The Welfare Lab: A pilot study on the implementation of welfare technology

The "Welfare Lab" feasibility study is the result of a collaborative project between SKL and IT&Telekomföretagen in the spring of 2014. The assignment has been to create the conditions for a larger project through stakeholder involvement, needs analysis in municipalities, county councils and supplier companies, as well as proposals for activities and resources. The project is partly funded by Vinnova.

More and better welfare services to citizens in less time 

The ultimate aim is to clearly contribute to Sweden being able to make the best use of the opportunities offered by digitization in solutions that meet the challenges of welfare for municipalities and county councils' areas of operation. In practice, this means an activity that will shorten the path from innovations to implementation in society.

Proposals and recommendations

The preliminary study concludes that there are well-documented and obvious needs in municipalities and county councils regarding the implementation of welfare technology. There are great opportunities to influence the situation in a positive development. A large number of municipalities want to work further with welfare technology, but are looking for guidance and support. To reduce the time for implementation of welfare technology, knowledge as well as practical tools are needed. Clear regulations, guidelines and structures are needed to make it easy to implement welfare technology in municipalities and county councils.

This requires both advisory activities and inspirational activities that facilitate the meeting between welfare technology and its use. In short, a unifying force is needed to create momentum for development. The preliminary study therefore proposes three overarching activities to meet the needs of municipalities and county councils:

1. Inspire about the use of welfare technology.
2. Instruct and guide on the implementation of welfare technology and its implications for business processes.
3. Evaluate and create an understanding of how structural conditions may need to change, in terms of ethics, law, user competence, infrastructure, but also how the collective of municipalities and county councils can work together for more efficient procurement.

The preliminary study recommends that SKL meets the expectations of municipalities, county councils and supplier companies and creates tools to inspire, instruct and evaluate. This will be done through a "welfare lab or welfare agency" (the name is tentative and will be changed) in collaboration with IT&Telecom companies, some twenty municipalities and county councils and staff organizations. This "welfare lab or welfare agency" will, in collaboration with other actors, perform the three overarching activities of inspiring, instructing and guiding, and evaluating and creating understanding.

Next steps and funding opportunities

The next step is to bring together around twenty municipalities that want to drive development and rapidly implement welfare technology. In the fall of 2014, a constellation will be created to make this possible. The Welfare Lab is initially seeking funding for the first three years. Funding is being sought from public and private actors together with other actors with an interest in the development of the area, including staff organizations.