Norways public-private cooperation for pandemic preparedness and response (PANPREP)

For Norway's public authorities, a serious pandemic is a question of when, not if. Consequently, Norway is currently investing significantly in pandemic preparedness - building up the capacity to detect and respond to pandemic threats and secure the resilience of critical infrastructure and society. To do so, the government increasingly depends on effective collaboration with global multi-stakeholder platforms (like the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum) and a range of non-state actors, including both Norwegian and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private corporations. These introduce innovative digital and biomedical technologies into preparedness work, but also infuse it with a new ethos and pose challenges relating to regulation and trust. PANPREP is the first social scientific project to examine these new constellations and their consequences for Norway's pandemic preparedness efforts. The aim of the project is two-fold: First, to examine how these new forms of inter-sectoral public-private collaboration resulting from growing reliance on private digital technologies, data and innovation in preparedness work, operate in practice. Second, to discern the potential consequences of these new forms of collaboration for public trust in public-private collaboration and the state's capacity to respond to a pandemic. The project findings will improve the knowledge base on the conditions for, and consequences of, different models of public-private cooperation and the use of digital technologies for Norway's pandemic preparedness efforts. The project findings will hold relevance for a variety of project end-users, including public health and civil protection authorities, and private (for- and non-profit) actors involved in improving pandemic preparedness and societal security in Norway and internationally.