Case study: Corona eruption led to "care digitisation" in rocket speed in Østre Toten

- We wanted to prevent the experience of chaos and fear, says project manager in Østre Toten municipality, André Alves. When the pandemic was a fact in Norway as well, and a large number of inhabitants needed quick and safe assistance, Nyby became part of the contingency plan. The result? A "self-organized Unemployment Office", a strong increase in volunteers and more help for the most vulnerable in health and care.

Østre Toten are among the municipalities in the country with the largest production of vegetables. With the spring work coming imminent and no foreign seasonal workers to contribute, the farmers were worried. At the same time, many from Toten were laid off and had spare capacity. One challenge was that the Unemployment Office experienced great deal of pressure and had a hard time dealing with it all. The solution was Nyby, which was established as a point of contact between the unemployed and those in need of labor. In four days, 450 residents had volunteered to help.

- With a “self-organized Unemployment Office”, qualified resources with available capacity can register in the resource pool, where e.g. the farmers outsource various paid work tasks. The parties then enter into an agreement, and that's it! (project manager in Østre Toten municipality, André Alves)

How they got started

As soon as the corona alarm went off, the municipality began to map needs, its existing digital toolbox and what they lacked in order to be able to offer their inhabitants as smooth an everyday life situation as possible in the time that awaited. Nyby was among the solutions that were implemented from the start.

Had we been in normal operation, we would of course have spent more time on mapping needs, but there was no time. Nevertheless, I both believe and hope that we made the right decision regarding the tools we decided to go for and that they meet the needs of the inhabitants. The activity that immediately arose in Nyby and which has only continued, indicates that the solution was an important and correct choice, says Alves..

The pandemic has given the municipality a taste of what is possible to achieve in a short period of time.

Without the corona outbreak, there are several things we had put a five-year perspective on, which have now been done in two months! We probably have greater opportunities than we think. But implementation of technology requires good anchoring and follow-up. We have to readjust and think in a different way, because human resources will be a scarcity in the future, says mayor of Østre Toten municipality, Bror Helgestad.

The collaboration with Nyby started with the submission of necessary support material, before the parties together in a video meeting examined the citizens' needs, potential resources, recruitment and qualification of these. Shortly afterwards, training with a super user was completed. The implementation went very efficiently, and in a few days the people of Toten were ready to create magic with Nyby.

Nyby has done a fantastic job and we have got off to a good start. But it is also important that we now work systematically for people to use the tool in the municipality. We who work in the municipality must also ensure that we use the tool correctly, so that we get the right competence at the right time and place. It does not go by itself, says the mayor of Toten

We immediately experienced a huge influx of people who wanted to register as volunteers. 175 new resources in one day (leader of the cultural unit in Østre Toten municipality, Kjersti Krageberg).

Østre Totens immediate needs during the pandemic

Register and manage residents in need of assistance (due to isolation, etc.)
Recruitment and qualification of volunteers (assists residents with the purchase of groceries, medicines, etc.)
Staffing / recruitment of health personnel

In addition to the aforementioned Unemployment Office, Nyby has been a valuable tool to help our most vulnerable citizens with the purchase of medicines, groceries, telephone contact, etc., and for the recruitment of health personnel. For the latter to get an overview of available resources that could contribute where there was a need for additional staffing. We also have great ambitions with the solution going forward, and also plan to use it as a strategic tool in health and care, Alves concludes.

A digital platform for resource collaboration

Nyby is inspired by the tremendous power of the sharing economy, and is a platform for resource collaboration developed for and with municipalities, local governments and organisations that want to solve important tasks together with employees and residents. The solution was thus spot on for Østre Toten.

Nyby works so that qualified resource persons have access to relevant assignments and get in direct contact with those who need help. It is flexible to contribute: The resource persons only enter into dialogue where they see that they have the opportunity to help, and do not have to say no to anyone. Those in need of assistance do not have to outsource the assignment themselves, but can get help from health personnel, relatives or the like. It is the municipality itself that decides what they want to use Nyby for, what kind of services are to be organised and who is qualified to contribute. Nyby can i.a. also used for:

Resource collaboration across units and departments
Events
Relatives Communication

Sharing experience

During the first week after the corona outbreak, Østre Toten introduced a number of digital tools, not just Nyby! Read the municipality's experience sharing document, on the introduction of, among others, Confrere, Whereby, Kura.no and others.