Artificial intelligence can strengthen and provide new opportunities for local businesses
Through various projects between Halmstad University, the innovation arena HighFive and the innovation centre Leap for Life, researchers, students and other experts want to help companies in Halland to start using and explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence in their work. It gives companies the opportunity to handle challenges in new ways and strengthens their competitiveness. So far, 25 companies have received help and there is still great interest to participate.
“Companies that dare to experiment and become acquainted with the new research in human-centred artificial intelligence and service design begin a journey towards concrete value creation”.
Anna Petersson, Innovation Manager at HighFive
In the AI.m project, Halmstad University collaborates with HighFive to be able to support local companies and organisations when they want to start using human-centred artificial intelligence (AI).
“There are many gaps in the general understanding of AI. The collaboration between the University, HighFive and the region's companies give them the opportunity to fill these gaps with the right knowledge and clarify how AI can fit in and develop their business”, says Stefan Byttner, Senior Lecturer in Information Technology at Halmstad University.
“Companies that dare to experiment and become acquainted with the new research in human-centred artificial intelligence and service design begin a journey towards concrete value creation”, says Anna Petersson, Innovation Manager at HighFive.
Model to support companies
The work in the AI.m project is based on a process model with three phases; business design, service design and user design. The model is developed for companies that want to develop their business with the help of artificial intelligence and service design. The project group within AI.m goes through the companies' data, what effect they want and helps them to develop a strategy. The companies also receive help in creating a prototype. The project group also helps investigate funding opportunities that can take the idea further, or how the company can continue a collaboration with the University.
“We bring together researchers in AI and service innovation from the University and design companies who are good at building interactive prototypes. We also take in business developers and innovation leaders from HighFive as well as inviting the companies in the region. It can be large or small companies, new or well-established, in a number of different industries. Together, we develop a core idea that we make into an AI-strong application with the help of the competencies available in the project group”, says Pontus Wärnestål, Associate Professor in Informatics at Halmstad University.
Anna Petersson, Pontus Wärnestål and Stefan Byttner want more companies to discover the potential within AI.
Continued projects for more companies to succeed
The project Datadriven Innovation in Halland was started as a step in strengthening and supporting regional companies and organisations in Halland in terms of the use of human-centred artificial intelligence and information-driven care. The project runs between the years 2021 and 2023. In Datadriven Innovation in Halland, there is also a special focus on life science companies that work to promote people’s lives and health. The project has its origins in the projects AI.m and Testmiljö Halland. Testmiljö Halland was an EU funded project run by Leap for Life.
“We plan to continue working in the same way but also increase the work of strengthening the companies' ability to work both data-driven and sustainably. There is an enormous amount to do in this area, so creating long-term relationships with the academy in certain selected areas is also a plan ahead”, says Anna Petersson and continues:
“We offer an innovation process that is unique in its kind. It provides a much higher understanding of companies and how data-driven or AI-driven services can strengthen their business going forward. We work individually with each company and add resources that otherwise might not have been available to small and medium-sized enterprises in Halland. It is incredibly valuable to put together these multidisciplinary teams that all work together with the companies' challenges.”
Text: Anna-Frida Agardson
Picture: Linnéa Andersson
Film: The film is commissioned by HighFive
