability to think their way to value creation. In the Information Society, human knowledge and resources will be the most important factor input of all.

The digital revolution will also redefine the way we view geographical distance. In a myriad of ways, IT eliminates geographical distance, in that it offers instantaneous access to information from anywhere in the world. Thus, IT offers prodigious opportunities for decentralisation, a fact of considerable importance, not least for Norway. Meanwhile, Norway is experiencing a strong wave of centralisation. One of the aims of this plan is for the public sector to take the lead, showing how IT can be used throughout the country. The planned use of IT is as a basic element not only of industrial policy, but also of modern regional policy.

Our ideas about corporate management may also be outmoded. Knowledge and information will be accessible to the general public in a completely different way than ever before; they will no longer be governed or monopolised by a few individuals. Given the right conditions, business and industry could be run and managed in a far more decentralised, flexible and efficient manner than previously.

For the most part, the digital revolution is being motivated by the market, by creative individuals, researchers, and talented companies. The digital revolution is not a product of politics, and it involves a very limited degree of political control. For this reason, the exploitation of IT as a competitive edge is first and foremost the responsibility of business and industry. That being said, this plan is being presented on the basis of the conviction that the public sector can and should play an important role as a facilitator, a team player and, when need be, a pathfinder.

The main challenges facing the authorities as a facilitator are increasing Norway's capacity to provide IT training at the tertiary level and accelerating the pace of introducing IT in the schools. These are the foremost objectives of this plan.

The many measures outlined for more research and for the establishment of pilot projects to promote the use of IT are examples of the part the authorities can play as a team player.

This document is a plan of action, with action being the operative term. Accordingly, the plan sets out numerous concrete goals, specifying the clear distribution of responsibility for following them up. Our hope is that this plan will be remembered not primarily for its ambitious goals, but for the results it will engender.

Lars Sponheim

Minister of Trade and Industry

Contents

• linkinthoveddel002I. Synopsis
• linkinthoveddel003II. Introduction
  • linkinthoveddel003II.1 Background
  • linkinthoveddel003P93_9192II.2 The vision and goals of the IT plan
  • linkinthoveddel0032_3II.3 The division of responsibility between the private and public sectors
  • linkinthoveddel003P116_11339II.4 Terminology
• linkinthoveddel004III. Trends and status
  • linkinthoveddel004III.1 Development trends
  • linkinthoveddel0043_2III.2 Scope and application of information and communications technology
• linkinthoveddel005IV Challenges
  • linkinthoveddel005IV.1 Challenges related to the efficient application of information technology by business and industry
  • linkinthoveddel0054_2IV.2 Challenges to Norway's IT industry in particular
• linkinthoveddel006V. Strategies and measures
  • linkinthoveddel006P278_33908V.1 Education, human resources and organisational development
  • linkinthoveddel0065_2V.2 The application of IT by business and industry
  • linkinthoveddel007V.3 R&D for innovation and value creation
  • linkinthoveddel007P876_87722V.4 The public sector as organiser
  • linkinthoveddel0075_5V.5 Internationalisation and export-oriented growth
• linkinthoveddel008VI. Summary of measures
• linkinthoveddel009Links to relevant information

linkinthoveddel001Click here if you would like to view the plan as one document.