/ First municipality in national innovation initiative

The aim of the competition is to address the needs of the municipality and to help the public sector make greater use of business, especially new and innovative companies, to solve challenges.

"Start-up companies can come up with an innovative solution that responds to a public need, and the initiative opens up the opportunity to work with a large and demanding customer. Furthermore, a successful project can open up for scaling and further business development," says Geir Haugum, Head of Business Region Kristiansand.
It is the business advisor in Business Region Kristiansand, Stein Otto G. Daatland, who, together with colleague Ole Jacob Rynning-Tønnesen, is facilitating the initiative on the part of the municipality.  

The funding for the initiative is part of the municipal package of measures in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Startup-friendly procurement
The competitions are carried out in cooperation with the national initiative "StartOff" launched in January 2021. StartOff is a new framework for conducting startup-friendly procurement that connects the contracting authority and startups together and follows the parties throughout the procurement process. The scheme is administered by the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and Financial Management (DFØ) and is carried out in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate for Digitalization and the Supplier Development Program. 

Compared to other schemes, such as innovation contracts, innovative procurement, innovation partnerships, StartOff deals with more limited issues with shorter project lengths and smaller contract amounts.  

The municipality of Kristiansand has now been qualified by StartOff for the launch of two competitions. One of the projects is led by the engineering department and one is led by the parks department.  

Smart waste containers in the archipelago
The Parks Department's project aims to find new ways to manage waste in the archipelago.  

 - "We want a solution that improves the offer to vacationing boat tourists and users of the municipality's free areas on islands and islets, and that streamlines the collection of waste for the Park Service. We want to make it easier for boaters to dispose of their waste, and we want to be able to control when emptying is needed," says Kurt Tange Jensen, project manager at the Parks Department. 

Digital monitoring of critical infrastructure
The engineering department manages the municipality's critical infrastructure and has the overall emergency response function in the event of incidents. A 24-hour on-call service is set up to deal with incidents related to, for example, snow, flooding, stormwater and leaks in the water and sewage network, as well as damage to public roads and buildings. In order to make the best decisions in the event of incidents related to the municipality's critical infrastructure, the Engineering Department therefore has a great need for forward-looking and innovative solutions.  

- The engineering department wants data from operational information to be collected and easily accessible so that those on duty can make good, quick and correct decisions on necessary measures. Operational information from existing sensors and future planned low-cost sensors will be included in such a system, says Torfinn Jore, project manager at the Engineering Department. It is also a desired effect that the system will lead to answers for the Engineering Department in the form of less damage and efficient use of resources.

The application deadline for both competitions is May 25, 2021. All information about the projects and how to apply can be found on the StartOff website. 

Questions about the competitions should be addressed to startoff@dfo.no 

Media inquiries: Business Advisor Stein Otto Daatland, tel: 997 11 819