Norwegian businesses will need to learn the value of data sharing as digital efforts are scaled by the government. Source: Shutterstock

Norwegian businesses will need to learn the value of data sharing as digital efforts are scaled by the government. Source: Shutterstock

Norway instills data sharing principles across public and business sectors

INTELLIGENT machine capabilities are coming of age as technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT) grow in importance.

At the center of all these capabilities is data, the core ingredient enabling everything from machine intelligence to IoT. Clearly data is highly valuable to a point that it has been deemed as the ‘new oil’.

However, much like oil, if not harvested and turned into useful products, the value is lost. Norway, like many other progressive countries in Asia, believes that there is a high value in harvesting, analyzing, and sharing data – but businesses and pubic sectors alike may not be fully aware of it.

This is why the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation has released a document highlighting the nation’s strategy in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

One of the biggest focuses of the strategy was on data and how data is managed to ensure AI projects are of high quality and the technology remains explainable and trustworthy.

The key is to encourage data sharing across public and business sectors based on certain established principles to instill greater awareness about how valuable and important the practice is.

At the same time, data sharing principles and awareness are being leveraged in a bid to bolster the digitization strategy of Norway’s public sector.

However, the Norwegian ministry has never really made it compulsory for businesses to share their data because they do own their data and they can decide on sharing based on data protection regulations – but this can be tricky when there is a nation-wide effort to deploy data-driven capabilities.

The new principles would encourage data sharing practices between businesses and public sectors. The principles are as follows:

  • Parties that volunteer to share data are highly favored, especially between those that are mutually interested in doing so.
  • If businesses have data that valuable if shared but do not see the value in doing so, government authorities can exercise necessary facilitation measures.
  • Compulsory data sharing can be ruled for justifiable reasons. For example, when the public demands for visibility.
  • Privacy and business interests are key considerations in data sharing. The procedures must not violate the control businesses have on their data.

The data that businesses have can profoundly benefit the public sectors in going digital. Undoubtedly, it could help businesses learn more about their customers, their developments, and the market outlook if they start analyzing that data and sharing it with other businesses and public sectors.

Businesses need to also understand that when they share their data, it does not mean that they lose data or have less ownership of the data. Data sharing will actually heighten the value of data and enrich the insights that can be harvested when different resources are secured.

Moving forward, it is hoped that Asian countries will come up with their own principles to ensure that data is accessible and able to support the development of digital capabilities and supporting digital infrastructure.