The Nordic and Baltic regions are among the most highly digitalised societies in the world and consist of countries that are renowned for striving towards social equality. This policy overview shows that political measures to ensure digital inclusion are ongoing in the Nordic and Baltic regions; the focus on digital inclusion has only increased in recent years since the pre-study titled “Monitoring Digital Inclusion in the Nordic-Baltic Region” (Nordic Council of Ministers & Digital Europe 2022) was published.
While the Nordic and Baltic countries still have no clear and harmonised Nordic/Baltic definition of digital inclusion, the countries tend to approach the task of defining digital inclusion in a similar manner, with digital inclusion and social inclusion being dimensions that complement each other. Several of the countries have begun to deal with digital inclusion as a context-specific issue that can only be tackled by means of strategies for specific contexts and subgroups. The countries, furthermore, propose various strategies to achieve the goal of digital inclusion. Those strategies range from providing non-digital solutions to citizens struggling with society as it becomes increasingly digitalised and providing both telephone and in-person support options, both to civil society actors providing support (e.g. NGOS providing digital training) and to private individuals (e.g. the possibility for a power of attorney (POA) and digital support).
The extent to which digital inclusion is monitored in the countries is limited, at least according to the policies. However, some of the countries mention that they have begun more structured monitoring practices, such as Sweden with its launch of a new digital dashboard research tool in December 2022 (Swedish Agency for Digital Government, 2022) and Denmark with its launch of a new yearly analysis of Danes´ interactions with the digital sector (Ministry of Digital Government and Gender Equality, 2023). The target groups are largely the same, with differences tending to occur in the intersectionality of the groups, meaning that the groups identified nationally tend to differ at the sub-group level due to national and even region-specific contexts.
While the countries differ regarding their digital inclusion challenges in several ways – as is also clear from their differing approaches towards achieving digital inclusion – many similarities exist. The numerous overlaps and similarities between the countries allow for many synergies and potential knowledge sharing among countries.
Key Takeaways:
1. Overall, increased attention has been paid to digital inclusion in the Nordic and Baltic region in recent years, with 19 new political strategies and documents being published in the last two years since the pre-study. Several initiatives have also been established. Moreover, a number of initiatives and new policies are underway.
2. Definitions are helpful to enable shared understanding and to advance harmonised approaches within the countries and across the Nordic/Baltic region. However, despite progress and ambitions, no common definition is in place.
3. The generally similar framing of digital inclusion indicates a common understanding of the issue across the Nordic and Baltic region, e.g. digital inclusion as a core aspect of social inclusion. By contrast, differences in the groups identified as being at risk and the situations in which the groups are at risk highlight the specific challenges that each country is facing.
4. In the Nordic and Baltic region there is largely alignment concerning the main groups at risk of digital exclusion, e.g. individuals with disabilities, older adults, immigrants and socio-economically weaker groups.
5. More harmonised monitoring is required to provide better insight into the status quo of digital inclusion beyond “digitalisation” and to allow for more in-depth studies and evidence-based policies