Norwegian municipality Stavanger Kommune makes citizen services more efficient with the power of data and OpenAI Service

“Using data more intelligently for both the management and the governance of our community will mean better decision-making, greater control, and ultimately improved delivery of the services the citizens need. And AI is already playing its part in ensuring that.”

Eva Jenseg, Head of Innovation and Digitalization at the Stavanger Kommune is reflecting on the increasing need for effective data gathering and management in the public sector, and the increasing importance of automation and AI. “   By embracing new technology, we can enhance our ability to deliver services to the people more efficiently.”

“As part of an organization that serves the community, what matters to us most is the happiness and wellbeing of the local people by meeting their needs. And for us, data and technology are the starting point for services that can do that.

“We see a lot of potential in AI, and machine learning. Microsoft Azure OpenAI has been central to that, as have both the Microsoft team, and our partner Bouvet, for helping us turn this vision into reality.”

A new municipality with an eye on the future

Stavanger Kommune is Norway’s fourth largest municipality, located in the southwest of the country. It was consolidated in January 2020 by merging two smaller municipalities, and now consists of around 145,000  inhabitants living in the city of Stavanger itself, and in the surrounding towns and countryside. The municipality’s 11,000 -plus employees are involved in managing welfare services, roads and traffic systems, sustainability, and education, and host of other services essential to the lives of the citizens. Maximizing the efficiency of those services relies on the collection, processing, and analysis of that data.

Gathering and utilizing this massive and growing pool of data digitally is a task the municipality has embraced. “We want to deliver efficient services. We might not have enough people in the future to do things the traditional way, so we need to step up, technologically speaking,” comments Jenseg.

Kjetil Molaug, Business Area Manager for Platform, Insight and Analytics at Bouvet, underlines the commitment of Stavanger to the latest technology.  “They are one of the first municipalities in Norway to build their own Microsoft Azure data platform. And they have also implemented Power Platform, a low-code solution which enables self-service by users as well as started looking into Fabric.

“There has also been a lot of focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). They are looking into utilizing that technology to measure traffic data, environmental indicators, and providing open data for the users. And Microsoft products have been used all over the municipality,” he adds.

Erasing personal information to ensure confidentiality

One specific challenge where Microsoft technology proved to be ideal is the removing of personal and sensitive data from information citizens regularly submit to the municipality. Stavanger encourages those affected by any issues in the municipality to report the details  so they can be addressed and hopefully mitigated.

But despite requests not to, people leaving comments on the videos and pictures they submit will often include personal information relating to themselves or others. In order to utilize the data provided, it has to be purged of any sensitive information. A tedious and time-consuming task for a human worker, but the ideal task to pass onto AI.

“We were speaking to Microsoft and Bouvet on a regular basis, having brainstorming sessions and thinking about specific use cases,” explains Jenseg. “There’s a very good connection between Bouvet and Microsoft, and the Stavanger municipality,” adds Molaug.

"And we were all involved in building the Azure Data Platform and implementing Power Platform governance, including Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate. We were all keen to get involved in AI, so when Azure OpenAI started gaining traction, we were eager to test it out in different scenarios. Erasing personal info from all the data to make sure it conforms to all our regulations seems like an ideal test case.”

Helping to manage frontline health

At the time of writing the data screening program has not yet gone live, but the team hope it will do so soon. In the meantime, the company’s earlier efforts to construct a data lake have not only borne fruit by powering the data revolution in Stavanger, but also won plaudits, garnering a national prize.

The Stavanger team have also used the data lake to help manage the frontline medical services for citizens, particularly during peak times, such as the flu season. “Originally, we had five different tools, but these were not communicating with one another and were of limited value.

“Now we have a dashboard so staff and managers can see the appropriate information for demand on the numbers needing to see a healthcare professional. By drawing on a range of different inputs, it can provide a more holistic picture of demand, and thus manage it more effectively,” explains Jenseg.

Setting an example across Norway

According to the municipality’s partner Bouvet, Stavanger’s commitment to technology is going from strength to strength. “I think all the municipality has become more data driven, and I also see a game-changing amount of technology testing. The Stavanger Kommune has also been building a lot of digital competence within the municipality,” says Molaug.

“We see other municipalities surrounding us here, and in other parts of Norway. They haven't been on the same journey as us yet. They haven't had that same technological understanding or have the same focus on data.

“But we are being approached by other regions who want to learn and change that. So, in summary, I think there has been a lot of improvement within the municipality over the last five years,” affirms Jenseg. “And digital technology has a lot to do with that evolution.”