Ambassadors from Norway and Finland forge ties in Seattle, offer glimmer of hope on cybersecurity

Mikko Hautala, Finland’s Ambassador to the US, and Anniken Krutnes, Norway’s Ambassador to the US, share a moment of ease on the stage of the National Nordic Museum in Seattle during a visit to Washington state this week. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)

Green economy, maritime innovation and wireless technology were some of the topics on the agenda this week when Anniken Krutnes, Norway’s Ambassador to the United States, and her Finnish counterpart Mikko Hautala visited the Seattle area.

Both sought to lay the foundation for economic and political cooperation between their respective countries and Washington State. Each spent time with a variety of business, government, and community leaders during their visits.

Krutnes met with environmental and cybersecurity leaders at Microsoft, spent time with students at the University of Washington, and visited Tacoma to discuss electric ferries as part of a focus on green technology.

Hautala visited Tacoma to discuss plans for a 5G wireless edge computing network, toured docks and found unique signs of Finnish entrepreneurship.

The ambassadors also performed together on Monday at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, the city’s traditional Scandinavian enclave, asking questions about environmental issues, economic development and political relations between the United States and its countries. It was part of a series of events on Nordic innovation in the museum. Check out the full video above.

State-sponsored cyber attacks: Aside from their shared interest in economic development, each ambassador offered a unique perspective on cybersecurity.

Krutnes was part of a United Nations group that recently issued a cybersecurity report focusing on solutions to government sponsored cyberattacks.

Hautala was previously ambassador to Russia, Finland’s neighbor to the east, widely blamed for breaking solar winds and other attacks.

In separate interviews with GeekWire, all ambassadors were cautiously optimistic about the potential for progress in government-sponsored cyberattacks.

“All major economies, including the Russians, are becoming increasingly dependent on this digital infrastructure,” said Hautala. “That means everyone is vulnerable. I think it will motivate countries and governments to somehow regulate these activities. … I think it will be a difficult situation for everyone. “

Krutnes said world leaders seem to recognize the gravity of the problem more than they have in the past.

“This is not a domestic problem. It’s a global problem, ”she said. “So you have to work on it with allies.”

Nokia and Microsoft: During our interview, I couldn’t help but ask Hautala how he feels about Microsoft after the whole Nokia debacle.

Once a dominant cell phone maker and a crown jewel of the Finnish tech industry, Nokia formed an unfortunate partnership with Microsoft’s Windows Phone business in 2011 before selling its smartphone business to the Redmond tech giant in 2014, only to see Microsoft make the one year negotiate later.

In his reply, Hautala showed his experience as a diplomat.

“I’m a Darwinist in the sense that what happened happened because of certain flaws in Nokia’s corporate culture,” Hautala said. “And this has been explained at length by key people of this time, this era. So if you make mistakes, they are usually irreversible. I do not take sides against any company. “

Nokia remains a major technology company focused on telecommunications and licensing its brand for mobile phones.

The USA on the world stage: One of the best questions during the National Nordic Museum event was during the audience Q&A from Kellen Hoard, a student at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington who works for the school newspaper Nordic News. He urged ambassadors to address international concerns about the ability to trust the US’s long-term commitments, as a future administration could potentially overturn them.

Hautala said it was only natural for domestic considerations to influence foreign policy, noted that the US is not uncommon in this regard, and stated that it is the ambassadors’ job to anticipate such changes.

Krutnes earned applause from the audience with her succinct response: “We are very happy to see the USA on the world stage again,” she said. “I’ll leave it at that.”