The White Paper emphasises data as a resource, be it bulk information from IoT sensors or increased use of artificial intelligence, which will be an important part of Norway’s economy in the years to come. Among other things, the Government focusses on the value of geodata and will release property data from the land register and the cadastral register, making property data available free of charge.

The European Commission assumes in its data strategy (2020) that the value of the data economy in the EU will increase from Euro 301 billion in 2018 to Euro 829 billion by 2025. Menon has in its report “Is value creation through data something Norway can live on?” looked at the data economy’s contribution to value creation in Norway. In White Paper no. 22 (2020-2021), it is estimated that the Norwegian data economy constitutes an annual value creation equivalent to NOK 150 billion and one hundred thousand jobs in 2020. Furthermore, it is emphasised that if increased growth is facilitated, these figures may be doubled towards 2030.

Increased access to and better utilisation of data in the business community may contribute to start-up companies, growth companies and the established business community developing new business models, products and services. The Norwegian Mapping Authority stated in its consultation input in April last year that the ambition should be that “we can create a digital twin of our entire society – which may be used to create insight, new services and processes”, which raises the bar. The White Paper plans for more public data sets to be shared, and the data quality to be improved, which will make it easier to use data in new contexts. This could affect companies in construction and real estate, and have an impact on the relevance of good geodata in the future.

Digital twins: https://www.estatenyheter.no/tech/nye-krav-til-digitale-tvillinger-av-bygg/104963

The Government bases its data policy on the following principles:

Data should be open when they can be, and be protected when required.
Data should be accessible, retrievable, usable, and could be collated with other data.
Data should be shared and used in a manner that provides value for the business community, the public sector and society.
Data should be shared and used so that fundamental rights and freedoms are respected, and Norwegian societal values are preserved.

The White Paper uses the terms “assessed” and “reviewed” a total of 73 times on 94 pages and points out several areas in which further work is to be done. This leaves the impression that there is still a long way to go before the stated ambitions may be realised.

Although the White Paper is relatively general, some concrete measures are nevertheless presented. Among other things, the Government will release property data from the land register and the cadastral register, making property data available free of charge (section 5.7.).

The Government’s views on the construction industry and digitalisation

The White Paper points out that in surveys which measure the degree of digitalisation, the construction industry as a whole performs worse than several other industries.

Surveys (including the Productivity Commission’s report) show that the degree of innovation is lower in the construction industry than in other industries, and the measured productivity growth has been low compared with other industries. The construction industry itself points out that it is large, complex and fragmented. That might be so. The White Paper highlights other factors, such as the fact that Statistics Norway has pointed out that the industry has measurement issues related to productivity development and that the effect of cheap labour migration has curbed the need for innovation.

In any case, the industry is considered particularly “data poor”, in the sense that not much operational data has been accumulated which may provide a basis for big data and algorithm-based solutions and services. This is because different players have reached different stages in their digitalisation processes. This creates major challenges for, for example, future investments in the circular economy and the re-use of materials, as there is a lack of documentation for these. In its action plan, the European Commission has pointed out that digitalisation is an important prerequisite for circular solutions and for reaching climate goals. In addition, documentation and the sharing of data between players will form an important knowledge base for reaching the goal of fossil-free construction sites by 2025.

Establishment of a Cooperation Council for the construction industry

The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation wants to facilitate sustainable consumption, re-use and digitalisation in the construction and real estate industries. The Ministry is therefore establishing a Cooperation Council between the industry and public authorities. The Council will, among other things, discuss the opportunities and challenges of digitising product information as a tool for the Norwegian construction industry. The Council’s objective will be to promote effective digitalisation and collaboration in the industry and to be a driving force and a stimulator for innovation, piloting and learning from “best practices” across disciplines and company sizes. Given the high ambitions for an increased degree of re-use, for example in the municipal plan in Oslo, it will also be interesting to see how the municipalities are to be incorporated into the work.

https://www.estatenyheter.no/na-skal-de-fa-fart-pa-den-digitale-sinka/266235

The White Paper also highlights some projects they consider to be success stories for sector development in the construction industry. Mention is made of the PPP collaboration Opptrinn, which is in the process of simplifying the sale and purchase of commercial properties through a self-service brokerage package. Data are obtained from various public registers, such as the Norwegian Mapping Authority and the municipality, which are linked to the land and the property in new and simpler ways. Opptrinn will be driven by the needs of the industry, the players and the users. Important areas that will be looked into, are how the BIM model may be better utilised, which tasks in the industry that may be automated, which new business models this may create, etc.

Geographical data are highlighted as particularly valuable

In White Paper no. 27 (2015-2016) Digital Agenda for Norway, five areas have been pointed out in which the Government will strengthen its efforts of making public data publicly available, of which map and property data (geographical data) is one. The Norwegian Mapping Authority and others have been active in making open public data available for years. The Norwegian Mapping Authority emphasised in a statement (ref. Linkedin) on Friday that they are satisfied that the White Paper recognises the value of geodata and that “this is an important milestone”.

Good access to and use of public geographical information is highlighted as increasingly important. Minister of Regional Development and Digitalisation, Linda Hofstad Helleland, has previously stated that they in no way want to compete with Google Maps and similar services, but will facilitate easier sharing and linking of such data across sectors, ecosystems and countries.

A number of important projects are underway regarding the use of geodata in Norway. Through the “National Detailed Altitude Model”, for example, 230,000 square kilometres will be laser measured to create a complete altitude model of Norway. The data will be continuously available for use through høydedata.no, and the model will be complete in 2022. The mapping project has a cost of around NOK 420 million and is co-financed by eight ministries. The socio-economic value of the project is estimated to be more than NOK 1.6 billion.

The Government emphasises that increased use of geodata will have a positive effect on the data economy in Norway. More data sets and better facilitation may make it easier for companies without special geodata expertise to develop innovative geodata user solutions. Expanding the number of geodata sets and better facilitation so that the business community may take a greater part in the geographical ecosystem will require increased resources and therefore challenge the current governance and financing models. As part of the follow-up of Everything Happens Somewhere – National Geodata Strategy towards 2025, the Norwegian Mapping Authority will consider implementing a national programme for further development of the geographical infrastructure. The goal is for the next generation of geodata sharing platforms to be technically adapted for easier sharing and collaboration with other ecosystems. It is also a goal to put in place a form of governance and financing that strengthens the Norwegian business community’s ability to create value and international competitive power.

Spacemaker as an example of the use of public data in business

In the White Paper, the Government highlights Spacemaker and their products for property developers, where they present proposals for the development of plots using artificial intelligence. It is emphasised that Spacemaker uses the cadastral register for information about plots, detailed map data from the municipalities, meteorological data on wind conditions and solar orbits, etc. The tool makes it easy for developers to change various project parameters, such as degree of development, property mass and floors, and to consider solar conditions and plan parking areas.

https://www.estatenyheter.no/spacemaker-selges-for-milliardbelop/277330

Framework conditions for the use of geographical data

The current regulations on the re-use of public information are laid down in the Freedom of Information Act and it regulations, and are largely based on the Re-use Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information). The right of access to public information (the principle of free access to public records) is also a fundamental democratic principle and shall ensure the right of citizens to participate in, but also to control, public actions. The digitalisation circular contains requirements for and recommendations to government administrative agencies and ministries to make data available for re-use. For the municipalities, there are no special guidelines regarding facilitation for re-use of data, other than the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and the Geodata Act. In other words, there is no requirement for the municipalities to facilitate the sharing of data on a general basis, but to the extent that data are requested, the municipalities are required to make them available or share them as long as this may be handled using simple procedures.

The Government points out that the data policy and regulatory development in the EU, combined with new technological possibilities, indicate that there are good reasons for considering a new national regulatory framework for the re-use of public information (data). A potential obligation for the public sector to actively make public information available, for example selected data sets, should be included in such an assessment, even if such an obligation to actively make public information available will violate the current principle in the Freedom of Information Act that anyone seeking information from public authorities, must request access. A part of such a review will be to consider who should absorb the costs of making data available for re-use.

Free property data

With regard to real estate data, the Government appears to have concluded to a greater extent. Reference is made to surveys which state that it may be socio-economically profitable to offer public data free of charge rather than for a charge. Vista Analyse has estimated the socio-economic benefit of free map and property data to be at least NOK 70 million annually, and that it will probably result in the employment of an additional 300 – 700 people.

The White Paper wants to make it easier to develop solutions based on property data. It is stated that:

“Property data from the land register and the cadastral register will therefore be available free of charge. It will reduce the fee income of the Norwegian Mapping Authority by an estimated NOK 11 million from 2021. In addition, the Government proposes that data related to property matters, which arise through registration and property registration, be made feely available. It will lower the costs for buyers of data and may contribute to the development of new digital services.”

According to the national geodata strategy “Everything Happens Somewhere”, there a conflict between the desire to offer more geographical data as open public data and the need for predicable financing of the collection and management of detailed map data. Increased data volumes and new user needs could affect the prerequisites for financing and collaboration on the administration and maintenance of geodata. The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation has therefore started looking at the challenges of existing schemes and are considering alternatives.

The way forward

The White Paper draws up high ambitions for the construction and real estate industries. It remains to be seen if the work will be followed up by concrete measures.

This article is also published in Estate News (31 March 2021). The author states that the text contains paraphrases of quotations from the White Paper.

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