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New Research into Datafication in the Nordic Countries

A comparative analysis of datafication practices in the Nordic region explores how the ideology of dataism has become increasingly entangled with welfare state provisions. Studying three important areas – employment services, public service media, and the corrections sector – the article draws attention to some of the inherent problems of datafication in the Nordic region. Rikke Andreassen of the Centre is the article's lead author.
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Photo by Johny Goerend, from Unsplash

Digital tools facilitating everything from health to education have been introduced at a rapid pace to replace physical meetings and allow for social distancing measures as the Covid-19 pandemic has sped up the drive to large-scale digitalisation. This rapid digitalisation enhances the already ongoing process of datafication, namely turning ever-increasing aspects of our identities, practices, and societal structures into data. In the article 'Fostering the data welfare state: A Nordic perspective on datafication,' Rikke Andreassen, Anne Kaun and Kaarina Nikunen analyse empirical examples of datafication in three important areas of the welfare state – employment services, public service media, and the corrections sector – to draw attention to some of the inherent problems of datafication in the Nordic welfare states. Their analysis throws critical light on automated decision-making processes and illustrates how the ideology of dataism has become increasingly entangled with welfare provision. The authors end the article with a call to develop specific measures and policies to enable the development of the data welfare state, with media and communication scholars playing a crucial role.

The article is published in Nordicom Review, is open access, and can be found here