The current close ties between the UK and Norway in many areas provide a basis for further cooperation, and Smart Innovation Norway's networks and areas of expertise are both interesting and relevant.

This was the conclusion of UK Trade Commissioner Chris Barton after visiting Smart Innovation Norway at Remmen.

He was in Norway to get to know and learn from companies, partners and projects that the British Embassy in Oslo works closely with and that are engaged in technology and innovation of interest to the UK.

Smart Innovation Norway, eSmart Systems, Batteriretur, Paxster and NORA (Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Consortium) were among those visited by the Trade Commissioner and the Embassy's traveling party.

- Great potential for increased cooperation

- The work being done at Smart Innovation Norway is interesting to us in many different ways," said Barton.

The UK is among the world's leaders in innovation, tech and artificial intelligence (AI), but is looking for further growth to further contribute to the development of society both commercially and in terms of services in health, education and energy.

- What specific cooperation opportunities do you see between the UK and Smart Innovation Norway?

- Both parties are leading the way in reducing the carbon footprint, where artificial intelligence, technology and smart solutions are incredibly important. I am happy to say that we are already working together in these areas, but there is still a lot of potential," Barton said.

The Trade Commissioner also pointed to artificial intelligence as a hugely important factor in health.

- Artificial intelligence has great potential to increase the quality and reliability of healthcare services and make a difference from a preventive perspective," he said.

Decommissioning, CI and energy

The UK and Norway have for many years already had a good and broad cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, politics and society. One field that is new to Smart Innovation Norway is decommissioning.

- "We launched our DECOM cluster in April last year, and several of our cluster members and stakeholders are already collaborating with UK companies on decommissioning. This can clearly be expanded," says CEO Kjell Reidar Mydske.

Many of the companies in Smart Innovation Norway's incubator and three business clusters want to focus more on exports, and in this respect it is a positive signal that the UK Trade Commissioner for Europe is coming to Norway and prioritizing getting to know the Halden environment better.

In addition to Smart Innovation Norway, the Halden community consists of the Institute for Energy Technology, Østfold University College, eSmart Systems and Halden Municipality.

- It shows that we are a leading player in our fields, and it is especially our expertise in artificial intelligence that makes us noticed internationally," says Mydske.

He used the visit to encourage the Trade Commissioner and the Embassy to participate in Smart Innovation Norway's arenas with the aim of increasing cooperation.

- And then we hope to take some companies on a study visit to the UK to look at the opportunities for export and learning. That would be very exciting," says Kjell Reidar Mydske.

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- Much of the development is happening in the UK

Norway has several advantages when it comes to using artificial intelligence. Among other things, we have recognized research, innovation and education environments, a high degree of digitization in the public sector, and a large and good data base, which is a prerequisite for artificial intelligence.

NORA (Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Consortium) is a gateway for international actors to these factors, and the UK is a priority partner for NORA.

- "A lot of the development in artificial intelligence is happening in the UK. They also have a lot of exciting companies that use artificial intelligence in many different areas," says Klas Pettersen, CEO.

He is keen to strengthen existing ties with the British, and an important partner is The Alan Touring Institute, a British organization similar to NORA.

- In December we are organizing a conference together, and we want to strengthen our ongoing student exchange. It is also important for us to establish new research collaborations and look at how we can use research results in industry for the benefit of societal development, business and industry," says Pettersen.

- An incredibly educational day that has given me an exciting and inspiring insight into the activities at Smart Innovation Norway and the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE)!

This is how Mari Sundli Tveit, Director of the Research Council of Norway, summarized her visit to Halden at the end of January.

Through presentations by the two research institutions, Sundli Tveit and Kristin Danielsen, Acting Director of Research System and Internationalization, got a good overview of the work being done and the goals that have been set.

- We work with this on a daily basis, and it is incredibly important to hear directly from the professional communities and understand the challenges from their perspective," says the Director.

- Enabling innovation

The day in Halden offered good discussions and important input, and Sundli Tveit is clear that the visit will have an impact on the further work of the Research Council.

 - We exist to enable innovation in institutions like Smart Innovation Norway and IFE, and days like this are important for that part of our job.

The Director was impressed by how the institutions are linking disciplines and making things happen.

- You understand and interact in all the intersections, whether it is artificial intelligence, robotics, nuclear operations, simulation or other areas you work with. The transferability is great, and you get new technology into actual application," she boasts.

Highly confident in the work

With increased insight into the national and international importance of the research work in Halden, Sundli Tveit looks forward to helping to facilitate increased momentum and progress.

- I look forward to following you in the future and I have great faith in the work you are doing," she says.

Integrated value chain

Smart Innovation Norway's Director of Research, Dieter Hirdes, is pleased to have achieved the goal of highlighting how they link research with business in industrial clusters in a holistic value chain from applied research to private and public value creation.

- IFE has been internationally known since its inception in 1958, but there is a lot going on at IFE, especially in digital systems and related labs. It is not as well known that Smart Innovation Norway is at the very top in Norway in EU research with a focus on applied research and value creation in society and business. We are very pleased that the management of the Research Council managed to prioritize a whole day to inform themselves about the research environments in Halden, he says.

Brita Staal and Manuela Freté triple the national and international experience and expertise in sustainability work when they join Mikael af Ekenstam in Nordland.

- "With Manuela and Brita on board, we have a dream team up here. I am incredibly pleased to have them on the team," says Mikael af Ekenstam, Senior Advisor at Smart Innovation Norway.

He is a Swedish immigrant to Narvik and has been working in Smart Innovation Norway since 2019. Manuela is French and originally from Romania, but considers herself European since she has studied, worked and lived in many different EU countries, while Brita is Norwegian with many years of experience from sustainability work in Sweden and Denmark.

What all three have in common is that they are passionate about and experts in sustainability and climate. They see the enormous potential of Smart Innovation Norway to bring the EU and Norway closer together through green transition projects, and they want to contribute to the major societal changes that will come in the future.

With Smart Innovation Norway as their employer, they believe they are best placed to do just that.

From Paris to Harstad

With her diverse background, Manuela Freté brings with her six years of experience as project manager for sustainability in the Paris office of the global firm Deloitte. She led the process of establishing and anchoring the then newly created department, during which time the number of staff increased from 30 to 120 people.

- It was fun and educational to be part of that journey. The department still exists today and is here to stay," she says.

Another task at Deloitte was to lead a working group on an EU project. That experience came in handy after Freté and her family moved to Harstad in 2019 when her husband was hired as project manager for the Arctic Race of Norway cycling race, the EU experience came in handy.

- I got a job in Harstad municipality, where one of my responsibilities was the municipality's only EU project so far. I also worked in the innovation department of the power company Nordkraft, including start-up projects in the energy sector. One of the things we did was to develop mobile charging stations for electric cars in the region, develop mobile battery solutions for other sectors and mobile charging solutions for the electric vehicles for the Arctic Race of Norway," says the 34-year-old.

Outside work, Freté has established Link Harstad, a network that creates meeting places for young workers in the region.

Working in Europe

For Brita Staal, it is a great motivating factor to work in a company where the work you do leads to concrete results and creates innovation in societal processes. She has been following Smart Innovation Norway for some time and has been impressed by the company's business model, which combines research, innovation, incubation and municipalities in real projects.

- It gives me the willies to think about what's going to happen in the energy markets in Norway. Firstly, we have to go through an enormous efficiency drive. Secondly, the goal is to double energy production in Norway. If we are to export mainland production and build the green industrial adventure that we hope for, there is an awfully big job ahead of us. And it's very exciting to be part of an environment that has expertise in this area," she points out.

For the last four years, Staal has only worked on international projects. Even though his place of work is Kabelvåg in Nordland, his field of work is European, and climate is his major field of interest both professionally and personally.

It is therefore fitting that the employer is the actor in Norway with the most EU projects in the field of green energy, and that works specifically on the topic in community development projects.

- The European Commission aims to decarbonize Europe and they are starting with all types of buildings. They want to free themselves from dependency on Russian gas, and I think it's really exciting to see how innovative and strong the EU is in this situation. Moreover, the war in Ukraine shows that this is not just an energy issue," says Staal.

- Great potential

Mikael af Ekenstam is well acquainted with several conditions in Northern Norway, having been Smart Innovation Norway's link to the Smart Narvik agreement since 2019. The region has both similar and completely different types of energy challenges than Southern Norway, and the competence enhancement and exchange in the company will increase in accordance with the potential that the two new hires represent.

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Together with Staal and Freté, he has a huge network and unique experience and expertise. Ekenstam is now looking forward to implementing "his" part of the company's growth strategy.

- A lot is happening up here, especially in industrial development and the green shift, and the east-west axis from Narvik and Lofoten and into Sweden is very interesting. Smart Innovation Norway can play a major role here with our expertise in energy," he says.

The number of EU projects will also increase. Smart Innovation Norway has contacts throughout Europe, and these will now be linked to a greater extent with North Norwegian pilots and partners. Knowledge about writing applications and implementing projects is one of the Halden-based research company's areas of expertise.

- There are several obvious opportunities here in the north that we look forward to exploring and realizing," says Mikael af Ekenstam.

Mikael af Ekenstam and Manuela Freté are employed in Smart Cities and Communities, which is part of the Smart Innovation Communities business area. Brita Staal is Climate Lead and employed partly in Communities and partly in Social Innovation, which is part of Smart Innovation Research. Bernt Bremdal is also employed in Smart Innovation Research and is part of the North Norwegian department since he works at the University of Tromsø's Narvik campus.