Kimberly Lein-Mathisen, administrerende direktør i Microsoft Norge.
I forbindelse med lanseringen av Menon-rapporten om data og verdiskaping, har vi stilt noen spørsmål til Abelia-medlemmer som skaper samfunnsverdier med data.
Kimberly Lein-Mathisen, administrerende direktør i Microsoft Norge, mener deling og samarbeid på tvers av landegrenser er en av nøkkelfaktorene for at Norge skal lykkes med å skape verdier med data. Derfor valgte vi å holde intervjuet på hennes morsmål.
Les også hva ledere i DNV GL og Intelecy mener om verdien av data
Why is data important?
Data is a resource, that can bring enormous value if we store, process and analyze them in a safe and intelligent way. The world is changing, and we must take part in that. We need to shape the world in the way we want it to evolve, and we need data sharing to be able to tackle our most important challenges. No single country, institution or industry possesses those kinds of datasets alone. We need to collaborate and share to be able to face the world’s greatest common challenges such as saving the oceans, increasing agricultural yields, feeding the planet or solving cancer.
How do you create value with data?
Microsoft wants to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. This empowerment is achieved through helping our customers on their digital transformation journeys and strengthen our partners through new competence and new tools.
The capacity of hyperscale cloud and modern data centers makes it possible to utilize the enormous possibilities that lie within data and AI. Cloud-based technologies are among the most transformative technologies of our time. They have changed the game due to access to compute power and data storage. The cloud fundamentally enables organizations within both private and public sector to reap value from data – their own and the data they share - often powered by Artificial Intelligence capabilities.
Microsoft really wants to build a digital world where the human intelligence and the artificial intelligence reflect the same values. We also need to work together toward a global consensus on how AI should be used. We need a responsible technology development, good international laws and sound ethics.Just as we have worked on aligning a world on human rights, we must actively work for the same in bringing technology into our societies.
We have the tools today to reshape the society, increase our productivity and competitiveness, and create better tools and services. Lack of skills are the biggest barrier, and the digital transformation demands a paradigm shift towards a culture for learning. At Microsoft we’re focused on helping people get the skills they need for the new jobs that are being created, ensuring that everyone has access to high-speed broadband so that they can participate in the digital economy, and on using our technology, resources and expertise.
What needs to be done for Norway to take advantage of the huge data potential?
Norway is in a quite unique position when it comes to adoption and use of technology. Norwegians and northern European companies are in general very forward leaning when it comes to using technology and are in many areas first-movers. Norway has a mature and ready infrastructure for cloud implementation and digitalization, and we have a unique position with the access to plentiful and reliable green energy, cost competitive politics and digitally mature and innovative people, companies and public sector.
In order to make the best possible progress in capturing value from data as a country we must have a more nuanced, more sophisticated, and design our approach thoughtfully – especially in 4 key areas:
1) We need to develop new, and more sophisticated, commercial models. A lot more thought and development has happened with AI in B2C, but the datasets and the opportunity in B2B is massive.
2) We need technology that protects privacy and security. We need concrete arrangements to protect privacy. This is a prerequisite for both enabling organizations to share data about people and for people to be comfortable sharing data about themselves. Another critical need will involve security. While part of this will require continuing security enhancements, we’ll also need improvements in operational security that enable multiple organizations to manage security together.
3) We need to use AI itself to govern data sharing. AI should be utilized for monitoring and managing data sharing. As the complexity of data sharing patterns grows, there are myriad aspects that need to be considered in areas like contractual compliance, privacy and national security. AI will assist us in understanding when thresholds in these areas are about to be reached, allowing us to take necessary measures.
4) We need governments to move faster. Recent tech advances must be met with stronger regulation, and we need to increase the responsiveness of the regulatory processes. The government has taken an important step in the right direction with the new AI strategy just announcement on Jan. 14th recognize that access to high-quality datasets is decisive for exploiting the potential of AI with the goal to facilitate sharing of data from the public sector so that business and industry, academia and civil society can use this data in new ways.
After developing practical arrangements for data owners, developing the technology to put them to use and addressing government policy – one more need will be vital: The development of technology platforms and tools to enable easier, trusted and less costly data sharing. Data sharing platforms is a a key enabler of exponential increases in value generation for businesses and society, bringing together data from the public and private sphere. Data sharing platforms are a crucial part of the modern infrastructure that will lift Norway to the next level.
