Rafrænt ávarp Guðmundar Inga Guðbrandssonar, félags- og vinnumarkaðsráðherra, á seinni hluta ráðstefnunnar Co-creation of better future in the services for persons with person with disabilities:

Esteemed attendees,

On the 28th of March this year, I and three other Icelandic government ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of solutions for digital accessibility and services for people with disabilities. 

In the line with the stated purpose of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities.

This initiative is part of Iceland’s implementation and legalisation of the Convention. The Convention stipulates the right to an independent life without discrimination in society, on the principle that people should be able to influence matters in their own lives on an equal basis with others. 

As a signatory to the Convention, we must take measures to ensure that people with disabilities can use information and communications technology, and various other information systems, on an equal basis with others. 

With the rapid development of electronic solutions and services, various obstacles have been created for people with disabilities that need to be solved urgently, including the need for electronic authentication to access online health services, but as it stands today, not everyone is eligible to be issued this type of authentication. This is one of the problems that the initiative will address.

The COVID-19 pandemic worked in part as an acceleration for information technologies and solutions, resulting in easier access to services and information as new tools were introduced to increase independence and self-determination. The pandemic also increased social exclusion for many due to inaccessibility, lack of internet access and shortcomings of solutions and legal frameworks.

This came with the risk of a growing digital divide that could amplify health inequalities and increase mental illness among persons living in vulnerable and marginalised situations. It therefore is more important than ever to improve digital accessibility and make sure it will be accessible to all.

An important step has already been taken with the development of an electronic database for personal advocates. Personal advocates of people with disabilities can now represent their clients electronically via a centralised digital mailbox that the public sector uses as an information channel to Icelandic citizens. 

That project was started and carried out by the Icelandic rights protection office for people with disabilities in the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Labour Market in close collaboration with Digital Iceland in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

The Icelandic government has also put electronic access for disabled people on the agenda in its Nordic cooperation. One of the goals of the Nordic countries is to make the region the most integrated and sustainable in the world by 2030.

With the mindset of reaching that goal, the Nordic ministers of social affairs and health signed a declaration at their meeting in Reykjavik on the 22nd of March 2023, stating that electronic solutions have so far not necessarily been suitable for people with disabilities or as accessible to them as to people without disabilities. 

The declaration also stresses the importance of people with disabilities having equal access to electronic solutions and encourages increased Nordic cooperation to share good practices in the region and exploit the opportunities brought about through innovation, new technology, data and data sharing, first throughout the Nordic region and hopefully further in the future.

Everyone in the Nordic region must join hands in working towards sustainable social development backed by opportunities for all those who live in the region to enjoy individual freedoms. If we all work together and apply a universal design, the Nordic region will demonstrate the value and benefit of an inclusive society where digital environment is equally accessible to all and can be used by everyone for everyone.

The goal in the near future is to ensure that those who cannot use electronic authentication themselves can have access to data and services through their personal advocate, and increased Nordic cooperation in this field will work towards a future society where no one is excluded from developing towards sustainability, equal participation, and access to data and all services.