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Strategy for innovation in the public sector

The Research Council has drawn up an ambitious strategy for innovation in the public sector. The Norwegian public sector needs to establish closer ties with the research community to expand innovation capacity.

Linking innovation activities in the public sector to research groups that can provide relevant knowledge to innovation efforts will lead to better results.

The public sector constitutes half of the national economy, but only a tiny proportion of the Research Council’s allocations for Innovation Projects is directed to this sector. By supporting public sector innovation through more of its programmes, the Research Council will fund innovation in the public sector through a broader range of programmes to encourage public sector entities and researchers to cooperate on developing solutions for a more knowledge-based, innovative public sector.

See: Strategy for innovation in the public sector (pdf).

The public sector is defined as entities within the public administration. That is, municipalities, counties and state institutions, and companies that are wholly publicly owned and entities contracted to carry out tasks on behalf of public agencies.

Read more about Innovation Projects for the Public Sector.

Messages at time of print 9 September 2026, 22:50 CEST

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