Arendalsuka 2026 - it is time to turn ambition into action

Together with our cluster partners Oslo Cancer Cluster and The Life Science Cluster, Norway Health Tech brought together politicians, entrepreneurs and industry leaders for the debate Norway 2030: Ambition Alone Is Not Enough.

Norway has strong research environments, unique health data and a growing health industry. Yet progress remains too slow when it comes to turning research into jobs, industrial growth and better healthcare services. The entrepreneurs on stage described how promising projects often stall between pilot and implementation. Ishita Barua challenged Norway’s ability to translate research into industry. She pointed to how innovation ecosystems in the United States connect capital, expertise and execution far more effectively, and warned that Norway risks continuing to lose both companies and talent to faster-moving markets. She also highlighted the lack of risk capital as one of the main reasons why research and innovation too rarely result in industrial growth.

– When someone comes forward with a great idea, we need to respond to its potential. That mindset has to become second nature, Barua argued.

Politicians Tone Trøen (Conservative Party) and Faranak Barami (Labour Party) acknowledged that the ambitions are largely in place, but that they too often fail to translate into action further down the system. Barami invited both entrepreneurs and clusters to continue the dialogue at the Norwegian Parliament following Arendalsuka.

Fv. Sveinung Tornås, CEO i Norway Health Tech, Ishita Barua, CEO Engram, Tone Trøen, Stortingsrepresentant (H).

Norway risks losing valuable value creation

Akigai, founded by cancer specialists Christian Kersten and Marte Cameron, has spent the past fifteen years developing a treatment for CRPS, a severe chronic pain condition that affects around ten percent of the population. The company is now approaching a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial, with hopes of enrolling its first patient in January 2027.

The trial itself is fully funded. However, to build the organisation needed to commercialise the treatment, Kersten estimates that Akigai will require around NOK 500 million in additional capital. According to Kersten, that funding will most likely have to come from US investors.

– Capital usually comes with a condition: the business is expected to move to where the money comes from. It's not a threat, it’s simply the reality, Kersten told MedWatch after the event.

He is not asking for direct public funding, but rather for a loan guarantee that would make it possible to continue building the company in Norway. Akigai currently manufactures its tablets in India, and Kersten says the company would gladly move production back to Norway if the framework conditions were right.

Her kan du lese artikkelen om Akigai i MedWatch

Patients gain more power, but still need people

The Health2B seminar “The Healthcare Services of the Future: When Technology Empowers Patients and Shifts Power” drew a full house, with nearly 800 people following the livestream. Representatives from healthcare services, patient organisations, public authorities and industry gathered to discuss what happens when citizens gain greater access to knowledge and digital tools to manage their own health.

– Being self-reliant should not mean being alone, said Magne Wang Fredriksen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Heart and Lung Patient Organisation (LHL). In his view, digitalisation cannot replace patient communities and family caregivers. Technology must be built around people, not instead of them.

Sveinung Tornås used a simple comparison to illustrate why health data must be understandable, not just accessible.

– Nobody would use online banking if all they could see was their account number. When people gain better insight into their own health, they are also able to take greater responsibility themselves. That frees up capacity for those who need healthcare services the most.

The patient perspective was also central when Tornås joined Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, Secretary General of the Norwegian Cancer Society, for a stage of Relay for Life. Patient organisations, healthcare providers and industry represent different parts of the ecosystem, but their interests are closely aligned. If Norway is to move from ambition to implementation, they must stand behind the same priorities and advocate together towards those who shape the framework conditions.

– Collaborations like this are important to us. Together, we have far greater influence on those who set the framework conditions than we do individually, says Tornås.

A full house at the Health2B event. Foto: Anne Marie Korsberg Stokke

Now we need to move from ambition to action

Scaling was one of the most frequently used words at the healthcare events the cluster participated in during Arendalsuka. Everyone talks about the need to scale successful solutions. Far fewer are clear about what it will actually take to make that happen.

On 1 November, the Healthcare Reform Commission will deliver its report, and expectations are high. After a week in which scaling was a recurring theme, we hope the commission spends less time drawing organisational charts and more time focusing on how technology and better collaboration can help us support more patients with the resources we already have.

– Arendalsuka once again showed that Norway does not lack ambition. What we need now are concrete measures that turn those ambitions into reality, concludes Tornås.

Watch recordings from our events during Arendalsuka 2026 :

• Fremtidens helsetjeneste: Når teknologi frigjør pasienten og flytter makt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fWIZrURBk&t=2155s
• Norge 2030: Ambisjoner holder ikke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDmy6q6Bd-U&t=1474s
• Hvordan ruste opp og operasjonalisere innovasjonsoppdraget? Opptak kommer