NordForsk awards funding for research on responsible AI and security
NordForsk has granted funding to 17 new projects that examine the ethical application of AI. These projects aim to maximise the benefits of AI while minimising the associated risks and threats.
Under a separate funding programme, NordForsk will support seven new consortium projects focusing on security and resilience across the Nordic and Baltic regions.
NordForsk has provided funding for research projects headed by Professors Kaisa Väänänen, Elina I. Mäkinen and Tuomas Forsberg at Tampere University.
Responsible use of AI in the energy sector and blue-collar work
Kaisa Väänänen, Professor of Human-Technology Interaction at Tampere University, leads the consortium project titled Nordic Perspectives on Collaborative AI for Blue-collar Work (CAI-BLUE). This project investigates how collaborative AI agents – adaptive and interactive systems that work alongside human teams – can support communication, learning and shared understanding in blue-collar workplaces across the Nordic countries. Unlike AI systems focused on automation or surveillance, these agents are designed to empower workers by assisting in troubleshooting work-related issues, facilitating multilingual communication, documenting complex processes, and providing context-aware feedback to both individual workers and teams.
CAI-BLUE seeks to improve our understanding of how AI adoption in blue-collar contexts can not only be ethically sound but also promote well-being and professional growth among workers.
The CAI-BLUE consortium brings together expertise from Tampere University, Aalborg University, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Stockholm University, spanning the disciplines of human-computer interaction, workplace studies and organisational psychology.
Elina I. Mäkinen is a Professor of Science, Technology and Organisations and oversees a subproject within the consortium titled Organizing Across Boundaries for Responsible Use of AI (ORBIT). ORBIT employs the concept of accountability infrastructures to examine how stakeholders in the Nordic energy sector develop new practices in response to AI regulations, ethical norms and societal expectations. The project focuses on national transmission system operators (TSOs) in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway as well as the Nordic Regional Coordination Centre (RCC), which facilitates collaboration among national TSOs in AI deployment, for example.
The consortium includes researchers from Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In addition to Professor Elina I. Mäkinen, University Lecturer Heli Helanummi-Cole from the Faculty of Management and Business (MAB) at Tampere University will participate in this project. Other members of the consortium include Professor Kasper T. Elmholdt from Aalborg University, Professor Kajsa Lindberg from the University of Gothenburg, and Professor Bjørn Erik Mørk from BI Norwegian Business School. Professor Elmholdt leads the consortium.
Rethinking security collaboration in the Nordic region
Professor of International Relations Tuomas Forsberg leads a subproject within the NORDSECURE consortium.
The Nordic region has long been regarded as a model security community, characterised by mutual trust, shared identity and routinised cooperation. However, recent antagonistic threats have revealed fractures within this ideal. NORDSECURE addresses this uncertainty by introducing the concept of securitising communities of practice. The consortium shifts the focus from formal cooperation and elite-level declarations to everyday routines, shared understandings and practical operations that sustain collaboration and security.
Professor Forsberg is responsible for developing a theoretical framework for the project and conducting case studies in Finland.
Empirical research will focus on three critical domains: military threats, maritime sabotage and disinformation. By revitalising security community theory to address contemporary hybrid threats, this project aims to strengthen resilience, improve coordination and support coherent governance across the Nordic and Baltic regions.
NordForsk press releases:
Seven new research projects to strengthen resilience in the Nordic and Baltic regions
