From the Dean's Desk: Beach Reading

Government platforms are rarely what we pack at the top of our beach bags.

But while the new government’s 77-page programme is unlikely to become this summer’s big page-turner for most people, it does contain some interesting signals. Including for us at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Free dental care for everyone within ten years and zero VAT on fruit and vegetables have naturally attracted many of the headlines. From our perspective, it is interesting that both initiatives point towards an ambition to strengthen prevention and health. What consequences this may eventually have for education and competency needs remains to be seen, of course.

Universities may not feature prominently in the text itself. Yet themes such as health, research, education and artificial intelligence run through large parts of the government platform.

This includes the ambition for a healthcare system with free and equal access throughout the country. Here, we are already contributing. The Master’s degree programme in Medicine in Gødstrup is a good example of how a university, a region and local stakeholders can work together to strengthen access to healthcare expertise where the need is greatest.

At the same time, it is a reminder that major societal challenges are rarely solved by one institution alone. They are solved through collaboration.

The same applies to research.

When the government highlights research as a strategic strength for Denmark and allocates new funding for research and education, this is also about the treatments, prevention and healthcare solutions of the future.

Artificial intelligence is another central theme. The government intends to develop a national strategy for AI in education, and universities have an important role to play. We must both contribute to the development of new technologies and educate graduates who can use them critically and responsibly.

At the faculty, artificial intelligence is already part of everyday life. Many research environments conduct research using, or into the application of, artificial intelligence, and our students encounter the technology early in their education. It is therefore crucial that technological understanding is accompanied by professional expertise, ethics and critical reflection.

If I were to draw one expectation from those 77 pages, it would be this: The solutions of the future require more knowledge, not less. And in that sense, universities are in fact central to the government platform.