Last month, the Swedish Digitalisation Commission (Digitaliseringskommissionen) published a theme report on 'The Social Contract in Digital Times'. The report comprises a collection of articles contributed by a dozen authors working in academia, science and innovation.
The report highlights social issues such as the meaning of equality for the individual.
Welfare, healthcare and education, for example, can be provided in new, more personalised ways. What can and should be the State's commitment in this setting, and what rights and obligations should the individual have?
At the same time, privacy issues conflict directly with digitisation and the ability to collect, analyse and use data for the development of services and products.
What will happen to the forms of democratic participation that were developed during the emergence of the industrial society?
Finally, a fundamental condition for sustainable welfare in the digital society is the development of human capital. How can higher education meet the need for life-long learning?
These are some of the issues discussed in the various contributions.
Society in transition
We are in the midst of a transition from an industrial society to a digital community,
Jan Gulliksen, Chairman of the Commission, says in his foreword. Digitalisation means that the things we already do can be done in new ways, and at the same time completely new things become possible. Social trends like globalisation and increased competition between countries, regions and individuals, an increasing diversity and pluralism in the population, an increased individualisation and urbanisation, and the environmental and climate challenges facing the world, means that we are moving to something very different, with entirely new possibilities for society and the human.
According to Gulliksen, the state should take the lead in investigating the various perspectives, aspects, risks and challenges, and facilitate discussion and debate.
