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Connecting the state 2023 - Conference

Connecting the State is the annual conference of Digital Iceland, where the digital future of government is the topic.

The title of this year's conference is Digital Community, divided into the subcategories of Digital Leadership, Digital Iceland, and Digital Security. This year's conference is held in collaboration with the Nordic Council of Ministers meeting, where Iceland holds the presidency.

The conference will take place on the 22nd of September from 12.30-17 in Harpa and will also be streamed.

Digital leadership - Silfurberg

The Nordic and Baltic ministers discuss digital cooperation and regional leadership. The key speaker is Clare Martorana, the Federal Chief Information Officer at OMB, Executive Office of the President of the United States. After a coffee break, representatives of each Nordic Council nation will introduce the digital priorities for the coming years, as well as share stories on successful projects. The Moderator at Silfurberg will be Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen, Danish Ambassador for Technology.

The program in Silfurberg will be in English.

12.30 Opening remarks
Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs

12.45 Digital Community
Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers

12.50 Iceland‘s Digital Transformation Journey: A Jump Into the Future
Andri Heiðar Kristinsson, CEO of Digital Iceland

13.15 Delivering a Digital-First Government
Clare Martorana, Federal Chief Information Officer at OMB, Executive Office of the President of the United States

13.45 Nordic/Baltic Digital Leadership
Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen on the opportunities of the Nordic/Baltic when it comes to digital leadership.

13.55 Nordic/Baltic Ministers Panel Discussions
Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen leads discussions of the Nordic/Baltic Ministers on opportunities in digital leadership.

  • Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in Iceland

  • Clare Martorana, Federal Chief Information Officer at OMB, Executive Office of the President of the United States

  • Luukas Ilves, Undersecretary for Digital Transformation in Estonia

  • Marie Bjerre, Minister for Digital Government and Gender Equality in Denmark

  • Gatis Ozols, Deputy State Secretary on Digital Transformation in Latvia

14.30 Coffee brake

15.00 Norway: Life(events), death and taxes – digital transformation
Christine Hafskjold is a Senior ICT policy adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development

15.15 Finland: Improving Productivity with Human-Centric Digitalization in Finland
Jarkko Levasma is the Director General (Government CIO) of Public Sector ICT í fjármálaráðuneyti Finna fer yfir stöðu mála þar í landi.

15.30 Denmark: Digital Denmark - The Way Ahead?
Yih-Jeou Wang is a Senior Adviser at the Division for International Affairs Denmark - and leads us through the status of digital transformation in Denmark.

15.45 Estonia: Top priorities in digital services for the next 3 - 5 years and success stories
Luukas Ilves Government Chief Information Officer of the Government of Estonia goes through the digital status in Estonia.

16.00 Iceland: Roadmap for the continued digital transformation of Iceland’s public sector
Einar Gunnar Thoroddsen an expert at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs goes through the digital status in Iceland.

16.15 USA: Digital Experience Vision for the Next 10 Years
Andy Lewandowski the Digital Experience Advisor to the Federal Chief Information Officer Office of Management and Budget Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. takes us through the vision for digital experience in the USA over the next decade. Andy will open the floor to Q&A from the audience at the end of his talk.


16.45 Digital Steps awards

17.00 End of Conference


Digital Iceland - Kaldalón

The core services of Digital Iceland and their development will be the main theme in Kaldalón following a coffee break. It will cover what is available for institutions, and practical issues regarding implementation and functionality.

The program in Kaldalón will be in Icelandic.

12.30 Shared agenda with Digital Leadership in Silfurberg

14.30 Coffee break - Talks continue in Kaldalóni after the break

15.00 Next 3 years
Gunnar Ingi Reykjalín Sveinsson, product manager, and Vigdís Jóhannsdóttir Chief of Marketing at Digital Iceland share Digital Iceland's Road Map for the next three years.

15.15 Growing Old in a Digital World
Berglind Magnúsdóttir specialist from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and pr félagsmálaráðuneytinu and Guðlaug Rakel Guðjónsdóttir specialist from the Ministry of Health share the digital approach of the project Growing old.

15.30 Where has Digitization Taken us?
Ragnhildur Helga Ragnarsdóttir and Sigurbjörn Reginn Óskarsson, product managers at Digital Iceland go over the current status of Digital Iceland's core services and the next steps in their development.

15.45 Digital Social Insurance Administration -open and enlightening
Sigrún Jónsdóttir Head of Communication at TR

16.00 How to move an agency website to Ísland.is?
Kolbrún Eir Óskarsdóttir project manager at Digital Iceland and Bergvin Gunnarsson from Stefna go through the process of when an agency moves its website and joins Ísland.is.

16.15 Digital Landspítali
Svava María Atladóttir head of development at The National University Hospital of Iceland.

16.30 Connecting Iceland to Europe.
Ingi Steinar Ingason from the Directorate of Health goes through breakthrough projects when it comes to digital.

16.45 Digital Steps awards

17.00 End of Conference


Digital security - Ríma

Online security will be a topic in Ríma after the coffee break.

The Digital Security theme is held in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and Digital Iceland.

The program in Ríma will be in Icelandic and is an invitation-only not accessible to conference guests.


* Note that the agenda is published subject to change.