The North Denmark Region (Region Nordjylland), responsible for healthcare and social services in northern Denmark, announced that it is taking steps to enhance its use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The region has partnered with the Danish AI platform GRACE from 2021.AI to develop and manage its AI solutions securely and responsibly.
By using its IT infrastructure, the region ensures that all critical data remains under its control while fully complying with GDPR.
The announcement comes around one year after the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) entered into force.
2021. AI: Making AI technology accessible
Mikael Munck founded 2021.AI in late 2016 to make advanced AI technology accessible to all organisations.
Since its inception, the Danish firm has helped organisations implement AI through three main components –models, a platform, and governance. The company’s GRACE AI platform focuses on responsible and ethical AI use in line with global regulations.
Currently, 2021, AI operates in five locations and has over 75 employees. Additionally, the platform collaborates with more than 25 partners and has completed over 110 AI projects worldwide.
GRACE: Hosted in the region’s own IT infrastructure
The GRACE platform, developed in Denmark, will be hosted on the region’s own IT infrastructure. This move allows the region to maintain full data control while ensuring compliance with strict European data privacy regulations.
A local IT setup with a locally hosted AI platform ensures that the region’s critical data remains entirely under its control.
“To execute our AI ambitions securely and responsibly, we needed a platform that provides a responsible foundation, one that allows us to scale our AI projects quickly and efficiently and create real value with AI,” says Klaus Larsen, CIO of North Denmark Region (Region Nordjylland).
Klaus Larsen, an expert in the national Public Sector AI Taskforce, sees this investment as key to keeping North Denmark Region’s leadership in practical and responsible AI implementation across the Nordics.
Already, the region has over 400 users working with AI models across departments—and that’s just the beginning.
Throughout 2025, Region Nordjylland plans to expand its AI portfolio with projects focused on healthcare, administrative efficiency, and citizen-facing services.
Handles full AI lifecycle
The platform is designed to handle the full AI lifecycle securely and responsibly—from development to operations.
It supports all types of AI, including large language models (LLMs), while giving organisations the ability to centralise governance, documentation, and monitoring of all AI activities.
“It’s fantastic to support the Danish public sector with practical AI implementation. Security, responsibility, and a strong technological foundation are essential to scaling AI from early pilots to hundreds of models in production. The agreement with the North Denmark Region is a major milestone for us,” says Mikael Munck, CEO and Founder of 2021.AI.
Climate Data Agency rolls out generative AI to all staff
Joining this momentum is the Danish Agency for Climate Data (Klimadatastyrelsen), which is now rolling out generative AI tools to all employees.
In collaboration with Statens IT and 2021.AI, the agency has implemented a secure, server-based AI solution to empower staff while maintaining strict data protection protocols.
“We believe we can reap significant benefits by using generative AI in our work. That’s why we’re now rolling it out to all our employees. Together with Statens IT and 2021.AI, we’re doing this in a secure environment, so our staff can feel completely confident using the new tools,” says Rikke Hougaard Zeberg, Director of The Danish Agency for Climate Data.
The rollout of AI to all employees is part of a broader upskilling initiative that includes hands-on training and ongoing staff support.
The AI system is hosted on-premise via Statens IT’s infrastructure, using high-memory GPU servers to run open-source language models in full GDPR compliance.
“As an IT provider to government agencies, we must be able to deliver solutions for the new technologies our clients are requesting. At the same time, we must guarantee IT security across the public sector. Together with The Danish Agency for Climate Data, we’ve created a strong solution that enables a safe rollout of generative AI,” says Michael Ørnø, Director at Statens IT.
Statens IT’s AI infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform supports advanced machine learning workloads and custom LLM deployments, giving agencies flexibility while ensuring all data stays within national borders.
“It’s nothing short of fantastic to be able to support the Danish public sector with secure and responsible AI. Both public and private organisations are increasingly aware of the application risks, technical risks, and regulatory challenges that come with AI. This often means that generative AI solutions remain stuck in the experimental phase and never reach production, where they deliver value,” says Mikael Munck, CEO and Founder of 2021.AI.