For over 200 years, the University of Oslo (UiO) has developed knowledge for and with the society around us. Three historical examples from our own Faculty include the activity at the Observatory, led by Christophers Hansteen, which laid the foundation of the Norwegian Mapping Authority. In the 1860s, Peter Waage and Cato Maximillian Guldwaag discovered the Law of Mass Action. Last but not least, Kristian Birkeland's outstanding scientific work, which laid the foundation of the fertilizer manufacturer Norsk Hydro (now Yara) in 1905. In more recent times, we draw on extensive experience in collaboration with established businesses through various projects. This includes participation in several Centers for Research-driven Innovation (SFI), as well as developing start-ups through collaboration with entrepreneurs, incubators like StartupLab in the Oslo Science Park, and various investors. Basic research has always been important for the development of business and society, and in Norway, UiO has played a very special role. It is a role we will cherish and further develop through strategic and long-term cooperation with important businesses and key actors in society.
At UiO, especially at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, strong academic communities have been built over the last 50 years in data and computing science that deliver research and education at a high international level. We have good research communities in the field at most of the Faculty's nine Departments, and computing science is integrated into all our education programs. The awarding of a Center for Excellence in Research (SFF) to Integreat - The Norwegian Centre for Knowledge-driven Machine Learning, confirms UiO's position. Strong communities within medicine, social sciences, and humanities that base their research on advanced studies of data and related calculations have also emerged at UiO in the last 10-20 years.
Based on this background, we established dScience – Centre for Computational and Data Science with three main tasks:
- Build and further develop internationally leading research in data and computing science at UiO.
- Deliver important contributions to the green transition of society and business.
- Develop groundbreaking collaborations between academia, businesses, and public sector entities. This includes being a key contributor to the development of Norway's first innovation district, Oslo Science City, which has digitalization and computing science as one of its four focus areas.
dScience is now establishing its partner program, where excellent research will be linked with central Norwegian partners. The partner program is a direct follow-up to realize the third main task, with the academic content represented by the other two points. By developing and implementing collaboration projects, dScience will contribute to long-term capacity building in areas that are particularly important for Norway. This includes machine learning, artificial intelligence, digital twin technology, data management, and knowledge representation and reasoning. So far, the Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (HSØ), Kongsberg Group, Equinor, DNB, DNV, and NBIM (the Norges Bank Investment Management) are participating in the dScience partner program, and more businesses and public sector entities will join. Such an extensive collaboration between academia and major business and community stakeholders is unique in Norway, and groundbreaking in its form! The partner program will be launched on March 6, with State Secretary Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel of the Ministry of Education and Research opening the event.
UiO is a research-intensive University, which aims to be among the world's leading Universities.
This is a demanding goal, and we must ensure that independent research has good conditions at the same time as we develop good collaboration with actors in society and business. Through this collaboration, we will deliver research results and expertise that contribute to the development of Norwegian working life. This collaboration should also provide researchers at UiO with deep insight into society's needs, which in turn should be used for long-term capacity building. The dScience partner program is built for this very purpose.
I congratulate dScience on the establishment of the partner program and look forward to following the innovative collaboration that will emerge from it!