Minister of Local Government and Modernisation visits UiA Campus Grimstad
“Health technology is becoming increasingly more important, and it is great that UiA is spearheading this,” said Monica Mæland, Minister of Local Government and Modernisation, after her visit to the Centre for eHealth on Campus Grimstad.
This article is more than two years old, and may contain outdated information.
“My impression of UiA is that it is very ambitious and future-oriented. I have followed the MIL project closely the last few years, and now UiA is making a new and very important effort in health and innovation, another area in which it can point to great cooperation between public and private sector,” Minister Monica Mæland said.
Mechatronics Innovation Lab (MIL) is a world-leading centre for innovation, pilot testing and technology qualification in mechatronics and other related fields.
Co-creation potential
During her visit, the Minister of Local Government and Modernisation was, among other things, given a presentation of I4Helse/I4Health, the new national arena for innovation in health and care services. Grimstad municipality will move its operative health services here, while the University of Agder (UiA) will move its Centre for eHealth and its Centre for Caring Research here.
“This will be a great arena for co-creation where we will operationalise the quadruple helix model for all it is worth,” Vice Rector for Research Stephen Seiler said.
Quadruple helix is a model for cooperation between academia, industry, public authorities and end users.
More than just health
Mæland was also given a tour of the Clinic Lab on Campus Grimstad. There she got to see the advanced patient simulators that are used in nursing education, among other things.
“More and more, we are using simulations in nursing education. It is a way of learning that contributes to preparing the students to face real, complex patient situations,” Kjersti Marie Frivoll Johnsen said, who showed Mæland the lifelike dolls that are used in education.
The minister also received information about innovation projects such as In For Care, which works with innovation in public service delivery related to care services and voluntary work, and the labour inclusion project InnArbeid, which will develop innovative services and technology so people with disabilities can find, get and keep a job.
“We work on modernising services, and we work closely with the municipalities. So the visit from the Minister of Local Government and Modernisation is very appropriate,” said Ragni Macqueen Leifson, the project manager for the Centre for eHealth.
She thinks it is important to show that the Centre for eHealth also works on issues outside of the traditional health care sector.