Norway has a strong and prosperous economy, largely due to its significant oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Also, it consistently ranks high in global indices measuring quality of life, human development, and happiness.
After all, it places a strong emphasis on social welfare, education, and healthcare, contributing to a high standard of living for its residents. But what about online public services?
In the 2022 EGDI report (the latest available), Norway secured the 17th global rank out of 193 countries, showcasing its substantial standing in e-governance on a global scale.
A noteworthy strength lies in Norway’s commitment to the security and privacy of public service delivery, surpassing the EU average in this critical dimension. The government’s prioritization of digitalisation has contributed to this commendable performance.
Citizen satisfaction with public services is a great achievement for Norway, with remarkable percentages of contentment.
The judiciary and education systems enjoy an impressive 87% satisfaction rate among Norwegians, far surpassing OECD averages of 56% and 67%, respectively. The health care system satisfaction, at 80%, outstrips the OECD average by 12 percentage points.
However, a contrasting narrative unfolds in the Digital Economy and Society Index., where Norway finds itself among the last in the Nordic region. This index suggests room for improvement in certain digital aspects compared to neighboring countries.
However, let’s focus a bit on the achievements.
Great scores in several e-government dimensions
This data was taken from the E-Government 2023 Benchmark report.
- Almost all government services in Norway – 95%, can be accessed online, way more than the EU average of 84%.
- Norwegian government websites are clear about personal data usage in 78% of cases, beating the EU average of 56% for transparency.
- An impressive 95% of online services in Norway allow you to log in with eID, which is much higher than the EU average of 70%.
- Unlike the EU’s -49% average, Norway stands out with 56% of services available for people across borders, making things easier for users from other countries to access their services.
- When it comes to convenience, 75% of Norwegian online services come with prefilled details, surpassing the EU average of 68%.
Norway is one of Europe’s eID frontrunners.
Norway places a significant emphasis on Electronic Identification (eID) and stands out as a leader in this domain within Europe.
As I stated before, over 95% of services in Norway can be accessed using the national eID.
MinID, a key player in this domain, empowers citizens to access public services that demand a medium to high level of security.
This includes crucial activities such as applying for a loan from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, submitting applications to upper secondary schools, and handling tasks like altering tax returns or changing a family doctor.
With a substantial user base of 2.6 million Norwegians, MinID operates through the ID-Gateway, a shared platform for eID in the Norwegian public sector.
The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency oversees this initiative, ensuring a streamlined and secure eID framework.
What sets Norway apart is its impressive parity between central and decentralized levels of government in terms of digital authentication.
Typically, there’s a stark difference between these levels in other regions, with higher acceptance at the central government level.
Surprisingly, Norway, alongside Denmark and the Netherlands, achieves a perfect score of 100% on the online availability indicator for regional government services, showcasing a rare uniformity in eID access across different government tiers.
This, I believe, reflects Norway’s commitment to ensuring citizens can seamlessly authenticate themselves digitally across various public services, making for a highly inclusive and efficient eID usage.
New Strategy for eID
In 2023, The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development published a new Strategy for Electronic Identification (eID). The premise of this strategy is “one person, one identity.”
The main goals for the eID are laid out in the One Digital Public Sector strategy. It states that every citizen should have an eID that can be used for the public or private services they need.
Also, what’s worth mentioning is that all groups (including foreign nationals without a Norwegian national identity number) and even children should be able to obtain an eID at the level they need.
Those who are unable to act (digitally) themselves should have the opportunity to be represented by a proxy.
Final thoughts
In essence, Norway’s digital landscape is a tale of two narratives — a global frontrunner in e-governance and citizen satisfaction, juxtaposed with a comparative position that provokes a closer examination within the Nordic digital context. Balancing these elements will likely be a focus area for Norway’s ongoing digitalisation journey.
Sources:
https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data/Country-Information/id/126-Norway
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi-norway
https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/DPA_Factsheets_2023_Norway_vFINAL_rev.pdf https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/864f5673-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/864f5673-en#chapter-d1e7290
