Vinnväxt is a program within the innovation agency Vinnova. The program is announced as a competition where regions can receive funding for long-term innovation initiatives. The initiatives must focus on a growth area where they have the conditions to achieve international success and which respond to our societal challenges. Important aspects here are how the renewal of the area will look, how it will be promoted in cooperation with relevant regional actors and that Agenda 2030 is a clear driving force. In order to get funding, cooperation and active participation is required from business, public activities, research and political actors. The program acts as a platform for building the long-term collaborations and structures that are needed. It then forms the basis for further ventures and investments in the region.

All stakeholders in the Winnväxt investment have agreed to co-create the future health services based on user needs and with the support of digital technology. Through this investment, we want to increase the attractiveness of Värmland. We are different actors with different incentives, our common driving force is to contribute to creating health for everyone. For Compare, the focus is on regional growth. We want more companies to be able to take part in a growing market with international potential and that the investment opens up opportunities for more companies to establish themselves in Värmland. The goal is also to increase interest in working with digital technology, to contribute to an equal supply of skills and to attract skills to our region.

We create a competitive innovation environment. In view of this, we have formed five work areas. 1. Innovation environment: We create an innovation environment with a national testbed for data-driven service innovation. We coordinate a technical development platform with good testing opportunities for companies and lead innovation cases that put Värmland on the map. This innovation environment provides the conditions for DigitalWell to become a long-term investment. 2. Toolbox for services: We create a platform where we can convey good examples and develop these if necessary, in order to be able to offer more customized services that meet the needs of users. A well-functioning toolbox creates business opportunities by increasing the possibilities of implementing existing and verified solutions. 3. Knowledge ecosystem: We create a knowledge ecosystem where we share knowledge and develop new competence that engages and attracts business, and which attracts new cutting-edge knowledge to the region. An important ingredient in this will be the collaboration with Karlstad University and the excellent research groups. 4. Financial development: We support and facilitate new innovation and research projects to develop and work for investments in the region. 5. Policy lab: We are creating a policy lab. Here we deal with system issues that have been identified as having a major impact on the conditions for the creation of digital transformation of welfare. We will also facilitate implementations and create sustainable solutions with a wide range of applications.

For a long time, the region has been preparing for a sharp investment in digitized health services, based on unique strengths in service innovation and digitization. This is part of Värmland's research and innovation strategy for smart specialization in the digitization of welfare services. Now is the time to raise the investment to the next level and then the collective power in the region sees that the Winnväxt program is an important factor. In the region there is a well-established ambition where companies, Karlstad University, the County Council, RISE, the County Administrative Board, Karlstad Municipality, innovation supporters, Nordic Medtest, CGI, Tieto and other actors support this application in various ways. The parties' joint ambition is now to create a competitive innovation system that ensures sustainable long-term growth in the region within the areas of strength. Compare sees this as a growing market area with good opportunities for the Compare companies.

Winnväxt strengthens Compare's work in the three focus areas of Digital Competence, Digital Business Development and Digital Innovation. Our mission is still to create digital development and innovation together and to develop Värmland into an attractive digital region. Winnväxt adds a clearer and more long-term agenda to the leading investment that Compare has already started in the area of Digital Innovation. Structurally, business development and competence will also partly go under Winnväxt. This will be beneficial for the companies, as we can more easily add investments in these areas.

Winnväxt increases the conditions for Värmland to gain national attention as an IT region, which in turn can attract competence here, get students to stay and create interest in more business collaborations. Cutting-edge research at Karlstad University has been further strengthened and new undergraduate courses that ensure the supply of skills in the field have been designed and received a lot of attention. At the same time, interest in IT-related professions has increased in the region. The venture also opens the door to the public sector and attractive test environments; here, companies have the opportunity to develop new scalable products and services with the needs of residents and the public sector in focus. Winnväxt also creates more opportunities to take part in - and collaborate with - interdisciplinary research. In the long term, we see increased opportunities for national and international collaborations, which facilitates the spread of good examples and creates potential for new business and growth. The investment also means that companies can take part in EU funds for innovative investments.

Behind the DigitalWell Arena initiative are Compare, Region Värmland, Karlstad University, the County Administrative Board in Värmland, Karlstad Municipality, Karlstad El & Stadsnät, RISE Service Labs, MSB, Tieto, CGI, Nordic Medtest, Effect Management and Xmentor Management.