TITLE: Features of the Finnish Innovation System

SPEAKER: Professor Tuomo Kassi

The story of Finland was a success story in the 20th century economically. Finland became particularly visible as a successful high technology country since the middle of 1980s. In that time the technology policy of the country became more intensive, as the public agency called The Center of Innovation and Development (TEKES) was established to support the R&D projects of companies and technology capability accumulation in the universities and research institutions. The innovation policy has the good consensus support of the whole population. The innovation policy and the innovation system have very much a cluster based structure. Many international indicators showed the policy working surprisingly well. Those positive signs were among others in innovativeness, growth competitiveness, quality of life, gender equality, security, education, health care, expectancy of life, environment. But latest in 2008 it turned out that many of these indicators were measuring wrong things.   

The innovation system does not make the promising start-up companies to grow large. The economic environment does not attract Finnish and international companies to invest in Finland. The innovation support policy does not hit the goal, as the clusters broke out and the companies work in international company networks.  The country should be now searching for a new paradigm and new guidelines for industrial, technology and innovation policy. How could the research help in this search?  

Biography                     

Tuomo Kässi has basic education in two areas: he has passed M.Sc. degrees in technical physics and in economics. He completed his D.Sc.  in subject of Industrial Engineering and Management after 25 years work in companies  in 1997.  Dr. Kässi became invited to professor´s chair in Lappeenranta University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering  and Management in 2000. Since then he has been teaching product development, product and technology strategy, innovation management and corporate strategy, and courses in forest industry. He has been academic director of many public-private research partnership projects. He has supervised and examined close to 400 Master´s theses and ten dissertations of D.Sc. He has published in international journals.  Currently Professor Kässi´s research interests are in evolution / transformation of industries, patent research, product platforms and modularization, and combining products and services in offering.