But the world is changing—right now, in an uncertain, unpredictable, and challenging direction. We are facing a series of new, pressing challenges that threaten not only us in the Nordic region but also the rest of the European continent.

Domestically, we are dealing with demographic shifts, with aging populations increasing the demand for more hands in welfare tasks. Externally, there is a changing geopolitical landscape where technology and AI is key to global developments.

A common thread through many of the current and future challenges is that AI could become a crucial tool in addressing—and financing—the challenges facing ourEuropean welfare societies. We must seize the opportunities that technology offers to provide better services to citizens, significantly reduce administrative burdens, free up more hands for welfare tasks, and create more value for each taxpayer's money. We must excel at utilizing technology efficiently, responsibly, and democratically, so we do not fall behind in the global competition.

To succeed, we need to act now.

The Nordic region has the foundation to become a world leader in harnessing the opportunities of AI. There is high trust among our populations—both in each other and in the authorities. We are relatively small countries, capable of acting swiftly. And we stand on a solid digital foundation built over the last 50 years of successful public digitalization. In other words, we have all the necessary building blocks. Now, we just need to put them together.

To reach our goals, it will require swift collaboration, knowledge sharing, and learning from each other in the Nordic region—just as we have done in countless other areas for over 100 years. We must do this together, as there is no reason foreach country to reinvent the AI wheel when we have so much in common. However, it will require us to accelerate the establishment of public-private partnerships and knowledge exchange in the Nordic region.

This was precisely the focus of the first Nordic AI Summit held in Copenhagen in earlySeptember. Here, Nordic ministers and business leaders agreed that Nordic cooperation is the catalyst for accelerating the use of AI. A Nordic Center for Applied AI, which can bring together all the threads and help make our Nordic region a world leader in responsibly harnessing the opportunities of artificial intelligence will be for the benefit for society.

What we have achieved together in education, the clean transition, welfare, and equality, we must now do with AI—both for the Nordic region and for Europe.

Caroline Stage

‍Minister of Digitalization, Denmark

Erik Slottner

Minister for Public Administration, Sweden

Karianne Oldernes Tung

Minister for Digitalization and Administration, Norway

Wille Rydman

Minister of Economic Affairs, Finland

Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Iceland

Karen Ellemann

Secretary General, Nordic Council of Ministers

André Rogaczewski

CEO, Netcompany, and Chairman, Digital Dogme

Martin Svenson

Managing Director, AI Sweden

Karoliina Partanen

Director, AI Finland

Øyvind Husby

CEO, TEK Norge