Use cases in the project

1. Smart ID use case
Led by LTU

Problem
Study blockchains as a tool to establish global identification, study how biometrics can be combined and stored in a blockchain so that real-time biometric identification can be performed against a globally trusted system.

Solution
Development of a credit history or verifiable economic identity to “unbanked/under-banked” individuals among indigenous aboriginal people populating the Kolarctic region. Facilitation of movement of people within the Barents Euro-Arctic Region.
2. Smart Road use case
Led by UiT

Problem
Sudden changes of the weather, between freezing temperatures and mild weather with rain, are common during the wintertime in Barents Euro-Arctic region. This in combination with the topography consisting of steep hills and fjords makes the driving conditions challenging.

Solution
Investigate technology and organizational issues related to the utilization of public infrastructure for data collection and analysis, in particular, instrumentation of waste collecting vehicles. By measuring parameters and geometry related to the roads, waste-collecting services can provide information of great value for winter maintenance of public roads, and for scheduling of own and other commuter services.
3. Connected Deer use-case
Led by Lapland UAS

Problem
industrialization brought modern transportation to the Barents and Euro-Arctic region, and this has a negative impact on reindeers, which often participate in road accidents.

Solution
IoT inspired digital platform with the capability to provide a range of services that will ensure the safety of reindeer on roads. The platform comprises a robust, wirelessly enabled, high node-count sensor network gathering data from individual animals and a cloud-based environment. The platform is scalable in terms of the number of animals. It will result in avoided collisions with animals, reduce delays and improve traffic safety on exposed sections of roads and railways.

Reindeer owner’s positive experience of animal tracking: “It saves us time and money”

Lapland UAS DIT4BEARS team visited reindeer owner on field trip. The DIT4BEARS team has planned a couple of field trips during this autumn. On these trips we visit and interview reindeer owners in northern Finland.

These interviews are related to our use case in DIT4BEARS project. We focus on these themes:

  • The movement and activity of reindeer
  • Usage and experiences of reindeer tracking solutions
  • Using and sharing of reindeer tracking data
  • Intentions to invest in tracking devices

In our Connected Reindeer use case, the main goal is to improve traffic safety by preventing reindeer accidents. Our host on the first field trip was Mikko Koskenniemi. Team spent couple of hours discussing the themes with Mikko. We met at his house in Pello in the western border of Lapland. The place was right beside the Tornio River. The interview was very informative. We gained insights on attitudes of reindeer owner regarding the tracking of the animals. Currently, there are many benefits of the tracking solutions for the reindeer owners. However, their use in traffic safety has still room for improvement. Annually 4.000 reindeer are lost in traffic accidents in Lapland.  Sufficient usage of reindeer tracking devices is important in improving road safety. Tracking data should be more real-time. Another thing is the sharing of reindeer tracking data to apps that can warn the vehicle drivers. Lapland UAS DIT4BEARS team continues these field trips in autumn 2021 to deepen our understanding of the current situation of reindeer tracking.  

4. Smart Waste use-case
Led by ITMO

Problem
Low efficiency of waste management operations, in particular, waste truck routes require optimization as soon as they deteriorate road situation in large cities.
St. Petersburg use case.

Solution
Citizen-centric waste management application. See picture below.

Living Lab



The project uses a Living Lab methodology. Below you can read more about the key points of it.

What is Living Lab?

A Living Lab can be viewed as a milieu for innovation. In this milieu, certain components are important to be able to facilitate the innovation process with its stakeholders. The important components of a Living Lab are Approach, ICT & Infrastructure, Management, Partners & Users and Research. Hence, a Living Lab should focus on building relation with partners and users to be involved in innovation processes.

Main Living Lab principles are:
  • Early and continious engagement of all relevant stakeholders and users, preferably engaging Quadruple helix, i.e., public sector, private sector, research institutions and users/citizens

  • Value co-creation for all stakeholders

  • Opennes and transparency

  • Iterative process, meaning to be inclusive to receive and apply feedback in all phases

  • Real life experimentation

  • Distribute the power of decision making between all stakeholders and users

  • Identify the stakeholders’ needs, motivations and expectations

Botnia Living Labs


At Luleå University of Technology you can find Botnia Living Labs - a world-leading environment for user-centric research, development and innovation (RDI), instrumented by methods, tools and experts, for interaction with user groups.

At Botnia we plan, run and lead experimental pilots with users and other stakeholders in their real life context.

FormIT Methodology handbook

FormIT is a methodology that is developed to suit and support Living Lab activities. Three theoretical streams inspire it: Soft Systems Thinking, Appreciative Inquiry, and NeedFinding.