AI+ 2023 – another great conference on applied AI

Earlier this week, Halden once again became the epicentre of applied AI in Norway by hosting the annual conference on applied artificial intelligence called AI+, bringing together industry, tech, and researchers from the field of AI.

The AI+ conference has become one of the most important events in Norway for applied artificial intelligence. AI+ brings together professionals from various industries, including academia, business, and research, to share their knowledge and ideas on the latest advancements in AI technology and its applications.

The conference is held in the town of Halden, and this year’s edition was attended by 270 physical participants and 130 digital participants. The event featured great speakers from leading companies around the world and Norway. These speakers included representatives from HUB Ocean, Google, Microsoft, Silo AI, Völur, Computas AS, INTOTO, E.ON, and DNV, among others.

Highlights Day 1

Highlights Day 2

AI written speech, of course

The opening day of the conference featured speeches from Nikolai Astrup, former minister of digitalization in Norway, and Ruth Astrid L. Sæter, the conference host. Astrup’s speech was particularly interesting as it was fully written by the popular AI software ChatGPT by OpenAI, which provided a good laugh when revealed. The conference covered various topics ranging from challenges faced in different industries to how AI can solve these challenges. The speakers provided great insights into the world of machine learning and data.

Nikolai Astrup. PHOTO: Stein Johnsen, Contentvideo.no — Nikolai Astrup, former minister of digitalization in Norway. PHOTO: Stein Johnsen, ContentVideo

Huge export opportunities

The second day of the conference featured a morning seminar by Abelia, which discussed how AI can be the next big Norwegian export and how the Nordic region has many of the needed prerequisites to succeed in AI. This was followed by parallel sessions presented by the organizers of AI+. The conference offered a great platform for professionals to share their ideas, insights, and experiences with others in the field.

Applied artificial intelligence is crucial for solving real-world problems and improving the efficiency of various industries. It can help organizations make better decisions, automate processes, and improve their overall performance. The AI+ conference is an excellent opportunity for professionals in the field to learn about the latest advancements and exchange ideas and knowledge.

Will we see you in 2024?

AI+ features great speakers from leading companies around the world and Norway, covering various topics ranging from challenges faced in different industries to how AI can solve these challenges. The event demonstrates the importance of applied artificial intelligence in improving the efficiency of various industries and solving real-world problems. It is a great opportunity for academia, business, and research to meet and exchange ideas, and we will make sure to be an important event in the field of AI in the coming years.

Follow AI+ on LinkedIn and check out https://aiplus.no/ to see updates for next year’s conference, where we hope to see you! A huge thanks to all the partners and sponsors who help us deliver a great and important platform for applied AI!

Watch video interviews with the speakers from AI+ 2023

AI+ 2023: Highlights from Day 2

Claire Blacket from the Institute of Energy Technology presenting on one of the parallel sessions. ALL PHOTOS: Stein Johnsen, ContentVideo
The parallel sessions were located four different places downtown Halden. Here Smart Innovation Venture presented at Il Casolare, a restaurant by the harbour.
The parallel sessions were located four different places downtown Halden. Here Klas H. Pettersen from NORA presented at Il Casolare, a restaurant by the harbour.
The parallel sessions were located four different places downtown Halden. Here Smart Innovation Venture presented at Il Casolare, a restaurant by the harbour.
The parallel sessions were located four different places downtown Halden. Here Klas H. Pettersen from NORA presented at Il Casolare, a restaurant by the harbour.
Per Baumann from Precise Prediction joined the session organised by Halden municipality.
Per Baumann from Precise Prediction joined the session organised by Halden municipality.
Per Baumann from Precise Prediction joined the session organised by Halden municipality.
Per Baumann from Precise Prediction joined the session organised by Halden municipality.
At Kulturhuset Halden two sessions were held. Cluster for Applied AI and eSmart Systems were organizers.
At Kulturhuset Halden two sessions were held. Cluster for Applied AI and eSmart Systems were organizers.
At Kulturhuset Halden two sessions were held. Cluster for Applied AI and eSmart Systems were organizers.
At Kulturhuset Halden two sessions were held. Cluster for Applied AI and eSmart Systems were organizers.
Erik Åsberg from eSmart Systems.
Nhan Van Nguyen (left) and Erik Åsberg from eSmart Systems.
IFE demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun. Here István Szőke.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
IFE's session was about Ethical Considerations when using AI, and Benefits of Applied AI in Decommissioning. They also demonstrated three examples of how AI is applied with success for industry, for science and for fun.
Nhan Van Nguyen (left) and Erik Åsberg from eSmart Systems.
Jo Roald (left) from Abelia hosted the morning session at Day 2. Here with Eirik Andreassen from Digital Norway, Trym Holter from Silo AI and Kenth Engø-Monsen from Smart Innovation Norway.
Eirik Andreassen from Digital Norway (left) and Trym Holter from Silo AI.
Kenth Engø-Monsen from Smart Innovation Norway.
Eirik Andreassen from Digital Norway (left), Trym Holter from Silo AI and Kenth Engø-Monsen from Smart Innovation Norway.
Jo Roald from Abelia, (left), Eirik Andreassen from Digital Norway, Trym Holter from Silo AI and Kenth Engø-Monsen from Smart Innovation Norway.
Trym Holter, Silo AI.
Jo Roald from Abelia (left) and Trym Holter, Silo AI.
Jo Roald invited Eli Haugerud from Smart Innovation Norway, Silje Brit Horrisland Whist from Innovation Norway and Erik Åsberg from eSmart Systems to discuss Norwegian AI as an export industry.
Jo Roald from Abelia and Eli Haugerud from Smart Innovation Norway.
Jo Roald from Abelia and Eli Haugerud from Smart Innovation Norway.
Eli Haugerud from Smart Innovation Norway.
Jo Roald from Abelia.
Morning session on Day 2.
Ruth Astrid Sæther was the hostess of Day 1. She summarized the day together with Jo Roald from Abelia.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Jo Roald from Abelia. Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2. Per Baumann from SINTEF (left) greets Eirik Andreassen from Digital Norway. Per Gunnar Auran from SINTEF (right).
Morning session Day 2.
Morning session Day 2.
Ruth Astrid Sæter and Jo Roald.

AI+ 2023: Highlights from Day 1

Dina Billington and her band played during the conference dinner. ALL PHOTOS: Stein Johnsen, Contentvideo.no
Dina Billington and her band played during the conference dinner.
The Halden mayor Anne-Kari Holm (Sp) gave e a warm welcome in the conference dinner opening speech.
The Halden mayor Anne-Kari Holm (Sp) gave e a warm welcome in the conference dinner opening speech.
The manager for Cluster for Applied AI, Tore Lie, was Toastmaster at the dinner.
Tore Lie is the Cluster for Applied AI manager at Smart Innovation Norway.
Tore Lie is the Cluster for Applied AI manager at Smart Innovation Norway.
The chair of the Smart Innovation Norway board Ole Andreas Schärer (in the middle) was attending AI+ 2023.
CEO at Smart Innovation Norway, Kjell Reidar Mydske, and AI+ hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter (right) talking to one of the participants.
Project manager for AI+, Mari Kristine Buckholm, talking to the chair of Smart Innovation Norway's board, Ole Andreas Schärer.
Eirik Andreassen (left) from Digital Norway, Kjell Reidar Mydske from Smart Innovation Norway and Petter Kvalvik from the Institute of Energy Technology.
Some of the conference participants used the opportunity for a historical city tour guided by members from Fredrikshalds Borgervæpning.
During Demos & Talks Wednesday afternoon, Per Baumann and Per Gunnar Auran, talked about dataflow at sea.
Some of the conference participants used the opportunity for a historical city tour guided by members from Fredrikshalds Borgervæpning.
Some of the conference participants used the opportunity for a historical city tour guided by members from Fredrikshalds Borgervæpning.
Bjørn Dimmen from DigiKat and ÅKP talked about the potential in the Katapult system.
Alexander Haneng is SVP Innovation Partnerships at Posten and Bring.
Some of the conference participants used the opportunity for a historical city tour guided by members from Fredrikshalds Borgervæpning.
Nikolai Astrup (right) in the panel debate.
Trym Holter from Silo AI.
Trym Holter from Silo AI (left) and Jon Jahren from Microsoft Norway.
Nicolaus Henke from McKinsey & Company on stage with AI+ hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter.
Entertainment from the electronic music project Ugress from Bergen.
Rebecca Wiborg Seyfarth is VP Machine Learning at Völur.
Lunch at Byparken.
Lunch at Byparken.
Lunch at Haldens Klub.
Lunch at Byparken.
Lunch at Haldens Klub.
Lunch at Byparken.
Lunch at Haldens Klub.
Lunch at Byparken.
Lunch at Haldens Klub.
Nicolaus Henke from McKinsey & Company.
Rebecca Wiborg Seyfarth from Völur.
David Skålid Amundsen is Lead Data Scientist Consultant at Computas and talked about how Ruter uses AI to predict the numbers of passengers on busses.
Ugress from Bergen.
David Skålid Amundsen from Computas.
Nicolaus Henke from McKinsey & Company.
David Skålid Amundsen, Computas.
The AI+ Communication Team interviewed the speakers.
AI+ is arranged by seven partners from the tech and IT community in Halden.
Smart Innovation Norway is one of the AI+ partners and had many attendees on the conference.
Rebecca Wiborg Seyfarth from Völur.
Hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter.
Nicolaus Henke from McKinsey & Company.
Nicolaus Henke from McKinsey & Company.
Ugress from Bergen.
Ugress from Bergen.
From left: Trym Holter (Silo AI), Jon Jahren (Microsoft Norway), Tara Zeyned Baris (HUB Ocean), Sina Nek Akhtar (Google) og Nikolai Astrup (Conservative Party).
Trym Holter from Silo AI.
Sina Nek Akhtar from Google (left) and Nikolai Astrup from Conservative Party.
Jon Jahren from Microsoft.
AI+ is held in Brygga kultursal in Halden.
Jon Jahren from Microsoft Norway.
270 people found their way to Halden May 3-4. 130 people attended digitally.
Petter Kvalvik from IFE (right) represent one of the seven partners behind AI+.
Nikolai Astrup from the Conservative Party opened AI+ 2023. He enjoyed the sunny weather together with Kjell Reidar Mydske from Smart Innovation Norway (left) and Per Baumann from Precise Prediction.
Sina Nek Akhtar from Google.
Sina Nek Akhtar from Google.
Tara Zeynep Baris from HUB Ocean.
Nikolai Astrup on stage. After finishing his opening speech, he admitted ChatGPT wrote it.
Tara Zeynep Baris from HUB Ocean.
Jonas Aamodt Moræus from the AI+ partner Institute of Energy Technology (IFE) explained the purpose of the + in AI+.
Nikolai Astrup and hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter.
Ugress from Bergen.
Nikolai Astrup and hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter.
270 attendees on-site.
Nikolai Astrup.
Registration of AI+ participants.
Jonas Aamodt Moræus from the AI+ partner Institute of Energy Technology talking to hostess Ruth Astrid Sæter.
Ugress from Bergen.
Ugress from Bergen.
Ugress from Bergen.

Automating battery maintenance with AI

Nornir is an IoT- and AI operator facilitating the real-time movement, usage, and leverage of data, through their core offering – Nornir HIVE. Having acquired Norwegian BMS (battery management system) company Appollo at the start of 2023, Nornir has made the Norwegian Building Maintenance industry the focus of its go-to-market strategy.

According to founder and CEO Pål K. Levang, the BMS (no; FDVU, forvaltning, drift og vedlikehold) industry is ripe for innovation and is the ideal market for Nornir HIVE to focus on as they unleash their technology.

CEO Pål K. Levang, Nornir — CEO Pål K. Levang in Nornir. PHOTO: Smart Innovation Norway

Pål continues stating that today’s FDVU systems are plagued with manual processes, static data, and vendor lock-in. All of which he, Nornir and the daughter company, Appollo, plans to eradicate.

We are already working with big and exciting customers through Appollo, Oslobygg, being chief among them – one of Norway’s largest real estate companies. Oslobygg is very open to innovative solutions to traditional problems, and we have already started rolling out AI-driven processes in their BMS value chain.

Working with forward-leaning organizations like Oslobygg is invaluable, according to Pål.

– Having Oslobygg as a client grants us credibility and puts our technology to the ultimate test, as no one has stricter demands regarding data security and operational integrity.

A short presentation of the company

Nornir is something as rare as a Norwegian deep tech company, founded, funded, and run by Norwegians in Norway. That doesn’t stop us from being diverse where it matters, on the inside, with a 50/50 gender split across more than eight nationalities.

We are passionate about seeing our technology facilitate the solutions of tomorrow and strive to continue to be pioneers in the field of AI-driven networks.

How do you use AI in the company?

We use AI to build semantic networks of devices, software, and otherwise “dumb” nodes, linked by bi-directional linking, communication, and semantic services. This allows us to smartify existing infrastructure, which again can lead to benefits – like in the case with Oslobygg – automation of labour-intensive processes, securing data integrity, eliminating vendor lock-in and much more.

Tell about a recent success story from your company or an exciting project you are working on.

A good example of “smartifying existing infrastructure” is the project we have underway with KfiO at Nordberg kirke in Oslo. Here we have an ongoing pilot project where we’re utilising our HIVE in combination with a set of temperature sensors and “dumb” actuators to smartify their existing heating system. The HIVE will utilize temperature data from the strategically placed sensors to control the existing heating system’s actuators in true real-time. As the pilot progresses, we can use machine learning to add data from the church’s calendar, weather reports and more to make the system even smarter. A solution that could save the church tens, if not hundreds, of thousands in heating costs in the coming winters.

What goals does the company have for the future?

Short-term, we aim to be a leading system provider within the Norwegian BMS (FDVU) vertical, both in the private and public sectors. And we wish to do this with key clients and partners.

Long-term, Nornir has great plans for the HIVE and the underlying technology that includes-, but also goes beyond the scope of Appollo, BMS and Norway. With time, we will roll out our technology, with key partners, in new verticals and markets – while also expanding our portfolio of offerings.

Why do you sponsor the AI+ conference?

We are sponsoring the AI+ conference as we see it as a vital forum to meet key people, clients and partners within the AI space.

Smart Innovation Norway has a good history of facilitating valuable relationships, which is why we are a part of their cluster and events such as this one.

Facts about the company:

Name of business: Nornir (& Appollo)
Number of employees: 20
Location: Oslo
Industry: Smart City operator & BMS (FDVU) system
Briefly about the product/service: https://nornir.io/

VIDEO: – AI must be a general concern for politicians

Abelia is a representative of small companies on the innovation front that use new technology and data to create new businesses.

Nils Ola Widme, Abelia, on stage at AI+ 2022. PHOTO: Stein Johnsen, ContentVideo

At the AI+ conference in 2022, Policy Director Nils Ola Widme spoke about Abelia’s role as a promoter of AI and digitalization to the Norwegian public and politicians.

– Knowledge about AI positions us better to devise policies that foster growth and assure us to reach our full potential as a nation. A challenge to the AI+ partners is to make AI a general concern of politicians with a positive approach, he said.

Among many businesses, Widme sees excellent potential in the industrial sector for harnessing AI. In the years ahead, he expects industrial AI projects focused on increasing production to create new products and services and get more out of the country’s resources.

– Look at the public debate; the attention is directed towards the global giants and their use of AI and other tools, Nils Ola Widme says.