The development of new welfare technology would become the new oil. It would create many new jobs for oil downturn, while the new technology would make it easier for seniors to cope with everyday life and stay longer in their own homes.
But research by Iris in Stavanger shows that gadgets and solutions that would make life easier not sell.
– the problem is that municipalities often do not really know what they want. They often have not the skills nor that it takes to figure this out, said lead researcher Martin Gjelsvik.
– Thinking too little on users
They have talked with eleven enterprises in cluster cooperation Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, and the message is clear; they can not sell their technology. But it is not just the municipalities to buy into their errors.
– Many of the companies we looked at are brand new businesses that have an idea, a technology, also they are very concerned that the technology will seem. But they think too little of the users, and how they should be involved in this in daily life.
And the mayor of Stavanger, Christine Sagen Helgø, are aware that they have a job to do.
– We must dare to think again in the procurement process, she said.
she notes that by concentrating on becoming a so-called smartby hope to become better at including adopting welfare technology.
Martin Gjelsvik by Iris and Health Minister Bent Høie talking about the possibilities of welfare technology.
Photo: Gunnar Morsund / NRK
A new leg to stand on
despite the fact that it is slow to roll out then anyway Health Minister Bent Høie convinced that welfare technology is the thing to bet on.
– I’m an optimist, I think this will be one of the new legs we stand on in Norway. Health is emerging as one of the four major industries that focus much on, says Høie.
He still think there is something to go on when it comes to getting the technology out to users.
– We need greater collaboration [...] so that they work better to use the technology, but also see more on how technology should respond to the needs that are out there.
Gjelsvik dare not estimate how much it might mean in terms of money, but he believes in the possibilities.
– We see established businesses that have been directed towards the oil that now turns toward this. And we clearly see sprouts of a new industry in the region and it is positive.
Welfare Technology can be anything from phones and fall sensors to clock calendars that provide dementia better overview of the time and date.
Photo: Erlend Aas / NTB scanpix
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