General profile Digital profile

Denmark

Digital snapshot – key policies and laws

Denmark is one of the EU’s most digitally advanced states, with a joined-up public digital infrastructure and a long tradition of common strategies across government, municipalities, and regions. Its new Joint Government Digital Strategy 2026–2029 focuses on user-friendly public services, responsible use of new technologies, digital foundations, digital sovereignty, and the EU digital cooperation. In Denmark, more than 95% of households have access to very-high-capacity networks, and 98% of populated areas are covered by 5G.

Cloud comfort or sovereignty?

Denmark’s digital sovereignty debate has moved from policy language to practical government action. In 2025, the government proposed DKK 80 million for 2026–2029 to strengthen public-sector control over critical digital tools, infrastructure, and dependencies. The move gained wider attention when the Ministry of Digital Affairs began shifting parts of its office software environment away from Microsoft 365 toward open-source alternatives such as LibreOffice, with Linux also tested in some contexts. The initiative does not amount to a wholesale rejection of foreign technology, but it signals a more cautious approach to vendor lock-in, cloud dependence, data control, and service continuity. For one of the world’s most digitised public sectors, the issue is strategic: who controls the software, updates, contracts, data flows, and fallback options on which public administration relies. Denmark’s approach may become a useful European test case for balancing innovation, cost, cybersecurity, interoperability, and sovereignty without closing the door to global technology providers.

AI governance is built around responsible deployment, public-sector use, and aligns with the EU standards. Denmark’s 2024 Strategic Approach to AI sets out initiatives for a public-sector AI taskforce, responsible-AI advice through CAISA (National Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Society), Danish language-model infrastructure, and more accessible Danish text data. The Agency for Digital Government and Datatilsynet also run an AI regulatory sandbox to guide companies and authorities on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the EU AI Act questions, while the Gefion AI Cloud supercomputer strengthens national capacity for research and innovation.

Cybersecurity, data protection, and platform governance are central to Denmark’s digital model because public services, identity, health, welfare, and communication are highly digitised. Denmark applies the GDPR together with the Danish Data Protection Act, which is supervised by Datatilsynet, and its NIS2 Act, which entered into force on 1 July 2025, with obligations on covered entities for registration, management responsibility, incident reporting, and cybersecurity measures. Denmark also applies the EU Digital Services Act, with the Agency for Digital Government acting as the national enforcement authority.

Denmark’s digital economy benefits from strong connectivity, mature e-commerce, digital payments, and high consumer trust, but regulation is increasingly focused on risks from platforms, scams, children’s online safety, and AI-generated harms. Danish consumer rules give online buyers a 14-day cooling-off period, while the Consumer Ombudsman supervises marketing and consumer-protection rules. Recent developments include a DKK 160 million digital child-protection agreement aimed at creating safer online environments and proposed deepfake protections that give people stronger control over digital imitations of their faces, bodies, and voices, as documented by the Library of Congress.

Denmark’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva:

Denmark’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva represents the Danish government in Geneva-based international organisations. Its work focuses on human rights, humanitarian issues, health, trade, and disarmament, areas the mission identifies as high priorities for Denmark. The mission also oversees Danish development assistance to Geneva-based organisations and is headed by Ambassador and Permanent Representative Ib Petersen.

Official UNOG website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/denmark

EMBASSY AND PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN – GENEVA

Twitter/X profile: https://x.com/DKUNGeneva

Facebook page

Consult Denmark’s digital strategies and regulations

Here you can explore the country’s main digital strategies, laws, and regulations by simply asking the chatbot, which is designed to help you quickly find relevant documents and understand the country’s digital policy landscape.