Statssekretær Odd Hellesnes' innlegg på OECDs Ministerkonferanse om elektronisk handel, Ottawa 7.-9. oktober 1998

Plenary session 4 Maximizing benefits.

Intervention on "The economic and social impact of electronic commerce: preliminary findings and research agenda"

State Secretary Odd Hellesnes, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Norway

Chairman,

In Norway we have realised, that what it takes to maximise the benefits of electronic commerce, is a core of highly skilled IT-professionals. But we also have to undertake specific measures to ensure that no-one falls outside the realm of the information society. We need IT in education as well as education in IT, at all levels.

Norway is among the top four countries world-wide with regard to density of PCs, Internet connections, mobile telephones and ISDN-connections . According to Andersen Consulting, Norway and the other Nordic countries are on a par with the USA in developing electronic commerce.

In Norway 25% of all citizens, more than 60% of all enterprises and 90% of central government agencies are connected to the Internet. In our secondary schools there are --- on average --- 6 pupils pr. PC and 9 pupils pr. Internet connection. 90% of senior high schools are connected to the Internet. And three out of four public libraries are on the net.

Louis Gerstner of IBM said yesterday that in 5 countries more than 10% of the citizens are on the Net, and in 40 countries more than 1 million are on the net. I am proud that Norway with a total population of only 4.5 million is in both these groups.

So our country is eager and ready to go into electronic commerce, and we already see the social and economic impact of electronic commerce. However, we have been waiting for take off much longer than expected. Therefore Norway welcomes the OECD work to create an analytical foundation of facts and to identify areas for future research. This will help to focus the policy debate.

Creating possibilities for everyone is a key issue in the Norwegian IT-policy. The main challenge today is to stimulate the use of alternate infrastructure resources, and foster competition in access and bandwidth. For the time being, Norway has close to full employment, but we are much concerned about regional development. We want actively to maintain thriving communities all over the country including the outlying areas. We have successfully moved a number of governmental services to rural areas. They are now accessible to all citizens over the Internet.

My government is also especially preoccupied with the small and medium sized enterprises situation. 95% of all Norwegian companies have less than 20 employees. Last week we launched a plan for small enterprises. One of our initiatives is to facilitate electronic filing to government agencies, such as tax authorities. Privacy, data protection and consumer protection are key elements for e-commerce, not only for the individual consumer, but also for the smallest firms.

My final point is that e-commerce will also effect the public sector and public services. Governments have to rethink openness. If we want private sector and citizens to do their business with government electronically, they should be able to access information themselves, be informed on the use of the information collected, and be asked for their consent if information is to be used for other purposes. Citizens and businesses should have easy access to all official documents though the Internet and be able to interact electronically with the government.

Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude.

• First, we have actively to create an electronic society without unacceptable differences between the "haves" and the "have nots". Bringing e-commerce to all, will make full use of the potential and maximise benefits.
• Second, echoing Tony Blair, to make this happen education is all/important. IT-literacy is essential, but must be complemented by knowledge of privacy protection, consumer rights and security issues. Only by knowing how, the individual user, the vendor and all other parties involved will be able to build the necessary trust and confidence.
• Third, the right balance must be struck between the responsibility of government, business and the individuals.

Thank you for listening.