Västra Götaland Region in Sweden Chooses Proact With NetApp and Nvidia

The Västra Götaland Region(VGR) in Sweden invests in its own AI platform to meet the growing needs of healthcare, culture, public transport and regional development.

Proact IT Group AB  has been selected as the supplier to the Västra Götaland Region following a tender for AI and ML infrastructure.

Proact’s solution is based on technology from NetApp and Nvidia with the reference architecture Ontap AI. The combination of Proact specialists in AI infrastructure and the reference architecture makes it easier for VGR to get started and achieve faster results with AI and ML.

The starting point for VGR’s AI procurement (based on a request for proposal from a frame agreement) was that there is significant work with AI and ML already underway in the region. In the past, these initiatives have had to solve their own computing power needs. In the simplest contexts, an advanced graphics card is sufficient as an engine for AI applications, but cloud services have also been used to provide the computing resources that VGR has lacked until now.

In addition to adding a deal of capacity, the internal AI platform at VGR also makes it easier to deal with data protection and privacy issues that may arise in contexts where sensitive information or personal data is used as input to the calculations.

“The Västra Götaland Region shows how important AI and ML are today – even for an ‘ordinary’ IT organisation. This technology is no longer seen as an exotic specialty but becomes part of the delivery. It is also interesting to see how the use of AI has broadened so that the demand now comes from within the business“, says Roland Fällb, sales manager, Proact in Gothenburg.

Based on its experience in data management, the vendor has developed a solution offering around advanced AI, with infrastructure and complementary services. It already has several commitments as an AI partner to the business community and public sector in the Nordic region. Among the customer assignments are projects at 2 of Sweden’s research centres in AI, at Linköping University (AIDA) and Örebro University as well as the Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland.