IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The technology behind the EasyPASS gate is based on facial recognition and operates in two stages. After passing the first gate, passenger’s faces are scanned and identity is verified through comparison with the photo included in the passport. Once identity is verified, a gate opens and the passenger can walk though, having completed the process. The system takes an average of 18 seconds to complete.

The electronic medication record improves patient safety, thus making life easier for health care providers and creating new online services in the pharmaceutical field. It is a tool through which prescribing doctors, practitioners and pharmacies collect and update information on drugs used. Moreover, the system allows each patient to have access to his own pharmaceutical records.

For smart city initiatives to take root, they need public buy-in, and that means the data privacy challenge needs to be tackled.

In today’s landscape, the success of enterprises, both public and private, now rests on how they utilize data.

Organizations of various sizes collect a wealth of data in major cities but principally for their own use, while citizens themselves seemingly derive little benefit from that harvest.

"Scandinavia is considered a leader in e-health and design of health facilities," Gallagher said in a statement. She hoped to gain some pointers for the territory's e-health investment, which amounted to $90 million in this year's budget (passed early this morning).

In Norwegen zeichnet sich ein Datenskandal riesigen Ausmaßes ab: Die Steuerbehörde des Landes hat versehentlich die Personennummern zur Identifizierung aller vier Millionen Steuerzahler einschließlich ihrer Einkommen an Zeitungsredaktionen geschickt.

A poultry farmer finds a dead yet apparently uninjured swan on his land. He alerts the government's food security agency, which decides that it looks like a case of avian flu - which could be the one deadly to humans, and in turn might trigger a pandemic. As the vets swing in to action, the agency's IT systems trawl for data on nearby households. Within minutes, everyone living inside a buffer zone miles in diameter has received an automated phone call or a text message telling them what's going on and what precautions they need to take.

Minister Aasrud is currently planning a new digital strategy (Digital Agenda) for Norway. The strategy will include the public sector, citizen welfare and industrial policy for ICT-related sectors.Singapore is recognised as one of the world’s leading countries within electronic public services (eGovernment) and Minister Aasrud and her Singaporean discussion partners had lively debates on how to achieve success in this important sector.

Helsenorge.no will provide information about what contributes to health, such as diet and physical activity, and take up issues such as pregnancy and mental health. It also features an overview of the various health services.

Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Minister of Health and Care Services, who launched the site, said: "eHealth is a key priority for the government. Through Helsenorge.no new technology is used to provide people with more help and better care."

ePrescriptions are being gradually rolled out throughout the country and full adoption is expected by 2013. 32 municipalities and 60 pharmacies are currently involved in the ePrescription programme, which is responsible for establishing a national, fully electronic information chain for prescription drugs and medical supplies in Norway. This chain consists of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, doctors, pharmacies and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV). It is led by the Norwegian Directorate of Health and is owned by the Ministry of Health and Care Services.

In June 2011 there were a record 2.6 million MinID users, making it Norway's most popular eID solution ever. By August, MinID had already been used over 15 million times for Government services during 2011, which is more than during the whole of 2010.

Most Telemark municipalities have used ePrescription since 7 February 2012, while others will join later. For instance, Nissedal and Aust-Agder counties are expected to adopt ePrescriptions on 24 April 2012, while the municipalities of Hjartdal and Notodden in early 2013.

The scheme is well received by patients, doctors, pharmacies and medical supply outlets. In this regard the director of the Directorate of Health, Ms. Anne-Lise Härter said: "All actors involved have positive experiences and I think that electronic prescriptions are better than the paper ones".

Prior to mid-November, the only municipalities issuing ePrescriptions in Norway were those of Hordaland county (Southwest Norway) with one exception, namely Larvik municipality in Vestfold county (Southeast Norway). Now more municipalities of Vestfold county - Tønsberg, Sandefjord, Horten, Re, Tjøme, Stokke, Nøtterøy and Andebu - have adopted ePrescriptions.

Overall, 143 medical practices, 60 pharmacies and nine medical supply outlets use electronic prescriptions on a daily basis. More than 300 000 prescriptions have been issued by doctors since their introduction in spring 2010.

MinID is developed and maintained by the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT - Difi, in Norwegian), and currently gives about 2.5 million people secure electronic access to public services. In 2010 it was used 14 million times to login to various public services, including the delivery of tax returns, services of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV), applications for day care, applications for student loans and scholarships and applications for school and student places. These services do not require high security, since they do not process sensitive personal data nor have special security requirements.

The new version of Doffin is a more modern platform which is faster and reduces the cost of operation and use.

The tax rolls are records of a taxpayer's (natural or legal persons) name, year of birth (or year of creation for companies), zip code, city, taxation municipality, net income, net assets and assessed tax amount. The remaining information is not public. It is worth noting that the numbers are not necessarily final. For example, they may change as a result of an appeal to an assessment. The tax rolls are updated three times a year.

During 2012, the Norwegian Government will put forward a white paper on healthcare in the digital age. The paper will present how information and communication systems in the health sector (eHealth) can help to improve the quality of illness prevention and treatment, and patient rehabilitation and care.

November 2011 was a record month for the number of orders placed online, with over 48 200 transactions. In addition, 401 suppliers used of the platform while the number of public entities present on the portal on the same month was 151, against 99 in November 2010.

The report, entitled 'Joint ICT development in the municipal sector', describes the opportunities and challenges offered by ICT in local government. It was compiled by an independent consulting company, and was presented to Rigmor Aasrud,​​ the Minister of Government Administration and Church Affairs, on Friday 4 March 2011.

The report, presented to Robin Kåss, State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services in February 2011, shows that if ICT systems work better in healthcare, patients will receive both faster and safer treatment. The Norwegian hospitals invest about 1.6 % of disposable assets in ICT, an amount smaller than the one invested in hospitals by the neighbouring Nordic countries.

The Government's goal is that digital communication should be the general rule between the citizens and the public sector. “The Government is planning a broad and strong commitment to ICT. Currently, it has been demonstrated that we are following the objectives of the digitisation programme, introducing key ICT initiatives across the government,” said the Minister of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs, Rigmor Aasrud.