All posts by Janice Gundersen

Norge kaster bort innvandreres kompetanse

Det viser en ny rapport fra forskningssenteret Lighthouse som ser på fenomenet «brain waste» i Europa.

«Brain waste» betyr at folk ikke får brukt fagkompetansen sin på jobben. Dette måles ved å sammenligne arbeidstakernes kvalifikasjoner med stillingen de innehar. En viss grad av overkvalifisering finnes på de fleste arbeidsmarkeder, men jo lavere den er, jo bedre klarer samfunnet å dra nytte av de ressursene arbeidstakerne har.

Ved å sammenligne graden av overkvalifisering mellom innvandrere og innfødte, får man et godt bilde av i hvilken grad et arbeidsmarked klarer å benytte seg av de faglige ressursene innvandrere innehar.

Det er nettopp det forskningssenteret Lighthouse har gjort. I samarbeid med flere store europeiske aviser har de utarbeidet en rapport om overkvalifisering i det europeiske arbeidslivet.

For Norges del er resultatet nedslående.

«Sør-Europa, Norge og Sverige har mest «brain waste» blant innvandrere», heter det i rapporten. Påstanden er godt underbygd: I Europa sett under ett, er 47,5 prosent av innvandrere som er i jobb, overkvalifisert for jobben sin. Samme tall for arbeidstakere som jobber i landet de er født i, er i underkant av 33 prosent. I Norge er mer enn 50 prosent av innvandrere som er i jobb overkvalifisert for stillingen de har, mot 28 prosent blant norskfødte nordmenn.

Les hele artiklen her.

Nå formes norsk politikk fram til 2029. IKT-Norge har sendt partiene over 100 forslag.

Trygghet, helse, klima og velferd. De politiske partiene skal nå lage politikken de skal gå til valg på ved stortingsvalget neste år. På vegne av det digitale næringslivet har IKT-Norge spillt inn 120 gode ideer.

Fram mot valget neste år må vi påvirke politikerne til å tenke helt nytt om teknologi, sier Husby.

I dag tenker mange av oss helt feil om teknologi.

– Teknologi er ikke et mål. Teknologi er ikke et middel. Smart bruk av teknologi er en forutsetning for å løse alle de store oppgavene vi står overfor sier Husby. Både for klima, helse, sikkerhet og økonomi er riktig bruk av ny teknologi avgjørende.

Et kappløp
Det er et kappløp. For den demokratiske verden mot diktaturer og den autoritære delen av verden som ønsker bruke teknologi for å skape en ny verdensorden basert på autoritære prinsipper.

Les hele artiklen her.

U.S. Chamber Responds to President Biden’s Withdrawal from 2024 Presidential Race

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a statement after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race:

“We commend and thank President Biden for his legacy of service to our country and extend to him our best wishes. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce looks forward to continuing to engage with leaders across the political spectrum to forge solutions and advance policies that will make the American Dream a reality for all.”

Read full article here

Norge tar over formannskapet i EFTA

Det neste året skal Norge lede arbeidet og møtene i rådet i Det europeiske frihandelsforbund (EFTA).

Norge tar over formannskapet 1. juli 2024 og skal koordinere samarbeidet mellom medlemslandene i EFTA. Neste års ministermøte finner sted i Tromsø.

– Dette er en viktig mulighet for Norge til å bidra til videreutviklingen av EFTA og sikre gode handelsbetingelser for våre medlemsland. Vi ser frem til å samarbeide tett med våre EFTA-partnere for å møte de utfordringene og mulighetene som ligger foran oss, sier næringsminister Cecilie Myrseth.

EFTA består av de fire medlemsstatene Island, Liechtenstein, Norge og Sveits. Formannskapet går på omgang mellom medlemslandene og varer i ett år. Frem til 30. juni 2025 skal Norge lede møtene i EFTAs råd og koordinere samarbeidet mellom medlemslandene.

– Norge har inngått 31 frihandelsavtaler med 42 land gjennom EFTA-samarbeidet. Vi har nylig inngått en historisk handelsavtale med India, og forrige uke var jeg i Genève for å underskrive en modernisert handelsavtale med Chile. Samtidig som vi jobber for Norges interesser, står vi sterkere sammen med de andre medlemslandene i en tid med store geopolitiske spenninger globalt. Samlet fremstår vi som met større marked og som en mer interessant handelspartner, sier Myrseth.

Les hele pressemeldingen her.

AmCham Members at Arendalsuka 2024

AmCham Members

at Arendalsuka 2024

Convening in southern Norway’s picturesque coastal town of Arendal each year since 2012, Arendalsuka is a democratic meeting place for all: citizens, politicians, business and organization representatives. Spanning five days in mid-August, Arendalsuka’s mission is to strengthen democracy through open debate and civic engagement, with events and exhibitions arranged by the private and public sectors.

Each year, AmCham and our cross-industry members participate at Arendalsuka, addressing topics of importance for Norwegian society. Below is an overview of AmCham member and partner events. Please note, events are subject to change and complete and most up-to-date agendas may be found at Arendalsuka.no.

DNV Celebrating a double milestone

DNV GL, the world’s leading ship classification society and one of the world’s leading risk and sustainability service providers, is celebrating a double milestone: The Foundation DNV’s 150th anniversary and DNV GL’s first year as a merged company.

To mark the 150th anniversary of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the one year anniversary of its merger with Germanischer Lloyd (GL), DNV GL is hosting a prestigious event in Oslo today. Over 1000 guests, made up of dignitaries, government officials and top industry figures and customers, will be present.

“Created from two highly respected companies with parallel histories spanning 150 years (GL was itself formed only three years later) we want to celebrate our legacy but at the same time we are using the occasion to look forward,” says Henrik O. Madsen, President & CEO of the DNV GL Group.

“We want to use the celebrations to create dialogue with our stakeholders on what we expect to be a period of significant change ahead. These dialogues will be structured round anniversary events throughout the year, and focus on a range of sustainability issues. We have been moving in this direction for some time, but we need to have sustainability even more in focus. The anniversary events – and related activities – mark a step in this direction,” explains Madsen.

Read full article here.

Strawberry avslutter Freia-boikott

Stordalens hoteller vil igjen ta inn Melkesjokolade og Firkløver. Konsernsjefen skulle ønske at flere selskaper hadde stått lenger i boikotten.

Hotellkonsernet har boikottet Freia-eier Mondelez i ganske nøyaktig ett år som følge av deres tilstedeværelse i Russland.

Strawberry-sjef Torgeir Silseth nevner to årsaker til at boikotten nå oppheves. Den første handler om Mondelez’ grep om å isolere den russiske virksomheten fra resten av konsernet.
– Det kunngjorde jo Mondelez allerede i fjor sommer. Hva er nytt?

– Vi opplevde ikke at de i praksis gjennomførte den planen – de sa at de skulle gjøre det. Nå har vi fått bekreftet at det er gjennomført.

Read full article here.

AmCham Financial Forum: Political Swings & Addressing Legacy Systems

AmCham Financial Forum: Political Swings & Addressing Legacy Systems

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at DNB’s Bjørvika offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on the upcoming US election and cloud enabled digital transformation in finance.

DNB’s Senior Economist, Knut Magnussen, led participants through his macro team’s forecasts for how coming US election results can swing world markets.  
“Trumponomics 2.0” would likely see clear policy changes, most strikingly in the form of higher tariffs on trade – impacting all markets. Such tariffs could be quickly implemented through executive order. Immigration is another area of importance for the US economy as there is an acute need for labor. If this flow was to slow, it could put pressure on the labor market and wages.

Although daunting predictions, participants also discussed Biden’s achievements and the potential for the forecast to change as November approaches.

Richard Caven – 
Lead EMEA Banking Specialist

Knut Magnussen –
Senior Economist

Cloud Transformation – Opportunities & Challenges

CFOs and finance departments are key stakeholders during an organization’s cloud-enabled digital transformation. London-based Richard Caven is a Worldwide Banking Specialist at Amazon Web Services. He is responsible for the development and execution of strategic initiatives to help customers migrate to the cloud and drive their digital transformation journey.

Caven joined participants in examining the major opportunities and challenges of cloud transformation in financial services and roles, such as how to make the finance team’s life easier.

Financial services can certainly benefit from replacing legacy database platforms by migrating to cloud-native database. Older core banking systems are costly to maintain and increasingly complex with new layers on technology stacked on top – which can make the systems vulnerable.

Cloud technologies are more resilient, can cut storage and maintenance costs, reduce risk, assist in compliance, as well as drive agility and innovation. However, it is critical to first determine the business outcomes and data strategy to get there. Caven highlighted the importance of having a clear data strategy and choosing the right architecture, giving participants several use cases.

About the AmCham Financial Forum

AmCham’s collaborative Financial Forum enables cross-industry leaders to openly exchange and learn from their peers – building a better understanding of what it takes to maintain successful international operations in Norway.

Please contact Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

Previous Forums

AmCham Sustainability Forum: Plastics & Aviation

AmCham Sustainability Forum: Plastics & Aviation

AmCham’s latest Sustainability Forum, hosted by NHO, brought together members representing diverse industries to learn about the NHO’s newly launched single-use plastic products partnership and from Avinor on how Norway is ideally suited as an international test arena for zero and low-emission aircraft.

 

Plastics and the Business Sector: The Norwegian Plastic Partnership

Andreas Pihlstrøm, lawyer at NHO and board member of the Norwegian Packaging Association, discussed the newly launched partnership between the Ministry of Climate & Environment and a number of business organizations to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic products. He illustrated how Norwegian businesses can take lead on the ambitious sustained reduction in the consumption of certain plastic products (SUP art. 4). Next is implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – setting legally binding goals and deadlines. 

He also presented on legal trends within plastics and shared resources for public access to information  and documentation on the different environmental acts and directives:

  • The Environmental Information Act, imposes a duty for companies to have and to give environmental information
  • The Transparency Act: Responsible business conduct in the supply chain, due diligence duties: Åpenhetsloven

Zero and Low Emission Aviation in Norway

Energy Transition Lead Erik By and Infrastructure & Drone Program Manager Terje Orskaug from Avinor unpacked Norway’s integral initiatives and political ambitions set in motion to advance the development of zero and low emission aviation in Norway. These include government actions, promising new technologies, and the creation of an ecosystem to facilitate innovation and establish Norway as an international test arena for new technologies. Furthermore, they discussed the government’s plans and ambitions laid out in the National Aviation Strategy 2023 and the National Transport Plan 2025-26. The aviation industry, with its high political and social importance, has established five main important work packages:

  • Market Dialogue
  • Airports, Infrastructure & Airspace
  • Energy Supply
  • Regulatory Sandbox
  • Communication & Knowledge Sharing

About the AmCham Sustainability Forum

Future success is dependent upon running a sustainable business – for people, planet, and profit. Hence, since 2018, AmCham has brought select, cross-industry member company representatives together to discuss opportunities, facilitate open exchange and determine how AmCham members can best contribute to Norwegian and US sustainability agendas going forward.

Read more about our Sustainability Forum and please contact Janice.Gundersen@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

AmCham Norway has signed a joint European industry statement on the EUCS 

We, the undersigned representatives of European digital business, welcome the progress made on the
European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS), support the direction of the latest
EUCS draft and call upon Member States and the European Commission to ensure a swift adoption of the
scheme, without undue delays.

Our associations represent both cloud customers and cloud vendors active in and contributing to the
European Digital Single Market. We represent European businesses, including SMEs and start-ups, which
require access to the widest range of top-tier digital technologies to deliver their services and products in the EU and internationally. Our members are dedicated to fostering a competitive, innovative, and resilient digital economy.

We believe that an inclusive and non-discriminatory EUCS that supports the free movement of cloud services in Europe will help our members prosper at home and abroad, contribute to Europe’s digital ambitions, and strengthen its resilience and security. The EUCS provides a harmonized framework for assessing and certifying the security of cloud services, ensuring that they meet strict EU cybersecurity standards. This will improve the overall security of our organizations and build trust in the cloud services we use. It will also simplify compliance with EU regulations, making it easier for companies to demonstrate they meet regulatory requirements when using cloud services, and eliminate the complexity caused by fragmentation for multinational companies operating across the EU.

Read full statement here.