Focus area 3 Better and more cohesive welfare services There is a need for a more holistic approach to the digital interface between citizens and the public sector. Citizens must find that digitisation leads to improved and better coordinated welfare services. To realise this, the authorities must to a greater extent share relevant information with each other. Knowledge sharing for better welfare services The exchange of relevant health data between the hospital and the local health service, for example, makes it easier to coordinate cross-sectoral patient pathways. It means that patients do not have to serve as liaison and be responsible for the knowledge transfer between various health staff. This will provide security and improve patient treatment. Furthermore, it is vital that a young person trying to build a life after prison is offered help to re-enter society. For this to become reality, the local social services should be able to get timely information from the prison and probation services about the young person's upcoming release from prison. These two examples illustrate how sharing relevant data allows government officials to organise citizens' pathways more optimally and coordinate things better on the basis of the specific situation of the individual. In the final analysis, intelligent sharing and use of relevant data offer many benefits for 28 the individual as well as for society in general. However, this also places demands on government authorities throughout the public sector to develop and expand further on existing opportunities and arrive at a shared understanding of IT architecture, data, classification and data quality, so that data can be exchanged securely, efficiently and effectively, and taking account of the privacy of the individual. Sharing data must always be within the framework of the law - and with the consent of the citizen, where this is relevant. It should also be easier and digitally smoother to collect consent from individuals, so that processes are simpler. Further deployment of digital welfare solutions The majority of citizens want to live active lives, be able to cope on their own and be free to do the things they enjoy. Digital welfare solutions play an important role in making this possible. As citizens in general become increasingly more confident with technology and digital solutions, and as new user-friendly solutions are developed, digital welfare solutions will become an ever more integrated part of modern public services. Further deployment of digital solutions that provide freedom and empower individuals not only improves the quality of life of individuals; it also improves the economy. For example, telemedicine for citizens with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease DIGITAL SOLUTIONS MUST BE EASY-TO-USE, QUICK AND ENSURE HIGH QUALITY (COPD) makes these patients feel more secure in their everyday lives and gives them more flexibility. Furthermore, telemedicine involves the patients in their own treatment. In addition, welfare technologies for home care, such as paperless toilets, make citizens with disabilities less dependent on care services. Digital welfare solutions also allow healthcare and care staff etc. to plan their work more intelligently and more efficiently. Therefore, digital welfare solutions with a proven track record should be deployed further, so that more citizens can benefit from them. At the end of 2016, a total of 16 projects will have been launched or completed to test digital welfare solutions on a large scale. Experience from this will be used as a launch-pad for taking things to the next level and for Denmark to decide, up to 2020, on the deployment of additional digital welfare solutions with a proven track record of providing value for citizens. The continued development and testing of digital welfare solutions and new technologies for the public sector will in many situations take place in collaboration with the business community. This means that the competences and experience of businesses can be brought into play in the development of public services. If digital welfare solutions are deployed on a large scale throughout Denmark, this will generate new opportunities for businesses and give them additional experience which, in turn, can lead to export opportunities in the global market. Digital learning materials and tools In a digital world, IT and digital tools and learning materials should be a natural part of didactic practices and teaching for children and young people. New digital tools and learning materials must challenge the digital generation at day-care facilities, schools and other educational institutions, and support good didactic practices and high-quality teaching. Many child carers and teachers are already using digital tools and learning materials in day-care facilities, schools and youth educational programmes, etc. Digital tools and learning materials can raise the didactic and academic level, motivate children, young people and college and university students, as well as ensure they take a more active role in their own learning, although at their own pace and at a level suited to the individual. Competencies As welfare services are increasingly being delivered digitally, public employees must know how to use the digital solutions in their work lives. Furthermore, public employees at the frontline of the welfare system should support and guide citizens in the use of digital web portals, tools and welfare solutions, as well as assist them in their digital dealings with the authorities. So, there is need for public employees with the right competences, and this applies not the least to those employees who are in direct contact with citizens, such as teachers, child carers, and healthcare and care staff. DIGITAL SOLUTIONS MUST BE EASY-TO-USE, QUICK AND ENSURE HIGH QUALITY 29