Faroese IT industry needs a big boost

We need to give much higher priority to information technology and aim for DKK 600 million in annual software exports by 2030.

IT should also contribute much more to domestic growth then it does today.

These are the main conclusions of a report on the Faroese information technology industry presented today by the National Growth Forum.

“We need to educate more IT professionals because we are currently lagging behind the rest of Europe in this field,” said Leif Abrahamsen, who heads the Growth Forum’s information and communication technology group.

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IT can contribute to domestic growth in many ways, he added, mentioning elderly care as a frequently overlooked area in this context.

“Projections show that we can expect a massive staff shortage in elderly care in the coming years and decades,” he said.

“Through innovative IT solutions, we can help elderly people stay in their own homes longer, thus easing the pressure on elderly care homes in the coming years.”

Abrahamsen added that the new report is a general outline of recommendations for growth opportunities in IT and thus does not include specific figures.

The report does nevertheless suggest that the Faroese IT industry should aim for annual exports of Faroese software products to the tune of DKK 600 million by 2030. Today's annual software export value is around DKK 100 million.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.