pilotprosjekt

A pilotprosjekt is a temporary, small-scale implementation of a proposed solution or program designed to test feasibility, performance, and impacts before a full-scale rollout. The concept is used worldwide across sectors such as government, information technology, health care, education, and urban planning. A pilotprosjekt differs from a full project by its reduced scope, shorter duration, and higher tolerance for learning and adaptation during the early phase.

Typical characteristics include clearly defined objectives and success criteria, a bounded scope, a specified time frame, and structured data collection. It involves limited locations, user groups, or processes to ensure manageability, with a governance framework and engaged stakeholders from relevant organizations.

Lifecycle: planning and design, implementation in a restricted context, ongoing monitoring and data collection, and formal evaluation against predefined criteria. The outcome is a go/no-go decision on scaling, adapting, or terminating the initiative. When successful, pilotprosjekt informs a business case and broader deployment plan.

Benefits include reduced risk and uncertainty, faster feedback, refined cost estimates, and better stakeholder buy-in. Limitations include potential non-representativeness of pilot findings, the risk of artificial results due to the pilot setting, and resource needs for scaling up. Proper design and independent evaluation help mitigate these issues.

Examples of pilotprosjekter include government digital-service pilots, health-care pilots for new care pathways, energy or smart-city pilots, and pilots in education or municipal planning.