With the meticulous arrangements from Finnish side, I was able to experience very substantial innovative trip for one week. I was accompanied by Mr. Kimmo Heinonen, Innovation Development Manager of Culminatum Ltd Co. He arranged every meeting very scrupulously, and his professionalism and attentiveness were very impressive.  I visited almost every important agency of Finnish national innovation system. However, most important among those were the following institutions: Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Aalto University, Tekes, VTT, Vantaa Innovation Institute, Culminatum Innovation Ltd, Sitra, and others.  Besides, I also visited and learned about Chinese-owned start-up company, several science parks, and enterprises there as well.

Finland is the world’s first country which applies the theory of National Innovation System into practice.  At present, Finland has become one of the most innovative and competitive countries in the world.  By 2020, Finland will become one of the leading knowledge-based societies in the world.  Overall, the national innovation system has been established successfully in Finland, it has formed an effective operation of the system from which China can learn.  The Innovation Department of Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy is responsible for implementation of the national innovation strategy and coordinates various agencies of the innovative services.

Following is the summary of the main institutions:

TEKES (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) is the main public funding organization for research (basic or long-term research), development and innovation in Finland.  It gives funding to various institutions – be it enterprises, universities or institutes, and it requires integration of production, teaching, and research, which eventually generates a series of achievable innovations that could drive the formation of industrial clusters.

SITRA is an independent innovative funding agency, which is mainly responsible for fostering the transformation of technologies and providing financial support for commercialization.

VTT is the national technology research center which is also the largest multidisciplinary research institution in Nordic countries.  VTT provides one stop services starting from innovative concept to the scientific research, and also outsourcing services.

The main function of Culminatum is managing the expertise clusters in Helsinki region.

At noon of March 8th, I visited the headquarters of Greater Helsinki Promotion (GHP) accompanied by Mr. Kimmo Heinonen, Innovation Development Manager of Culminatum Ltd Co. and Ms. Zhang An, Chief Representative at GHP Shanghai rep. office. CEO of GHP, Mr. Tatu Laurila gave us a presentation of the general functions of GHP.

The main purpose of GHP is to attract the investment and development to greater Helsinki region from all over the world.  So far, the well-known Chinese companies such as Huawei, ZTE, and BYD have set their R&D centers in Helsinki.

GHP is active in searching further co-operation with relevant ministries in China to help more Chinese enterprises to expand their businesses to Nordic markets.  Golden Bridge is a very important bilateral cooperation initiative between Chinese and Finnish governments.  Currently, Greater Helsinki Promotion Ltd acts as the project leader from Finnish side, co-operating with S&T bureau and also high-tech incubator center of its first Chinese partner Shenzhen Nanshan.

In Finland, there are many innovation talents, and country provides excellent innovation atmosphere.  Chinese enterprises could consider setting their affiliates or R&D centers in Finland if they would like to enter Nordic market.

In the morning of March 8th, accompanied by Mr. Kimmo Heinonen, Innovation Development Manager of Culminatum Ltd Co., I visited and learned about the innovation centre of Aalto University called Design Factory. Director of the Design Factory Mr. Veijo Ilmavirta and Mr. Kalevi Ekman not only gave us a very thorough presentation, but also guided us on a tour through the whole design factory.

Aalto University was officially established on January 1, 2010, and it is a combination of three Finnish universities after their merger – Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology, and The University of Art and Design Helsinki.  The ambitious goal of the new university is to become one of the leading institutions in the world regarding research and innovation in its own specialized disciplines.

Design Factory is an interactive platform of product design and learning hub, which brings students, teachers, researchers and business people together.  Design Factory is an experimental platform of Aalto University, started in October 2008.  Another Design Factory, Aalto Tongji Design Factory is under establishment within the cooperation between Aalto University and Tongji University in China, and is planned to be started in March 2010.

An innovative city like Shenzhen should also strengthen cooperation with Aalto University in order to create a better innovation environment for innovators, providing concept generation and sharing the inspiration for innovative ideas.