In 1994, the Ministry of Research was allocated the overall jurisdiction on the applications of information technology. In this process, the Government's IT policy was transferred from the Ministry of Finance while the purview of telecommunications was transferred from the former Ministry of Communication and Tourism. As outlined in Information Society 2000, the Danish government has established the following main components and strategic goals with regard to the development of IT within Denmark:

• Before the year 2000, the public sector shall finish the work for a coherent electronic, public service network to the benefit of citizens and companies.
• Before the year 2000, Danish companies shall have mutual electronic communication of business documents and furthermore make an effort to get in the forefront with the integration of IT in their products. All Danes shall have access to the active use of IT in order to avoid a division into an A-team and a B-team in terms of information technology.
• For central culture-bearing media areas a particular effort must be made to secure a well-maintained Danish supply.
• Based on Danish aims and values, Denmark shall try to influence EU policies on the IT area and also try to achieve maximum benefit from relevant EU programs.

In support of the strategic goals outlined above, a national population register was established in the late sixties with the purpose of administering a new system for tax deducted at source. The register contains basic data on all Danish residents, where each person is identified by a ten digit figure (CPR Code) which gives access to information on date of birth, address, gender, marital status, children, etc. The population register has become the general service system and the source of basic personal data for all systems containing information on individuals in the Danish public sector.

Used in conjunction with the National Population Register is the Electronic Citizen's Card with a PIN code and picture, which can be used for positive identification in contact with public authorities. Hence, the Health and Insurance Card and a number of other public cards and certificates (such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, drivers' licenses and game licenses) will become superfluous because the information can be gathered from public data registers. Various advantages and disadvantages in connection with the introduction of the various forms of Citizen's Card have been thoroughly investigated in a comprehensive work under the purview of the Danish Board of Technology. Further, a pilot project under the Ministry of the Interior is presently reviewing the practical possibilities of the Citizen's Card.

Certainly, such an initiative is going to raise concern regarding the utilization of data and protection of personal data. For a more detailed discussion of privacy and legislation, please go to the Legal Environment of this paper.

For more detailed information regarding the Citizen's Card, please visit the following site: http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/publ/1996/it96-uk/appendix.htm#Appendix

As a counterpart to the population register (CPR) containing data on all persons the national business register containing data on all Danish companies and enterprises was introduced in the beginning of 1996. The register contains basic data of a general interest only. Each company (the legal identity) is assigned an unambiguous identification code (CVR code) and must identify itself by means of this number in all cases of contact with public authorities.

Also in support of the public service network, the Danish IT Plan has outlined initiatives to create a nationwide health network, known as the MedCom Project, to facilitate the interchange of information among doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and health authorities. Additionally, a national standard for electronic patient case files for the use of hospitals and general practitioners is being developed while the Ministry of Health is initiating a common, nation-wide system used in support of diagnosing and treating illnesses. Such a system will include communication and distance diagnosing, image processing, and the development of equipment for juxtaposition of text, pictures and test results. Successful experiments with regard to electronic interchange of information have already been carried out among the various parties, as outlined above, comprising the Health Sector. However, there still remains a need for an overall, nationwide project, where the Ministry of Health, the counties and other involved parties work together for a binding time schedule.

 In March 1996, 82% of the pharmacies, including branches, were connected to the health data network. Similarly, 57% of the hospitals, and well over one third (36%) of the general practitioners of the country were connected to MedCom. Such statistics are shown graphically in figure 1.

The Danish government recognizes the importance of education based on research and science, and its potential with regard to developing the knowledge of society as a whole. The government's research policy is based on the desire that research must contribute to (Research Policy 1996):

• technological renewal and increased employment,
• improved quality of life, environment and health, and
• cultural development in a national and international perspective.

A basic principle of the present government is that research must be given a high priority. The establishment in 1993 of an independent Ministry of Research and Information Technology was a clear indication that research was to be given a high political priority. The Ministry was given the task of improving the coordination of public research efforts and of strengthening the interplay between the public and private efforts.

Through its policy for research, the government wants to ensure:

• Increased research - the private sector will be motivated to keep in step with an increase in public research activities.
• Improved prioritization and organization - the possibilities of national and international coordination are to be better utilized.
• Better conditions for creativity and dynamism - a better basis must be created for the encouragement of talent, mobility and the utilization of research results.

The "global village" of research is already a reality in the world of telecommunications and research. Drafts for articles are written in Copenhagen and sent by Internet, the global network, for a comment at a colleague in California, who naturally answers the author via the Internet. Also, test results made at international research centers such as the European research center CERN can quickly be transferred for further analysis at institutes around the world via electronic networks.

Over a 10-year period the R&D expenditure in the selected IT/telecom related industries has doubled. R&D efforts within this sector are today comparable with the R&D efforts of the pharmaceutical industry. Concurrently, the focus is shifting from hardware-oriented IT, construed as the manufacturing of office machinery, DP-equipment, process control systems, etc., towards more software-oriented IT, construed as data processing activities. Thus, in 1993, data processing was the line of business that spent most on R&D, while in 1983 it was the line that spent the least.

From 1981 to 1993, the total R&D expenditure of the public and private sectors has risen steadily, from 1.1% to 1.8% of the GDP. Public research spending within IT/telecom is estimated by the Ministry of Research and Information Technology to amount to about DKK 400m annually, DKK 300m on IT and 100m on telecom. As within the private sector, a great deal of IT -related R&D is not being registered as such. This is due to the fact that the available statistics are not well suited to elucidating the extent and development within the IT sector, since the international OECD classification of R&D statistics is not sufficiently detailed within this field, and an internationally accepted definition of IT is still missing.

As outlined in The Info-Society for All - The Danish Model, the Minister of Research and Information Technology recognizes the importance of undertaking the tasks of realizing several extensive infrastructure projects, including the following:

• The liberalization of the telecom sector must immediately lead to vigorous development of new, improved teleservices, including effective integration with IT applications, as well as dropping prices. This must include:
• The development of the Internet so that it is as easily available and easy to use a part of the Danish infrastructure as the conventional telecom network;
• Ensuring the security of the network via legislation on the introduction of digital signatures and of secure communications keys, not least in the form of "intelligent cards," such as the "Citizen's Card," as well as the development of an effective payment transaction system in the network;
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): The rapid specification of so-called "EDIFACT" based standard for the interchange of business documents and the development of internal company IT infrastructures for handling such documents can give Danish companies a competitive edge;

For a more detailed version of Denmark's IT Policy Action Plan, please visit the following site:

http://www.fsk.dk/fsk/publ/1996/it96-uk/policy1.htm#policy_1

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