Sør-Varanger Utvikling (SVU), High North Development Group (HNDG), and NTNU have teamed up to start the development project "The Digital Coast - the future of coastal communities".

The former director of Arctic Frontiers, Øle Øvretveit (47), relocates from Bergen to Kirkenes to become the project leader of the new initiative to develop Norway's coastal areas.

That is reported in a press release by Sør-Varanger Utvikling.

The project, which is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Government Administration and Reform, will explore how technology can facilitate coastal areas that struggle with decline and displacement to gain access to expertise, educational opportunities, research, and the growth of new businesses. According to the project's newly appointed leader, Ole Øvretveit, this is one of the country's biggest challenges.

"According to the report "Det handler om Norge – Utredning om konsekvenser av demografiutfordringer i distriktene”, we have approximately 30 years to reverse the downward trend in the coastal districts," says Øvretveit. These communities need young, competent, and enterprising people in order to have a future.

Øvretveit himself comes from a small coastal village on Sotra and has always had a professional interest in the sea. He has also worked as a fisher, written a master's thesis on demarcation in the northern regions, worked with the University of Bergen's sea initiative, and was the director of Arctic Frontiers in Tromsø.