Overview

Denmark is a highly digitalized society with a large and steady demand for state-of-the-art software and IT products.  In 2022, Denmark ranked sixth out of 130 economies in the World Economic Forum’s “Network Readiness Index.”

The Danish ICT sector is a USD 35 billion industry with an overarching focus on software development and services and little in-country manufacturing.  U.S. hardware and software products are generally perceived as first-rate.

New-to-market companies will face serious competition from local, international, and, often, long-established U.S. companies.  In a market dominated by a few large importers and distributors, such companies should be prepared to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary or sales office in-country, or within the Nordic region.

Best Prospects

The public sector is the largest consumer of IT services and accounts for 25-30 percent of total spending.  The financial sector accounts for 15 percent, manufacturing is 15 percent, retail and wholesale are 10 percent, while other sectors account for the remaining 30-35 percent.

According to industry analysts, mobility is the focal point when investing in IT, while other top priorities of decision makers are cybersecurity, business IT alignment, unified communication, IT architecture, business intelligence, and outsourcing.  Green IT is also a growing market. 

Opportunities

Industry experts foresee considerable IT investments in the coming years within the financial sector.  There is an ongoing trend in the public sector to coordinate government IT usage and create a national IT infrastructure, which among other things, will raise internal IT efficiency as well as meet a growing demand for e-government and electronic services to businesses and the public.  In particular, the healthcare sector is set to digitalize hospitals.  Virtually all primary care physicians and nearly half of the hospitals already use electronic records, and officials are trying to encourage more “telemedicine” projects.  A study published by the Commonwealth Fund concluded that the Danish medical information system is the most efficient in the world, saving doctors 50 minutes a day on average in administrative work.  Estimates are that health IT (electronic medical records and telemedicine solutions) will make up almost USD 3 billion out of the total USD 7 billion healthcare budget by 2025.

Another growing area is the consolidation and outsourcing of data centers.  The increasing demand for greening requires efficient data center suppliers with knowhow and economies of scale.  Some firms within the Danish green IT sector employ a holistic view in their approach to green IT operations with data center operations combined with, for example, the reuse of excess heating. 

Outsourcing of IT services by companies in Denmark will continue to grow as a cost-saving instrument.  Outsourcing has played a large role in recent cost-cutting efforts by the government and large enterprises and is now becoming more common among small and medium-sized companies.  A number of international outsourcing companies have successfully established themselves in Denmark recently. 

The demand for cybersecurity solutions has risen both within the public and private sector in Denmark due to the growth of cybercrime.

The Danish Center for Cyber Security warns that the IT integrity of Danish governmental institutions and private companies is challenged, and that sensitive economic and personal data are being stolen.  In a October 2022, 51 percent of Danish firms reported to have been subjected to some form of cybercrime within fiscal year 2022 and 72 percent of Danish firms are expected to increase their cybersecurity budgets within the coming 12 months.  The Danish government has allocated USD 226 million for investments in cybersecurity in 2023. 

Resources

Danish Business Authority (responsible for IT and telecom infrastructure) - https://danishbusinessauthority.dk/

The Danish IT Industry Association (industry association) - https://itb.dk/

The Danish Agency for Digitization – Danish Government digital solutions and guidelines - https://en.digst.dk/

Danish Computer Security Incident Response Team (DKCERT) - Danish Research Network

For further information, please contact Aleksander Moos, Commercial Specialist