The regional health authority in Northern Norway, Helse Nord, has recently adopted a new strategy for artificial intelligence for the years 2022-2025. Helse Nord is the first regional health authority in Norway to adopt such a strategy.
The most important organizational measure for Helse Nord, was to establish SPKI in Tromsø as a centre for clinical AI.
The vision in the strategy is to actively facilitate the development and good clinical use of quality-assured and validated AI-based solutions that can improve the quality of health care and optimise the use of resources in the hospitals in the region.
UiT the Arctic University of Norway and The University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) have for almost ten years carried out research projects on artificial intelligence for health, and SPKI was established mainly because of this collaboration. Hence, Helse Nord gets a good starting point for taking the next steps towards implementation and practical use of AI solutions in the hospitals in the region.
The strategy was adopted by the board of Helse Nord RHF in June 2021 and it was also presented during the Midnight Sun Conference in Tromsø in 2021 (see photo to the left).
The strategy can be read here (in Norwegian).