The Norwegian National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence Has Launched!
A Summary and Review of the New Strategy for AI On The Day of Its Launch 14th of January
This day is special to me, because I have been covering most of the AI strategies in Europe, and today my home country has released their own national strategy. The Norwegian national strategy was released on the 14th of January, the very day this article was written. I will attempt my best to give an overview of the pathway leading to the strategy, suggestions made, summary and review of the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation’s published document the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence.
If you want to read a summary of other AI strategies in Europe you could read another of my articles linked underneath, or you could go back to it after reading the Norwegian summary.
The Pathway Leading to the Norwegian Strategy
There were different reports preceding the national strategy for artificial intelligence. These were outlined by the government on their pathway to the strategy:
- Report on the use of artificial intelligence in the state student loan administration. From conceptualising possibilities for a more effective service through the use of artificial intelligence (Norwegian report), published the 27th of November 2017.
- March 2018 the national centre for eHealth-research in Norway released a report titled Health analytics: artificial intelligence — new possibilities for the eHealth service.
- On the 10th of April 2018, there were 25 European countries that signed a Declaration of cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Norway was one of the countries that did so. This was an initiative part of the digital single market in the European Union.
- Artificial intelligence and privacy published the 22nd of June 2018 by The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA). The report elaborates on the legal opinions and the technologies described in the 2014 report «Big Data — privacy principles under pressure».
- Digital21 — a strategy for Norway by an actor-driven national collaboration on a mission from the government to promote scientific value creation and development in important areas of society. The report was published on 31st August 2018. Artificial intelligence was mentioned as one of the four strategic areas Norway should invest in.
- Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities, Challenges and a Plan for Norway. The report was written by the Norwegian Board of Technology. Published on the 26th of November 2018.
Thus prior to the launch of the strategy, there was a growing engagement for artificial intelligence in Norway from different sectors as well as from government agencies.
Over 2019 the Minister of Digitalisation travelled around in Norway (March-September) to get suggestions from different communities. Additionally, there were close to 50 written statements from a variety of businesses and government agencies that sought to give comments to what the strategy should contain.
The National AI Strategy in Norway was launched the 14th of January 2020.
1. Summary of the Report
1.1 Key Points from the Norwegian Government
The government was so kind as to issue their key points from the strategy in Norwegian that I have translated to English:
- Provide guidance to public entities so that they can become better to make the requirement of access to data when they make a contract.
- Evaluate areas where it may be in the interest of society to require that data from the private sector should be made accessible, and evaluate whether there should be made requirements in terms of determining concessions should be a way to make this happen, particularly in areas with greatly beneficial to society.
- Develop a message to parliament (white paper) on data-driven economy and innovation, and make an expert group to examine prerequisites and requirements to share data from and in the private sector.
- Review and evaluate the rules that may hinder appropriate and wanted use of artificial intelligence.
- Establish a regulatory sandbox on privacy to give businesses that possibility to try out new technology within a given framework.
- Contribute to collecting more Norwegian language resources in Språkbanken (handling Norwegian language data).
- Evaluate participation in the European Committee’s next framework for Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programme (DEP).
- Have clear expectations that universities dimension and adapt the educational offering within artificial intelligence according to the needs in the labour market.
- Encourage the educational institutes to evaluate how privacy and ethics can get a central place in education within artificial intelligence.
- Launching the course for artificial intelligence: “Elements of AI” in Norwegian in close collaboration between NTNU and undertake the #AIchallenge in Norway.
- Make a collaboration between different forums in the Digital Clearing House Norge.
- Continue to participate in European and international forum to promote responsible and trustworthy use of artificial intelligence.
That is what the state says.
However, let’s look more closely at the report.
The strategy is aimed at both public and private sector.
This is important to note as it differs from some other strategies such as the British AI Sector deal as an example.
The strategy uses the definition of AI by the European Commissions High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence:
“Artificial intelligence systems perform actions, physically or digitally, based on interpreting and processing structured or unstructured data, to achieve a given goal. Such systems can also adapt their behaviour by analysing and taking into account how their environment is affected by their previous actions.”
In addition to this they use the ‘strong’ or ‘narrow’ as is present in the Elements of AI training course online.
They start the strategy by presenting the different understanding of concepts within artificial intelligence, and this seems like a good approach to bring in someone who has no prior knowledge regarding the subject.
Another early indicator of goodwill and trust is the reuse of data. Sharing is a theme that runs clear through the strategy:
“No statutory obligation currently requires public sector data to be made accessible for use by others, but the goal is for data that can be made openly accessible to be shared so that it can be used by others (what we refer to as ‘reuse’).”
There is an outlined Nordic collaboration:
“The Nordic countries share many interests and values with respect to artificial intelligence. The Nordic countries therefore cooperate through the Nordic Council of Ministers in several areas related to AI. One of these areas concerns data. A working group has been formed to identify datasets that can be exchanged between Nordic countries and create added value for Nordic enterprises — public and private alike — while still respecting the ethical aspects and the trust and values particular to the Nordic countries.”
It may be useful to mention in this context that there is an existing collaboration in the Nordic-Baltic area that has been declared by the Nordic Council of Ministers:
1.2 Scientific Research on AI
It is important that the data behind research results are accessible for as many as possible both government and businesses. Better access to research data can improve innovation and value creation through researchers can look at new use cases. More research datasets should be made available. There are three principles in this connection:
- Research data must be as open as possible, and as closed as necessary.
- Research data should be managed and curated to take full advantage of its potential value.
- Decisions concerning the archiving and curation of research data must be made within the research community
There is 1,4 billion Norwegian kroner (NOK) that go to research, innovation and advanced use of ICT in the Research Council of Norway. Funding for artificial intelligence, robotics and information handling has increased drastically in the last few years.
There is a mention of several centres of excellence and the national collaboration Norwegian AI Research Consortium (NORA).
Norway increasingly funds for industry relevant PhD positions. Positions within artificial intelligence had the highest growth within ICT overall.
Norwegian Open AI Lab established by Telenor is a private research initiative that is mentioned in particular (50 million NOK in gift to establish).
The programme for a digital Europe (DEP) has €9,2 billion and Norway is part of this initiative.
In the report, it is explicitly said that artificial intelligence in a cross-disciplinary university environment is necessary with a mention of Bergen and Oslo as early adapters in this process.
1.3 Facilitating Data Sharing in the Private Sector
The government outlines the possibility to take an active role in facilitating collaboration (a very Norwegian approach) or imposing the need to share if need be if it is in the public interest:
- Voluntary data sharing is preferable, particularly between parties with a mutual interest in sharing data.
- The authorities can facilitate the sharing of data where the enterprises themselves don’t see the value in sharing if sharing such data would enhance public benefit.
- Data sharing may be imposed if necessary; for example for reasons of public interest.
- Data must be shared in such a way that individuals and businesses retain control of their own data. Privacy and business interests must be safeguarded.
In this context, they mention the German IDS framework (International Data Space) that some Norwegian entities are part of.
In Norway there is a sharing of data in the oil industry and within geodata, both closely linked to Norway’s main income from the extractives industry.
1.4 Methods for Sharing of Data
Sharing of data is a big focus for the strategy and it mentions different methods to do so. They mention five different ways:
- Data lakes: a data lake is a central repository for storing data, such as a cloud service. The data can be stored as-is, in its original format, and can be a combination of structured and unstructured data. The data need not be structured or labelled. The data lake can then be used to retrieve data for machine learning or for other analyses.
- Data trusts. A data trust is a legal structure where a trusted third party is responsible for the data to be shared. The third party decides which data should be shared with whom, in compliance with the purpose for which the data trust was set up.
- Anonymisation interface. An anonymisation interface allows various analyses to be carried out on register data containing personal data from multiple data sources without being able to identify individuals. The Remote Access Infrastructure for Register Data (RAIRD) is a cooperation project between the Norwegian Social Science Data Services and Statistics Norway on such an anonymisation interface. The information model for RAIRD is openly accessible and can be used by anyone.
- Synthetic data. Synthetic data can in many cases be an alternative to identifiable data or anonymised data. If synthetic datasets can be produced with the same features as the original dataset, they can be used to train algorithms or be used as test data. This means that even datasets which normally would be considered sensitive could be made openly accessible for use in research and innovation.
- Common open application programming interfaces. An application programming interface (API) makes it possible to search directly in a data source to retrieve the desired data. This is a prerequisite for being able to use data in real time. The Digitalisation Circular establishes that public agencies must make appropriate information available in machine-readable and preferably standardised formats, ideally using APIs.
1.5 Examples in the Report
When you read the report there are several examples along the way of different projects that are being undertaken or information from other government documents. One striking example is the electric autonomous ships that are being piloted in Norway (shipping being an important aspect of Norwegian industry).
1.6 Technology Infrastructure
There is a section in the report dedicated to infrastructure and specific mention of the transition to 5G networks and in connection to that expansion of 5G infrastructure. It mentioned that this will help enable:
- Self-driving and autonomous cars, buses, trucks, drones, trains and ships
- Intelligent traffic management, controlling and influencing behaviour in traffic
- Early warning of the need to replace and maintain infrastructure
- Prediction of travel behaviour
- More advanced route optimisation
The international collaboration EuroHPC is mentioned (HPC — High Performance Computing). It is clearly outlined that the continued Norwegian collaboration in EuroHPC will depend on continued support of Horizon and DEP.
The Norwegian government wants Norway to become an attractive destination for data centres.
There has been an increased establishment of data centres in Norway over the last year according to the strategy. This is attractive also because it can provide ‘scalable sustainable energy’.
1.7 Public Understanding
One great initiative that has been rolled out elsewhere in the Nordics is the course Elements of AI, and this has been taken by more than 1% of the Finnish population. Sweden started competing on the amount of people that could take the course and now Norway is following after (finally).
1.8 Innovation with the Public Sector
There are current mechanisms in the government such as Innovation Norway and Siva. There will be an increased focus on artificial intelligence. There are several Digital Innovation Hubs connected to the EU commission launched in 2016, and this commitment to greater hubs and connectivity is likely to increase in a broader EU strategy for 2021–2027 according to the Norwegian strategy. There is a committee that is working on addressing the questions in regards to standardisation and requirements in Norway (as well as influencing or participating in the work on international standards).
1.9 What Can AI Contribute With?
It is outlined by the government that AI can contribute to:
- More relevant advice and services to citizens in different life situations
- Better decision-making support for public-sector employees
- Rationalising processes and optimising resource utilisation
- Improving the quality of processes and services by automatically detecting possible deviations
- Predicting trends based on data from both agencies and their environments
- Processing natural language for sorting and categorising, and for translating between different languages and language forms
The government wants different agencies and units to start experimenting with artificial intelligence (particularly proof of concepts).
The Norwegian government buys services for approximately 500 billion NOK yearly, and it must be possible for some of these to be innovative. There is an initiative in the Norwegian state to increase the collaboration between the Norwegian state and startups.
1.10 Ethics Last
The last section of the reports is ethics (a bit worrying that it comes as an afterthought).
- AI-based solutions must respect human autonomy and control
- AI-based systems must be safe and technically robust
- AI must take privacy and data protection into account
- AI-based systems must be transparent
- AI systems must facilitate inclusion, diversity and equal treatment
- AI must benefit society and the environment
- Accountability
Consumer rights, GDPR and international collaboration on ethics is mentioned (UN, EU and OECD etc.), although only briefly.
2. A Short Review of the Report
2.1 The Great Aspects
What is very important in the light of this being a public report from the government is its focus on requiring the sharing data if it is in the interest of the public. In addition, the citizen is afforded more considerations and protections than in most other reports. This is certainly a strong point for the report and must be commended strongly. Alongside this the collaboration between public and private sector shines through, with initiatives that are outlined in several places dotted along in the strategy through examples.
The focus on including indigenous Sami language as well as different variations of Norwegian in the development of AI is a good consideration too. Overall this seems like a well thought out strategy with few ‘crazy numbers’ incessantly focused on the amazing benefits AI will bring to everything, rather instead it is very much a practical approach to understanding how the government can work to facilitate. It is fair to congratulate Norway on such a strategy.
2.2 The Not so Great
The strategy opens with climate change yet says nothing about how this issue will be addressed throughout most of the strategy. The opening statement by the minister of digitalisation sounds like the following:
It is difficult to predict the future, but we know that Norway will be affected by the age wave, climate change and increasing globalisation, and that in the coming years we must work smarter and more efficiently to remain competitive and maintain the same level of welfare. Digitalisation and new technologies are the key to achieving this, and artificial intelligence will be a vital component.
Thus it is mentioned in the very first sentence, and it should be expected that it follows up in the national strategy.
The blatant lack of clear responsibility for climate crisis or sustainability in supply chain within the national strategy for artificial intelligence is worrying, ahistorical, backwards and nonsensical. Indeed perhaps even ignorant of our time, this is not a new approach from the Norwegian government as they often say one thing broadly and do something entirely else in practice in regards to the climate crisis.
That being said it is not an uncommon thread in other strategies that the perhaps most important success factor (if we consider society and environment) is completely ignored in most national strategies. How does it address the current climate crisis? An important exception in this regard is the French strategy.
I mentioned previously that there were comments in this strategy process.
The government should have taken a cue from the comment that Circular Economy submitted to the government the 2nd of August 2019. The society for engineers and technologists in Norway (NITO) made a similar comment in regards to climate and the environment. There has to be a consideration of the life cycle of services and this includes electronic products. This comment was on all accounts completely ignored, and it would have strengthened the strategy greatly if it was included.
That being said and all critique aside:
Congratulations to Norway on a National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence!
I am incredibly excited to see how this will be followed up in the coming time.
It will without a doubt be very exciting and bring many communities together.
It feels unfair in a review to give such a harsh criticism to such a great strategy, however, it is important that we put focus on the right area: restoring our planet together doing everything we can in every industry we work.
This is #500daysofAI and you are reading article 224. I am writing one new article about or related to artificial intelligence every day for 500 days. My current focus for 100 days 200–300 is national and international strategies for artificial intelligence.
PS: you may notice the day on the article says 15th of January, but that is because I sat up writing this article on the day of the launch into the evening.
