Lorna Bartram, AI Transformation Strategist – Healthcare at AI Sweden, led and coordinated the project. She views the mapping as tangible proof that AI has become a working reality in Nordic healthcare.
“AI in Nordic healthcare is no longer just a matter of potential. A significant share of what we documented is already in daily operation. The question now is how we scale what works so it becomes accessible to everyone, and how we identify the applications that deliver real value,” she says.
The mapping, jointly developed in the spring of 2026 by all five Nordic countries with funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers' eHealth Group, is a concrete initiative within New Nordics AI aimed at accelerating the use of AI in the region and transforming successful local solutions into cross-border benefits.
“This is exactly the sort of Nordic overview we need to be able to highlight solutions that work and scale up their benefits more quickly across the Nordic region,” says Cecilia Leveaux, representative of the Nordic Council of Ministers on the board of New Nordics AI.
Clinical care and diagnostics lead the way
With one third of the projects fully operational, real-world applications include speech recognition that frees up time for healthcare personnel, image analysis that assists radiologists across multiple sites, and automated monitoring that reduces manual routine work.
Across the Nordic region as a whole, the largest documented area for AI is clinical care and diagnostics, which also boasts the highest number of fully implemented initiatives. This is followed by administrative support for healthcare staff.
Differences between countries are evident across specific application areas. For instance, in stroke diagnostics and breast cancer screening, different countries and regions are at varying stages, some have solutions in daily operation, while others are just getting started. This makes the survey a valuable resource through which anyone starting out in a given field can connect with someone who has already made the journey.
“The core idea is to increase transparency and make it easier for Nordic decision-makers and healthcare organisations to learn from one another instead of trying to solve the same problems in isolation,” says Lorna Bartram.
Annemieke Ålenius, chair of the Nordic Council of Ministers' eHealth Group and senior adviser to AI Sweden and the Swedish eHealth Agency, sees great value in closer cooperation among the Nordic countries.
“Developments in AI are moving rapidly, so staying up to date and collaborating are essential. If we keep the Nordic effort aligned and speak with a unified voice, especially as new legislation like the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the AI Act is put into practice, the Nordics can show the world how to implement AI responsibly in healthcare.”
Launch at Nordic Summit
The interactive map will officially launch on 26 August 2026, during the Nordic Conference on AI in University Hospitals at Karolinska University Hospital. The map will also be publicly accessible to explore here: healthmap.newnordics.ai
Facts: The Nordic AI Health Map
The data collection was led collaboratively by Danish Regions and CAI-X in Denmark; the Wellbeing Services Counties through the national SOTE ecosystem (led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health alongside UNA) in Finland; Stafræn heilsa in Iceland; the Norwegian Directorate of Health alongside the four regional health authorities in Norway; and AI Sweden together with the Swedish eHealth Agency in Sweden.
The mapping documents over 800 AI initiatives across publicly funded healthcare in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. The framework categorises these efforts into eight usage areas and three implementation phases: concept, pilot and routine operation.
Data collection took place in the spring of 2026. This mapping is an initial release and will continue to be updated and expanded throughout the year. The project was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers' eHealth Group, with data visualisations developed by Datastory.
