(Last Updated On: February 7, 2017)

The announcement was made at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark during a conference on the foreign service of the future.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen says: “Denmark must be at the forefront of technological development. Technological advances are making such a great impact on our society that it has become a matter of foreign policy. I have therefore decided to announce the appointment of a digitisation ambassador.”

The new digitisation ambassador will be tasked with ensuring dialogue and cooperation with important international players in the digital sector.The Minister for Foreign Affairs calls the appointment a diplomatic breakthrough and a natural adaptation of Danish diplomacy to the realities of today’s world. He continues: “Companies such as Google, IBM, Apple and Microsoft are now so large that their economic strength and impact on our everyday lives exceeds that of many of the countries where we have more traditional embassies.”

According to Anders Samuelsen, the task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark is to safeguard and promote Danish interests in a world that is changing faster than ever before. At the conference today, he emphasised that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be the mirror that helps Denmark see what is coming around the bend in terms of globalisation. Therefore, we must constantly think ahead, innovatively and inclusively. Around 200 participants from the business community, other foreign services, research environments and the press attended the conference on the foreign service of the future, held in Eigtveds Pakhus at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.