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- The goal is to challenge everyone to think outside the box, dare to turn up the temperature in the discussions and give us something concrete to be left with
- This is what the program committee chair Liv Dingsør says. On January 15, the main direction for this year's event was launched.
Is the trust society Norway's greatest competitive advantage? What are we putting into this? And how is it really doing? Kongsberg Agenda's program committee has opted for the main direction "trust as a driver and success factor in the technology society" for this year's festival. At the same time, the committee is asking itself how the festival itself can contribute to building the trust we need for all sectors of society to use technology to a greater extent and in a good way.
Trust creates cooperation
- In our discussions, this was something we kept circling back to, trust, an exciting contrast to the "harder" value that technology represents. Our society is based on trust, volunteerism and cooperation, which in turn is a foundation for value creation. So we are now experiencing a time of serious conflicts in the world, where we are simultaneously going through major restructuring and are being challenged by technologies such as artificial intelligence. If trust breaks down, where do we stand? asks Dingsør.
The festival's main focus is to inspire, motivate and challenge organizers who are planning their own program items under Kongsberg Agenda. Dingsør hopes that it will do just that.
- It's a long way from talking about trust and collaboration to actually realizing and scaling innovative power. We want to hear not only about the former, but also from those who have both succeeded and those who have ideas on how we can succeed even better with the latter, she says.
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Space for the individual
Trust defines how the meeting between technology, society and people takes place. We are now facing major transformations where rapid technological progress affects the way we work, produce and live.
- It requires something from us as citizens, employers, employees and politicians. Norwegian working life is founded on competence, trust, equality and self-driven workers with a low degree of fear of technology. Our strength in Norway and the Nordic countries has been that we are technologically advanced and digitalized, but the potential is greater than what is realized today. At the same time, we must take care of the individual in this, she points out.
Many circles predict what will meet us in 2024, and a common theme is that it is far more than technical skills that are needed to succeed with these technologies.
- It is the individual and the individual's behavior that builds bridges between the human and the technological, and influences how we manage to use and challenge new technology that emerges. A culture of experimentation, courage and the ability to execute are increasingly being raised as crucial qualities – and this applies not only to companies, employees and managers, but also to those who are appointed to manage and govern our country, says Dingsør
Geopolitics and sustainability
The world will not become calmer in 2024, nor will the climate and environmental challenges become less. The main program committee has taken this into account.
- We in the committee are all technology optimists, and are concerned with putting humans in the driving seat for responsible technology development and use. At the same time, we see that other countries and global technology players are moving faster, for better or worse. Driving forces related to technology, expertise and industry must all be seen in the context of the global security situation, geopolitical trends, the green shift and the world's impending energy deficit. That is no small matter and can provide enough inspiration to fill the technology festival several times over, says Dingsør.
