The needs assessment was carried out for the fourth consecutive year by the Digital Health Innovation Research Group – a network of over 20 researchers at the university.

– Quite often we are too quick to find solutions, but today we have an opportunity to dive deeper into the problems,” says Erik Wästlund, coordinator of the Arena Group within DigitalWell Arena and the Academy for Smart Specialisation.

Key barriers to development

From being barely on the agenda in the past, this year questions about how the technology can – and should – be used as a strategic resource dominated.

Around 30 participants described several structural and practical barriers that affect the ability to both develop and implement new digital services. Many centred on health data issues – ethics, legal, quality, and sharing – but several other areas of concern were raised:

• Mobile apps as a paradigm – do the benefits need to be questioned more clearly, both from an accessibility and procurement perspective?
• Resource imbalance – innovation efforts are not always matched by resources for implementation and follow-up.
• Gap between strategy and needs – risk that organisations’ objectives do not reflect the actual challenges of their activities.
• Monolithic IT environments – limiting the ability to benefit from AI.
• Skills challenges – difficulties in attracting and retaining the right skills in the public sector.

The positive expectation was mainly about the possibility of using AI in more preventive and health promotion activities.

– If we can cross-reference data, it can lead to new analyses that improve health promotion and prevention. This benefits both the individual, who stays healthy, and society, which saves costs. I also believe that it is about creating forecasts to put a value on and dare to invest in health promotion,” says Anna Sandberg, public health strategist at Region Värmland.

The day also provided insights into current research collaborations – including how Computer Science is supporting four Värmland municipalities in exploring how AI can contribute to earlier support efforts for children and young people. (Read more about the Child and Youth Journey project here)

Creating a platform for new collaborations

On 14-15 April, work will continue as the Arena Group brings together its partners to deepen the analysis and outline possible solutions.

– The most important thing about the needs inventory is that it gives us the opportunity to get to know each other – and the challenges and needs of each other’s organisations. This makes it much easier to do things together. These dialogues give us a genuine picture of the problems and a concrete basis to start from,” says Erik Wästlund.

The award was presented at a ceremony in Madrid on 14 November, where NUSO won the Research for Social Services category. It highlights initiatives where data-driven insights, academic research or applied studies have led to meaningful improvements in service delivery, social policy and outcomes for vulnerable groups.

– “It’s fantastic that the international jury chose NUSO, as a national project, as the winner in competition with European research studies involving several countries. We won thanks to the design, the amount of data and the clear focus on translating results into practical benefits,” says Birgitta Persdotter in an article on Karlstad University’s website.

Brings together over 130 municipalities and neighbourhoods

Since 2024, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and Karlstad University have been working with over 130 municipalities and city districts to monitor how the new Social Services Act works in practice. NUSO collects and analyses extensive data on how children, young people and families are supported – from early intervention to the exercise of authority – and can thus highlight differences in access, assessments and results.

By making these patterns clear, NUSO creates the conditions for a more equal and knowledge-based social service, where every child receives support based on their actual needs – regardless of where in the country they live.

Has created tools to analyse data

A central part of NUSO is VAVES® (Scientific Analysis for Operational Development), developed by Birgitta Persdotter, Associate Professor of Social Work at Karlstad University. The method is used in NUSO to collect and analyse data in close collaboration with the municipalities, giving both research and operations new tools for development and learning.

Birgitta Persdotter is also research leader for R&D Welfare Värmland, one of six research groups that are part of the Arena project within DigitalWell Arena, where research and practice work together to develop the welfare of the future.

• Read more about NUSO on the SKR website