In the interdisciplinary research project DHINO, Digital Health Innovation, Karlstad University and Region Värmland are working together to develop new knowledge that will promote increased digitalisation of the healthcare services in Värmland. The project is now entering the second phase where focus will be on economic, social and environmental sustainability for innovation processes.
– Through demand-driven research conducted in collaboration with both public and private actors, the project aims to increase the innovation capacity of the public sector and enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and test new digital health services that meet the needs of the public sector, says project leader Erik Wästlund, professor of psychology at the Service Research Center (CTF), Karlstad University.
Work is based on the Värmland strategy for smart specialisation and is aimed at making it easier for people to achieve good, equal health as well as strengthening their own resources for increased independence and participation in society.
PARTNER DAYS FOR CROSS-SECTOR COOPERATION
– One way to find relevant research tracks is our partner days where we invite our collaboration partners to work together to identify challenges, says Erik Wästlund.
The spring partner days were a success with around 30 partners from Värmland and neighbouring regions. This year’s themes – AI, sustainability and inclusion – which were identified during a needs assessment last autumn, were brought up for discussion with a focus on solutions and ways forward.
Linda Moris MD, Healthcare Access Specialist Innovation at Pfizer, was one of the participants:
– The content was carefully considered and included lectures, discussions and workshops. We are faced with complex problems and must work together to find value-creating solutions to these problems. The participants represented a variety of sectors, which was very rewarding since we need different perspectives and types of knowledge about these issues, and it is rare that you get the opportunity to gather in this way. Everyone seems to be pondering over similar questions and I feel filled with inspiration, made new contacts and gained new insights. It feels good to be able to go from idea to action, she says.
It is about gathering academia, the public sector and companies to find inspiration and exchange knowledge, Erik Wästlund explains:
– The aim was for the participants to gain an increased ability to continue working with the issues and find new partners to collaborate with. We will continue with needs assessments and partner days once a year where the goal is to exchange experiences across sectors, increase understanding and create joint ways moving forward.
Phase two of the DHINO project has a total budget of nearly SEK19 million with support from Region Värmland, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Vinnova and Karlstad University. The project involves the disciplines of psychology, business administration, information systems and computer science as well as the research centres Service Research Center (CTF), Centre for Gender Research, Nursing, FoU Välfärd Värmland and CBU at Karlstad University.
