Innovating in Nordic style: Technological prospects in the Nordic ICT Foresight project

Is there a special Nordic style of innovation in ICT’s? Nordic countries have shown remarkable results in developing information and communication technologies and applying them in the societal contexts and economic activities. The Nordic style is inevitably linked to the organization of national and regional innovation systems. Until the start of the 21st century, the Nordic style has functioned quite well, but in the rapidly changing global economic landscape nothing is constant and nothing is steadily in equilibrium. That is why also the Nordic style should be more future oriented, more based on strategic futures intelligence and foresight. The Nordic ICT foresight project aims to contribute to the strategic intelligence of the Nordic countries. It provides visions and scenarios concerning the societal applications of ICT’s in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). The project creates scenarios illustrating the possible futures of ICT’s in axes of generic technologies, applications, and markets. It will also produce comparative knowledge on the national differences in the Nordic style of innovation. Nordic ICT Foresight has four focus areas: health care, experience economy (media and communication), production economy (industrial automation, production systems), and information security. The presentation discusses the preliminary results of the project and makes reflections on their importance and meaning to the futures of Nordic style, and to the practices of technology and regional foresight. .