*Live Stream of Symposium*
The Nordics have been described as “one internet”. This interconnection relies heavily on American tech companies like Akamai, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft – most of whom base their Nordic operations in Stockholm.
These companies own the cloud services, data centres, and content delivery networks that store, transmit, and process data for the Nordic media industries. None of these sectors are regulated under welfare state provisions, which threatens the resilience of welfare state principles such as universal access, transparency, and privacy.
The legal jurisdiction of Nordic states to regulate these digital communication infrastructures is currently challenged by a range of uncertainties: the implementation of the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, the revision of telecom law, and the increased surveillance of digital data. We are witnessing a total reconfiguration of the universal provision of communication infrastructures as the digital readiness of nation-states becomes beholden to tech giants.
We are inviting three panels – representing research in the field, media policy and oversight, and the media industries – to debate the following question:
How should Nordic welfare states respond to these challenges?
Preliminary programme:
11:00 Welcome
11:15 Keynote: Gateways: Comparing Digital Communication Systems in Nordic Welfare States. Sofie Flensburg and Signe Sophus Lai, assistant professors at University of Copenhagen
12:00 Paus
13:00 Research panel: The preparedness of communication infrastructure in the Nordics
- Carl Heath, senior researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
- Signe Ravn-Højgaard, assistant professor at the University of Greenland
- Kaarina Nikunen, professor at Tampere University
- Julia Velkova, associate professor at Linköping University
13:40 Policy panel: Regulating critical communication infrastructures in the Nordics
- Teis Lebeck, head of section at the Danish Ministry for Digital Government
- Elfa Yr Gylfadottir, director of the Media Commission, Iceland
- Mari Velsand, director General at The Norwegian Media Authority
- Filippa Arvas Olsson, senior Adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Culture, Division for Media and Democracy
14:20 Paus
14:40 Industry panel: The future infrastructure for democracy in the Nordics
- Tomas Granryd, head of Voice Products at Sveriges Radio
- Jon Wessel-Aas, lawyer at Lund & Co and Member of the Board of the Tinius Trust
- Karen Rønde, CEO at Danish Press Publications’ Collective Management Organisation
15:20 Discussion
16.00 Closing