BF Roadshow - Boldly Towards Changes

Written by Jussi Meriläinen

Business Finland Roadshow tours Finland’s university clusters this spring. The tour informs the faculties and stakeholders about the renewed research fundings and discusses with them about company and research cooperation.

The Oulu event was attended by Teija Lahti-Nuuttila, Executive Director of Network Services. Her service area advances Finnish innovation and business ecosystems, EU-collaboration and is responsible for Business Finland’s (BF) programs. I interviewed Lahti-Nuuttila about the Roadshow and new research fundings.

” In practice, our job is to build ecosystems of research organizations, corporations, and SMEs”, Lahti-Nuuttila sums up. “We try to help our customers in forming networks and, for example, encourage and evaluate possible growth ideas.

How to Confront Universities?

Research organizations are valuable customers of Business Finland. Lahti-Nuuttila highlights the importance of listening and collecting feedback. That is why these meetings approaches the research-company-collaboration through organizations own models. “For example, great thing in Oulu is the KAM-model and how systematically it’s utilized to build contacts to businesses.”

KAM refers to Key Account Managers appointed into faculties.

Lahti-Nuuttila stresses that instead of comparing universities they want to create national collaboration between organizations and utilize their strong sides. “In Finland it is important to work together, so we can make it in the global market.”

She also mentions that there has been a demand for multidisciplinary approach in the workshops: “It is important to get, for example, human and behavioral sciences along, when technology and business models are discussed. Different combinations of skills are even more needed in the future!”

Funding Reforms to Increase International Cooperation

Lahti-Nuuttila brings up two clear changes. The funding now going by name Co-research is added with leading company partnerships into BFs programs. Now it’s possible to do research calls with different thematic programs when the perspective of research organizations is needed in establishing or directing said programs.

Secondly, they want to reward international cooperation in criteria of Co-Research and Co-Innovation funding, and it can now raise projects funding level. In practice, a close cooperation is an international joint project or researcher exchange of over three months. The wish behind this is people being more eager to join international joint projects from Finland.

It was stressed in the funding info that Finland has committed in increasing R&D investments into 4 % of GDP. BFs Esa Panula-Ontto emphasized the pillar of Finland’s success, the growth based on competence. This requires more growth-oriented SMEs getting into research projects in addition to research-heavy big businesses.

A part of the growth target would come from companies and their portions to be financed. Mutually the funding mechanisms should be developed to meet the needs of SMEs.

What's to come?

Needs for possible new funding instruments are analyzed, but according to Lahti-Nuuttila, the best for the customers is predictability. “The changes made should be beneficial, we don’t want to constantly change the instruments.”

In conclusion of our discussion, Teija Lahti-Nuuttila encourages Oulu into digitalization of businesses: “The productivity should be increased by digital solutions. Oulu has plenty of ICT and Digital know-how, which could be base for this kind of development.”

She also encourages to think big: "World around us is changing, and business will change with it. We should go for that change leaning forward!”