Digitalization is taking place throughout society. NTL is actively working to shape digitalization in the public sector for the benefit of users and employees. We often refer to this field as e-government.
e-Government encompasses both the policy and practice of how ICT is adopted in the public sector, both internally and in interaction with the public. We are therefore talking about internal professional systems, online self-service solutions, and the objectives, strategies, and organization of the work.
e-Government can be seen as a reflection of the prevailing administrative policy, and since technological development is moving as fast as it is, we can view e-Government as the spearhead of administrative policy.
NTL believes that public enterprises should develop and operate IT systems themselves where possible. In many cases, the state should have the ambition to coordinate the procurement of systems. By virtue of its size, the state can act as its own master and avoid becoming dependent on profit-motivated suppliers with purposes and considerations other than the state's own.
Fafo, commissioned by NTL and the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (Fagforbundet), has written a report on the sourcing strategies of public enterprises. Sourcing strategies are strategy documents that the government has mandated enterprises to create, which must state how the enterprise plans to procure ICT going forward.
Download the report from Fafo's website.
IT development projects are important for the development of the entire enterprise and are covered by the right to co-determination in the Basic Agreement. Many union representatives fall short in these projects, partly because information is provided too late or in a form that is difficult to understand when one is not an IT expert.
NTL is therefore creating a guide for co-determination in IT projects. The guide addresses the most important provisions in the Basic Agreements and shows how they can be applied in IT projects within the enterprises.
NTL and Fagforbundet are working to ensure that the state offers a state-run cloud solution for public enterprises where public data can be stored.
In 2023, the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM) investigated the need for better national control and security for public data and landed on a model based on coordinated procurement of private solutions. However, work on this has not progressed beyond the conceptual phase.
Today, many municipalities and state enterprises face the choice between developing storage capacity themselves or entering into demanding negotiations with international IT giants that make a living by gaining an overview of personal information.
NTL and Fagforbundet believe the state should offer a cloud solution modeled on the cloud solution developed by the German federal administration. The example from Germany shows that a public cloud solution is a viable path, both economically, technologically, and with regard to supranational regulations.