What is at stake when global digitalisation trends meets the social democratic welfare states of the Nordics? How can design be used to govern social sustainability and societal values of trust, equity, and collective rights and ownership? Could there a Nordic model for digital design that challenges Silicon Valley’s hegemony?
This talk is based on ongoing research and inquiry into the digital shift, civic life and social sustainability in the Nordics. I ask: What does the ‘digital shift’ mean in the context of the Nordic welfare states? What kind of possibilities and challenges does the development bring about for interaction and service design?
The ‘digital shift’ is making its mark across all aspects of society. This is particularly evident in the rapid growth of digital, and often urban, services that cater to individual, and often privileged, desires and needs. In urban development and planning the ‘digital shift’ is currently articulated as the vision (or the myth) of the ‘smart city’, often also considered the chosen path towards a green urban future. Current criticisms of such strategies and developments focus on issues of privacy, lack of regulation, corporate data-ownership and private-public power-relations. Based on a specific Nordic perspective my additional claim is that these developments also represent deep-seated problems in terms of social and societal sustainability: current digitalization strategies challenge ‘the Nordic model’ in which values of trust, equity and inclusion, and collective rights and responsibilities is highlighted.
In this paper we suggest that exploring design for a ‘Nordic Digital Shift’ represents a possibility to develop alternative visions to the dominant global tech industry. We argue that a first step should be to address the digitalization of cities and societies as a debate about societal values, culture and democracy, and not just about technology. Secondly, the digital city can’t simply be understood as a technological solution for current problems, but instead should be seen as a resource for building a future for daily life, environments and culture. Therefore, it is important to question which digital futures are made possible, or impossible, by the current processes of digitalisation – and by whom? Finally, this raises the issue of how to develop and protect the collective, societal right for digital self-governance and -determination for all nations, regions, cities and communities – what we in have termed ‘Digital Sjølråderett’ (‘Sjølråderett’ being the Nordic term for the right to societal self-determination). In this talk I will address these questions by presenting and discussing a selection of case studies and grounded perspectives on digitalisation and design from across governance, research and activism.
