DTU Compute's Head of Department, Professor Per B. Brockhoff, is a newly appointed digital wise man at the Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV). He believes that Denmark should establish a Ministry of Technology, and he wants a stronger focus on education within IT and digitalization.
In the coming years, Head of Department and Professor Per B. Brockhoff, together with the other digital wise men in the independent think tank ATV, will take part in the debate about technology and digitization.
ATV's Digital Wise Council (ATV’s Digitale Vismandsråd) will contribute knowledge and recommendations on how Denmark will become one of the five leading science and engineering regions in the world - for the benefit of future generations.
Per B. Brockhoff has been appointed due to his strong professionalism in digitalization and his broad societal outlook. He is trained as a mathematical statistician and has worked for over 30 years with data, models and analyzes in technical research and innovation.
- And as Head of Department for DTU's digital research institute, DTU Compute, it is part of my DNA to work with digitization, in all its facets, says Per B. Brockhoff, in an interview with ATV made in relation to his appointment as digital wise man.
Per B. Brockhoff believes, among other things, that there is a need for greater political understanding of the area of digitalization and its significance for the important agendas we are working on all over the world right now, including climate, sustainability, and global health. Establishing a cross-cutting Ministry of Technology could be of help.
A Ministry of Technology could lead to Denmark having a plan for, ‘how we can achieve further significant investments in digital basic research (and digital infrastructure) - in both public and private settings’, says Per B. Brockhoff.
He also points to the great demand for IT skills in society. Denmark should work extra to ensure that such a broad and diverse group of people are educated and work with IT. And all hands are needed, so it requires a special effort.
- At all levels, we must all do everything we can to change the far too little diversity among the IT experts who are changing the world right now, says Per B. Brockhoff.
In the interview, he also mentions the need for all citizens, regardless of background, to have a sufficient level of digital competence so that they have confidence in the changes and opportunities that the digital future brings.
Read the full interview on ATV's website (in Danish):
Interview med ny digital vismand: Per Bruun Brockhoff, DTU Compute: Brug for et Teknologiministerium med en særlig digitaliseringsportefølje