Ailin is the director and a senior researcher at Telemark Research Institute. Since the spring of 2019, she has also been a part-time PhD-candidate at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her PhD aims to contribute to knowledge about influential factors and the outcomes of collaborative innovation in the local public sector. Collaborative innovation occurs when citizens and other private actors are actively engaged in a collective deliberate decision-making process, with a goal to design and implement new, creative solutions to address specific policy problems.

She has worked as a researcher at Telemark Research since 2004. From 2014 to 2018, she was the finance manager in Telemark County Council, and part of the executive management team. Ailin has experience from operational management and leadership and researching the same topics. Her idea is that research and innovation, both in and with the municipal sector can contribute to improve and more efficient municipal services. Experience suggests that the municipal sector strive to be innovative, and requires research-based partners to realise their own innovative potential.

Research group: Municipal and regional development