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Gateways : Comparing Digital Communication Systems in Nordic Welfare States
No full textThe Internet is a critical part of the societal infrastructure in the Nordic region – giving rise to increasing concerns about the growing power of global tech corporations that supply the foundation for the region’s evermore digitalised welfare states. Yet, we lack empirical evidence for understanding, discussing, and ultimately regulating the changing power structures surrounding Internet-based communication. Presenting a novel framework for analysing and comparing the four largest Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden – this book provides nuanced insights into what we think we know about digital power and control. Identifying the main gateways into contemporary digital societies, we follow the constant flows of data – from the individual user connecting to a network operator that then passes the data on through local, terrestrial networks, Internet exchange points, and submarine cable routes, to the servers of a given website and app that in turn send the requested data back and collect a wide range of metadata in the process. This allows us to identify the key market actors and regulatory arrangements that shape the evolution of digital communication systems. What we find is a significant historical shift in the ways basic communication resources are organised and controlled in welfare states. Alongside the rapid digitalisation of Nordic societies, new gatekeepers have entered the stage while former ones have stepped into the background, established regulatory frameworks have lost their previous efficacy, and commercial forms of governance have taken over. Yet, we also find that the four countries – that are so often described as a homogeneous whole – have followed different institutional and infrastructural paths on their way to digitalisation, resulting in different degrees of disruption, globalisation, and state involvement.
Young Voices from the Arctic: Insights on Climate Change and Permafrost Degradation
No full textThe Arctic region is warming almost four times as fast as the global average. Snow and ice are thawing at an increasing rate, and the rapid environmental shifts have a disproportionate effect on communities across the Northern Hemisphere. This leads to significant permafrost degradation, which disrupts community infrastructure, cultural heritage, landscapes, and impacts animal migration and subsistence activities. This change has severe consequences for the youth in the region, affecting their present lives and future outlooks. This working paper emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues and enhancing the voices of Arctic youth, who advocate for climate change adaptation and mitigation, as they will be central in shaping society in the face of these environmental shifts. The paper highlights Arctic youths' perspectives on climate change and permafrost degradation, covering individuals from the legal age to early-career experts up to 35. Further, the paper states a need for more research and exploration of youth engagement methodologies in the Arctic to address the impacts of climate change and permafrost degradation
Demografi och kompetensförsörjning i gränsområdet Innlandet-Dalarna-Värmland
No full textDenna rapport är beställd av Gränsregionen Innlandet-Dalarna med syftet att ta fram statistik över gränsregionen Innlandet-Dalarna (inklusive Värmland) med fokus på kompetensförsörjning i gränskommunerna mellan Sverige och Norge. Rapporten innehåller statistik över arbetsmarknaden i gränsområdet med fokus på nutid och utveckling under den senaste tioårsperioden. I den här avslutande delen vänds i stället blicken mot framtiden för att diskutera de trender som väntas påverka framtidens arbetsmarknad och de utmaningar och möjligheter det kan innebära för gränskommunerna i Innlandet-Dalarna-Värmland. Det som styr tillgång och efterfrågan på arbetsmarknaden på lång sikt är främst de större megatrenderna. Men även konjunkturfaktorer och specifika händelser kan ha stor påverkan på kort sikt. Arbetsmarknaden är tätt knuten till den ekonomiska konjunkturen och enskilda händelser som pandemin och Rysslands invasion av Ukraina är exempel på händelser som kan ha stor påverkan på kort sikt. Alla dessa trender och händelser manifesteras olika på olika platser då alla lokala arbetsmarknader har olika förutsättningar som skapar såväl möjligheter som utmaningar. I det här avsnittet tas först konjunkturens roll upp och sedan vänds fokus mot megatrenderna och vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som de kan komma att medföra för gränskommunerna
Public Service Media's Contribution to Society: RIPE@2021
No full textPublic Service Media (PSM) across Europe and beyond are increasingly under pressure, with both their role in a digital environment and their funding widely scrutinised. As a result, PSM organisations are constantly in a defensive position. Following attempts to demonstrate their “public value”, discussion is now turning towards PSM’s “contribution to society”, a concept pushed by the European Broadcasting Union. Yet, to be meaningful for society and to influence PSM organisations, the concept must be more than just an instrument of legitimacy management. While communicating the valuable contributions of PSM is important, the concept is useless if limited to the question of how to better sell the contribution of PSM to citizens instead of guaranteeing that PSM actually serves the public interest and makes a contribution worth funding and discussing. This volume critically engages with the analytical value and usefulness of the contribution to society concept, related both to the EBU’s conceptualisation and to the larger, normative question of contribution. Such critical analyses are not only a worthwhile task for communication and media scholars, but also for practitioners and policy-makers involved in debates about PSM’s future. The first section of this volume defines and refines how PSM can serve the public interest by meeting the communication needs of society in unique ways that commercial media cannot. The second section discusses what PSM can be beyond broadcasting, touching upon personalised on-demand services, new forms of mobile distribution, and public service bots. The third section focuses on organisational change and innovation, ranging from citizen participation to transparency.
Chapter 4. Tracking (in)fertile bodies : Intimate data in the culture of surveillance
No full textSurveillance culture promotes self-improvement through quantified self-knowledge. Digital devices and mobile apps are developed for self-tracking practices, and individuals collect and analyse data about their bodies and habits for numerous purposes. One area of self-tracking involves fertility tracking, through which women track symptoms and signs relating to their menstrual cycle, also called intimate surveillance. Previous research has shown that self-tracking technologies and software often leak data and affect and (re)produce understandings and knowledges of (female) bodies. This chapter explores the following: What are the imaginaries and practices of intimate surveillance among women who use digital apps or wearables to self-monitor their fertility? Through eleven interviews with women who engage in fertility self-tracking, I found multilayered motives and understandings in relation to self-tracking practices, where potential risks are appreciated. Simultaneously, the possibility of fertility self-tracking is seen as a general positive that enables self-knowledge and a sense of empowerment and ownership.
Reducing social isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic : Examples of promising practice from the Nordic countries
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways challenged the health and well-being of people, and more widely, the welfare systems in the Nordic countries. Due to regulations and lockdowns, many people have experienced social isolation, and certain vulnerable groups – such as older adults and those with disabilities – have been hit especially hard. As loneliness has implications for people’s long-term mental and physical health, the consequences of the pandemic are significant for health and social care as a whole. This report presents cases of what was done in the Nordic region to alleviate loneliness during the pandemic. The material for this report was collected between June and September 2022. The five Nordic examples show that there are many ways to tackle social isolation and loneliness
En nordisk tilgang til den demokratiske debat i tech-giganternes tidsalder : Anbefalinger fra Nordisk Tænketank for Tech og Demokrati
No full textTech-giganternes onlineplatforme som Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok og Twitter er blevet demokratisk infrastruktur. Ud over deres positive potentiale kan onlineplatforme og deres algoritmer dog forårsage alvorlig skade på vores demokratier og den offentlige debat. Hadefulde ytringer online kan få visse grupper i samfundet til at trække sig fra den offentlige debat, og spredningen af mis- og desinformation truer en åben, gennemsigtig og saglig demokratisk debat samt kan føre til øget polarisering. Den Nordiske Tænketank for Tech og Demokrati har en vision om at de nordiske lande skal være en samlet tech-demokratisk region. Med borgere, der trives online, en åben og oplyst offentlig debat samt et skarpt offentligt opsyn med demokratisk digital infrastruktur. Tænketanken foreslår følgende nordiske anbefalinger, der har til hensigt at beskytte og styrke den demokratiske debat i en tidsalder domineret af tech-giganter
Impact assessment of emergency market intervention measures to tackle high energy prices : with a focus on the Nordic wholesale market
No full textThis report describes the Nordic approaches to implementing the EU's emergency intervention measures aimed at tackling the energy crisis and high energy prices during the winter of 2022/2023. Simultaneously, readers are presented with a theoretical macroeconomic analysis of the implications resulting from these interventions
Towards enhanced climate change adaptation in the Nordic Region : Policy recommendations based on an assessment of best practices and key challenges for adaptation policy in the Nordic countries
No full textThis policy brief presents the findings from the report "Comparison and analysis of national adaptation policies in the Nordic region", along with a set of policy recommendations directed at public authorities in the Nordic countries. After summarizing key progress factors and best practices and main challenges, the policy brief presents five main recommendations: 1) reframe adaptation as transformation; 2) establish mechanisms for systematic knowledge generation and develop appropriate indicators; 3) break down silo-structure between sectors and develop a clearly articulated policy cycle; 4) enhance adaptation financing and economic incentive mechanisms and translate knowledge on risks and vulnerabilities to local adaptation measures; 5) enhance the political mandate for adaptation and strengthen international commitments, including through Nordic collaboration
Loss and Damage Financing Solutions : Mapping and Feasibility Study
No full textClimate change leads to more severe and frequent disasters, increasing heat and sea level rise. When natural or man-made systems meet soft or hard adaptation limits, it can lead to loss and damage (L&D). L&D is unequally distributed, affecting the most vulnerable and least developed countries the worst. At COP27, Parties to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement agreed to establish new funding arrangements and a fund in support of developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change L&D. This project aims to map and identify innovative sources of funding for addressing L&D. The project outcomes include a report on the issue; a public webinar on 14th September 2023 in which the findings will be discussed with experts and stakeholders across the global South and global North; and a side event on L&D financing solutions in the Nordic Council pavilion at COP28