The Nordic Digital Promise: Four Theses on a Hyperconnected Society

The Nordic Digital Promise is a publication that creates a vision for a hyperconnected utopia by building on Nordic strengths: trust, efficiency, equality and respect. It presents four theses on hyperconnected society related to future of R&D funding, platform economy, corporations and value creation.

The Nordic promise of a hyperconnected society

In a hyperconnected society, human beings, machines, and their surroundings are connected by trillions of tiny sensors. You may have heard about this fast-developing phenomenon under a different name, such as the Internet of Things, Connected Devices or Programmable World. Cheap, abundant sensors make the merging of digital and physical realities possible. Hyperconnected technologies develop fast, and their development is not only about computers: they shape our lives, norms, values, and behaviour.

All technologies have both positive and negative sides to them. The Nordic Digital Promise presents four theses on how to make sure that the future is a hyperconnected paradise rather than a dystopia. Four theses are presented as four distinct chapters, which bring to life the Nordic promise of a hyperconnected society.

Content

1) From Technology-Driven To Vision-Driven Development

2) From Governing People To Governing Platforms

3) The Limited-Liability Corporation Is Dead: From Rigid Corporations To New Economic Relationships

4) Hyperconnected Business: From Hunch To Insight

Our way to the future

The Nordic Digital Promise aims to inspire politicians, officials, entrepreneurs and a broad range of people to see the social opportunities that these new technologies offer  – and make our way to the future that can be described as digital paradise.

The publication consists of the learnings a strategic research opening called Naked Approach – a project that pulls together top-tier research teams to work on groundbreaking technologies, from energy-harvesting sensors to printable electronics. Demos Helsinki has been working in the projects together with VTT, Tampere University of Technology,  Aalto University, the University of Lapland, and the University of Oulu. The Naked Approach is funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes) and the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation.