To be in contact with other countries

“To be in contact with other people is a necessity for me,” sang Stuðmenn and it must be the holy truth just like everything else that has come from those esteemed men. Communication is important to all of us, and as time goes by, it becomes even more crucial for us who live on this beautiful island to have a secure and strong connection with foreign countries. As it stands, our telecommunications connection with foreign countries is ensured by three telecommunication cables: two that lie to Europe, Farice and Danice, and one that connects us to North America, Greenland Connect.

In the telecommunications plan that I presented to Parliament in 2019, which was approved, I emphasize that a new subsea telecom cable should be laid to further secure our connection with the world. The reasons for laying a new cable concern security, economic, defense, and public interests all at once. Many have concurred on the importance of such an initiative, including the Federation of Icelandic Industries and the Icelandic Data Center Industry.

It was therefore pleasing when the government recently accepted the proposal from myself and the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs to secure funding for a new subsea telecom cable between Iceland and Ireland, which has been named Iris.

It is important to renew the system in a timely manner as the Farice cable is aging. The times we have gone through recently further underline the necessity of a secure and powerful foreign connection when transportation in the world is limited for an unforeseen period.

Although the security factor is significant, the economic factor is no less important. Here in the country, a strong industry has been built up that relies heavily on secure and good connections. This includes rapidly growing sectors like the video game industry, which utilizes the strength of the creative industries in Iceland, a sector I believe is important to nurture and enhance in the coming times. There are also significant opportunities in the development of data centers, as new and powerful connections greatly increase the possibilities when it comes to hosting data centers for large entities like Google and Facebook, to name a few companies.

“Keeping up with the times can be challenging. To be up to date is our innermost desire,” Stuðmenn also sang, and one could say that these great and positive news of establishing a perfect connection with foreign countries are in tune with new times where the government's emphasis is on more diverse industries. And since I was already delving into the lyrics of Stuðmenn, I can’t end without this line which is as if spoken from the heart of a Framsókn member: “Any kind of fanaticism is foreign to us. It is a handbrake on the mind, paralysing.”

Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Transport and Local Government and Chairman of Framsókn.

The article was first published in Morgunblaðið on 19 September 2020.