Report shows Norway is falling behind in ICT and technology

Computer system.Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix

In competition with 29 other countries, Norway is shifted from 13th to 20th position in technology and ICT skills on the Abelia Reversal Barometer for 2018.

 

The barometer is made annually by Ny Analyse AS on behalf of Abelia, and aims to measure how prepared Norway is in a future without one dominant commodity sector (oil and gas) as a growth engine.

A total of 100 different indicators are considered necessary for conversion in Norway, against the same indicators in 29 comparable countries.

This year’s edition shows that Norway is at the forefront of digital use in the population,but the scale of the Norwegian ICT sector and the level of IT-related research and development mean that many countries still pass us in this field.

It worries Håkon Haugli, CEO of Abelia.

“Norway has initiated a number of measures in the field of digitization, and the government has bragged about it. But other countries have gained more than us, and that’s what must be the measure,” he said.

‘’We score well on the breadth of education, but place poorly on expertise, especially in ICT.

In other words, we are well-educated, but lack the experts,’’ Haugli continued.

He is also worried that public investment in research and development (R&D) is down compared with other countries. However, increased investment from the business sector is going up.

“Fortunately, the report shows that Norway has increased the rate of innovation through the oil crisis. We moved up seven places from 15th to 8th because we are doing better on market, product, and process innovations. This can be seen in the context of the fact that business has increased its R&D investment significantly,” said Haugli.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today