Digital Resilience on the Frontline
Europe is living through a period of heightened friction and conflict. Countries like Estonia and Ukraine stand on the frontline – the latter now in its fifth year of war. How do societies respond to a constant digital threat, while still keeping civil society strong, open and resilient?
In this session, we look at what Norway can learn from Ukraine and Estonia — two countries that have had to build digital resilience under real, sustained pressure — and how these lessons connect to Norway’s own Year of Total Defence in 2026.
The session starts with a short introduction:
– Usman Ahmad Mushtaq, Statssekretær Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet
– Piia Mathiesen, Ambassadør Estland
Digital Resilience Under Fire: How Ukraine Keeps Essential Services Running During War
v/Mary Prokhorova, CEO, InDevLab
From crisis-driven innovation to national preparedness: practical lessons for Norway’s Total Defence strategy. Russia’s full-scale invasion has forced Ukraine to rethink how essential digital services are designed, protected and maintained.
Healthcare providers, government institutions, technology companies and civil society organisations have had to adapt to cyberattacks, infrastructure disruptions, resource constraints and rapidly changing operational conditions. Ukraine’s experience demonstrates the importance of cooperation between public institutions, private technology companies and international partners in maintaining essential services during prolonged crises.
Drawing on her experience in digital transformation, cybersecurity and international cooperation, Mary proposes to explore how Ukraine’s lessons can contribute to Norway’s Total Defence strategy, particularly in healthcare and critical digital infrastructure.
Digital health in the frontline
v/Margus Arm who is the CEO of TEHIK
Estonia is a small country, neighbouring Russia, and in the digital front line of modern time. They have been able to build a digital sovereign infrastructure from the start and reduced dependencies on foreign tech vendors through the use of Open Source and local competency.
The way they have been thinking about open source and how they have organised their public-private cooperation as well is totally different from what we are doing in Norway and have built capabilities locally that we do not have in the same way.
Total defence year, Norway
v/Johan Ronæs, Administrerende direktør, Norsk Helsenett
Moderator: Bjørn Astad, Spesialrådgiver, Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet
I samarbeid med bl.a. Norsk helsenett.
