The primary aim of KartAi is to make the municipal processing of building and construction cases more efficient and automated. This will be achieved by increasing the quality of the national property registry and map databases (SFKB) through artificial intelligence. Additionally, the project will develop automated processes which can enter into dialogue with citizens and landowners.
The project has three sub-goals, which demonstrate the potentially far-reaching impact of this innovative research project:
- KartAi will be able to identify buildings by using different data sources, such as laser data, aerial photos and crowd-sourcing. This will be achieved by creating a “geo data pool” with data sources which are optimised for artificial intelligence and big data analysis.
- The programme will be able to identify buildings which are less than 50 square metres in a selected area in Kristiansand by utilising and creating new artificial intelligence algorithms from the geo data pool. Typically, these are buildings which are not previously registered and which are exempt from the obligation to apply to the municipality for building permissions. This function will thereby create a better foundation for decision-making in municipal case processing.
- By facilitating dialogue with inhabitants and increasing the quality of the national property registry and map databases in a reliable and automatised manner, KartAi will ensure more effective case processing.
Additionally, the project aims to:
- develop national standards and protocols for storage, interface, events and architecture which ensure national scaling and effective use of data across existing data silos through Ai/machine learning technology.
- develop state-of-the-art machine learning models which contribute towards a better foundation for decision-making within municipal case processing by using cross-sectoral data (aerial photography, drone photography, technical-municipal data, citizen data). These models build on research from previous projects, as well as new research on multimodal transformers.
- ensure more effective case processing and social sustainability through automatised, reliable and ethical quality improvement of national cadastre and map databases, based on proactive data-driven involvement of citizens.
Collaboration
The KartAi project is based on a collaboration between Kristiansand Municipality (the project owner), Kartverket, Norkart AS and the University of Agder. It receives financial support from the research council of Norway (Forskningsrådet) and runs from 2023-2026. There has been much interest in the project from actors from across the sector, including several municipalities, public authorities and research institutions. The original project was initiated by Alexander Salveson Nossum, Norkart AS; Terje Nuland, Kristiansand Kommune; Lars Fredrik Gyland and Ivar Oveland, Kartverket. In the national project, Venke Moe has now taken over for Terje Nuland, as he has since retired.
The project places much emphasis on involving students and relevant research departments. So far, the partners have already put more than 15.000 hours into the project! Additionally, there are plans to involve and partially finance two PhD students and one PostDoc at the University of Agder. Moreover, at least 10-15 master dissertation projects and final-year bachelor projects will be tied into the project.
Bringing together the public and the private sector.
Collaboration between the public and private sectors has been an incredibly valuable resource in the KartAi-project by merging different perspectives, areas of expertise and capabilities. The public sector brings an understanding of regulatory requirements and civil rights, while the private sector often functions as a driver for innovation, efficiency and economic growth. This makes it possible for us to create robust and comprehensive solutions which address current needs and are valuable to society. By bringing these two sectors together, we can create ground-breaking solutions which challenge the status quo and create lasting changes. Furthermore, this type of cooperation can help us prepare for future challenges and explore the possibilities within artificial intelligence and geographical information. This is just the beginning of an exciting journey and we look forward to seeing what the future has to offer – and not least to explore the potential of the ripple-effects of the KartAi-project.
More information about the project: Om KartAi – KartAi