Oslo, Norway's largest municipality, has chosen Journalia as its supplier of AI-supported speech-to-text for child welfare and health and care services. The municipality is signing a one-year agreement with an option to extend, and is launching a pilot project that could shape documentation technology across the city.
Journalia won the tender ahead of Noteless and Omilon, the latter in partnership with Sweden's Tandem Health. The municipality scored suppliers on price and quality. Journalia received ten out of ten on both.
«For Journalia, winning the tender is proof that we are on the right track with our product. But most importantly, it means that staff in Oslo can spend more of their working day on the people they are there to help,» says Petter Moen, founder and CEO of Journalia.
From desk to consultation room
In child welfare and health and care services, documentation takes a great deal of time, time that could otherwise go to professional assessments, closer follow-up and direct contact with residents. Journalia's solution automatically turns speech into a text draft that staff can review and finalise. The AI is a support tool, not a decision-maker.
«We are proud to contribute to this pilot. When speech can become a quality-assured text draft, professionals can spend more of their time on the people they are there to help. That is exactly where we believe artificial intelligence can do the most good,» says Petter Moen.
AI support is going to revolutionise the way we work.
«Think of what this could mean in child welfare or in care services, where language can sometimes be a barrier. In vulnerable situations, it is crucial that every nuance is captured and documented correctly,» says Ayub M. Tughra, district director in Søndre Nordstrand.
The pilot in Oslo
The Agency for Digitalisation is leading the project, together with the districts of Søndre Nordstrand, Østensjø, Nordstrand and Frogner, as well as the Health Agency and the Agency for Finance and Administration. The technology is being tested in the Modulus Barn and Gerica case systems.
The contract runs for one year, with an option for one more. The goal of the pilot is to gather experience as the basis for a larger, central procurement in Oslo a year from now.
«We have been keen to find a solution that works well in the services that will test the technology. Now we look forward to gathering experience together with the districts and professional communities,» says Torstein Harildstad, director of the Agency for Digitalisation.
A foothold in the public sector
For Journalia, the project is an important step into the public sector, an area where the documentation burden is heavy and where the benefit of freeing up time reaches residents directly.
Since its start, the company has grown quickly in the private sector, including through its partnership with Dr. Dropin. The Oslo pilot opens a new arena: municipal health and care services, where speech-to-text is not only about efficiency, but about caring for vulnerable people better.
Municipal health and care differs from private clinics on one important point: there is no market here driving efficiency. The documentation burden grows quietly, and staff carry it themselves. That is what Journalia now wants to change.
In municipal health and care, staff meet people on the most vulnerable days of their lives. That they then spend time writing instead of listening is not a law of nature. It is a problem we can solve.
