We also continue with well-known events, with Innovation 2026 taking place in February, a DIG corporate workshop on the Silver Economy in April, and a new Norwegian AI Landscape Report before summer.
Bram Timmermans, head of DIG
The Fifth DIG Christmas letter
Dear partners, colleagues, and friends of DIG, As we approach the holidays, we mark a small but significant anniversary: this is the fifth time we are sending out our Christmas letter. And while snow appears to be confined to the Norwegian mountains this Christmas, we can look back at a memorable year while also looking forward to an exciting 2026.
From the launch of the Norwegian Innovation Index 2025 in February, April's workshop with Gjensidige and KPMG on AI as virtual workforce, to May's launch of the Norwegian AI Landscape Report mapping 350 companies, through packed Arendalsuka sessions where people peered through the portholes of Vestlandsbåten, and culminating in our DIG Summit on AI in a changing geopolitical landscape, 2025 demonstrated DIG's role as Norway's leading AI for Business research center.
The year brought critical insights on organizational transformation, confirmed Norway's strength in niche AI adoption (even as top companies departed), and ended with the exciting appointment of Liv Dingsør, CEO in Digital Norway as DIG Fellow 2025.
DIG is not only a research center delivering high-quality research published in top journals, but also serves as a dissemination arena featuring at events large and small and developing more popular outreach through podcasts and Substacks, a training arena active across all our programs including NHH's executive training, and an innovation arena developing new tools like the AI interviewer and AI-accelerated Innovation Sprint.
2025 brought significant changes to our research team. In May, DIG founder Tor Wallin Andreassen retired from NHH, though he continues as an active researcher affiliated with DIG as professor emeritus. We celebrated DIG colleagues transitioning into key leadership positions, with Helge Thorbjørnsen becoming NHH Rector and Magne Angelshaug stepping into the role of CEO at SNF. At the same time, we strengthened our research capacity with new faculty members, welcoming Jialei Yang and Alexander Lundervold, both with strong research profiles in AI and innovation.
We also welcomed the Knowledge Center for Extended Working Life as our new partner. This strengthens our research agenda addressing demographic challenges affecting both the labor market and the welfare state. This builds on the Silver Economy research already underway at DIG, which will receive increased capacity going forward
Looking ahead to 2026, we have plenty in the works. Several new research projects kick off in the new year, and we are excited to strengthen connections with industry and academia in Norway, including through Digdir's new AI Norway initiative and building new partnerships that not only strengthen DIG but also NHH more broadly. DIG is gaining visibility abroad, creating new opportunities for research collaboration at Nordic and EU levels.
We also continue with well-known events, with Innovation 2026 taking place in February, a DIG corporate workshop on the Silver Economy in April, and a new Norwegian AI Landscape Report before summer. Here we will also draw on new NHH venues like the extended NHH campus on Drammensveien in Oslo and NHH Connect at the railway station in Bergen. We see both dissemination and new training initiatives here, including the new AI and Technology Management program to be launched in spring 2026.
As a closure, this leaves me to thank all my colleagues at DIG, the Department of Strategy and Management, and NHH more broadly. A big thank you to DIG's strategic partners, what we build is important and relevant, and the structures we have established in DIG will become more important in the future, not only for DIG but for NHH in general. Finally, I would also like to extend a thank you to the board of DIG for their strategic contributions throughout the year. A special thanks to Rune Skjelvan from KPMG for his engagement in this important role.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a bright 2026!
Bram Timmermans
Research Director of DIG