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South African-European Union Dialogue Facility Series

The Danish Digital Journey

This case study explores the digital journey of the A coherent digital infrastructure
Danish Government and the Public Sector, as part By adopting a “digital by default” policy and devel-
of the sharing of lessons between that country and oping a coherent digital infrastructure, Denmark has
South Africa, under the South Africa–Denmark Dia- successfully ensured that citizens and businesses
logue Series. It is primarily based on the presenta- use the same services to access all public services
tion made by Dr Ursula Plesner of the Copenhagen and to communicate with Government. This is made
Business School, but also draws from those of her possible through a coherent digital public sector in-
colleagues. frastructure of portals containing relevant information
and self-service solutions, including personalised
The need to keep up with the latest technological one-point entries to citizens’ data and interactions.
developments to gain a competitive advantage and
meet the ever-growing demands of service benefi- All citizens have one free national eID (the NemID
ciaries no longer only applies to the private sector. ecosystem) used to access all public services se-
Similar forces and the needs of technologically savvy curely and one standard national digital post system
citizens are also compelling governments worldwide that all public authorities use to communicate with
to be digitally smart in how they go about their work. residents and businesses. The 2021 Eurostat data by
the European Commission provides the following de-
Milestones and outcomes mographic information along with the levels of digital
Over the past twenty years, Denmark has undergone maturity of the Danish society, which account for its
a period of rapid digital transformation. The Danish successes:
Government has strived to transform how it does
business to increase efficiency and deliver more and § The population of Denmark is 5.8 million.
better services to the public. The implementation of § The public sector is involved in most life
digital technologies has enabled the Government to events.
significantly improve how it interacts with citizens, § A very high degree of trust in the public
businesses, and other government agencies. The ef- sector.
fective use of digital technologies can improve service § The high degree of internet penetration,
delivery and enhance productivity across all levels of usage and competencies in the population:
Government. As one of the world’s leading econo- § 96% aged 16 to 74 have internet access
at home.
mies, Denmark constantly strives to improve public § 100% of businesses have Internet access
service delivery to its citizens and businesses. This is (10 or more employees; without financial
evident in some key milestones and outcomes, which sector).
will be outlined in subsequent sections. § 95% of the people aged 16 to 74 use the
Internet daily.

16 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15 • No. 1 of 2022