An Information and Communications Technology Assessment of Norway

Table of Contents:

  1. Analysis: National IT Strengths and Weaknesses

  2. Size of Domestic Market

  3. National ICT Policies

  4. Telecommunication Infrastructure

  5. Computing & Internet Diffusion

  6. Electronic Commerce

  7. ICT Use by Businesses

  8. Domestic Production: R&D, Software Development, Hardware Manufacturing

  9. IT Workforce

  10. IT Geographics

  11. IT Financing

  12. E-Government

  13. ICT Legal Environment

  14. About The Author


Introduction

12/16/2002

 Hello Visitors,

 Welcome to my information and communications assessment of Norway website. This website was built as a project by Brian Bretz at American University's Kogod School of Business. Please note that the bulk of my research was completed utilizing web resources, therefore I would characterize it as summary of various online periodicals, government documents, trade association materials, and news service articles. You’ll find a variety of sections on this website which look at several different aspects of the Norwegian ICT industry, so please have a look around.

For the most part, Norway’s ICT indices are relatively high by global standards; however they lag slightly behind some Nordic and EU nations. I attribute this to be their focus on traditional Norwegian industries, which historically have not been in interlinked with a burgeoning ICT sector. Then, sometime in the 1990s, Norway began to dramatically change its vision of their ICT sector into something that plays a much greater role in society. The product of this new vision was the development of a formal Norwegian national ICT policy, called eNorway.

The economic and social goals of eNorway are meant change Norway into country that can build on existing their comparative advantages and become a leader in the global ICT arena. In 2000, Norway passed the eNorway policy and set out on a journey to reengineer their country to be more amenable to ICT. In a short amount of time, Norway instituted a comprehensive plan that touches on all aspect of Norwegian society. Early signs show that the eNorway plan is working. For example, the ICT industry has grown an impressive 8% over the past three years and this trend is expected to continue in the near future. Norway has certainly had early success building a their ICT industry on technology niches; however only history will only tell if they will be able to develop into a well-round globally recognized technology powerhouse. From the consumer side, Norway has already accomplished this feat; however they are now concentrating the efforts on industry.

Truth be told, I have no doubt that the Norway will meet its goals of protecting Norwegian interests in the knowledge economy. I hope you enjoy the website.

Best Regards,

Brian Bretz

(bb3747a@american.edu)

 

P.s. For those of you conducting research, I must insist that you read Section 14. About the Author. Take care.