1. Coordinating and launching the
ecosystem
Gran Concepción 6th October 2014
Roope Ritvos / Forum Virium Helsinki
Development Director, Innovation Communities

2. PRESENTATION TODAY
1. Helsinki, Smart City
2. Launching the ecosystem
– setting up Forum Virium 2005
3. Choosing the actors
– lessons learned at FVH
20 min

3. New digital service innovations
in cooperation with companies,
public sector organizations and citizens.
Forum Virium Helsinki is a part of the City of Helsinki Group.

7. Games
Startup
Capital
of
World
(2014
Develop)
1
of
Startup
Hotspots
of
the
World
(various)

8. Smart
City
City as an interface
International harmonization
Opening up
public data
City Service Development Kit
Open Helsinki

10. Helsinki
Facts
&
figures
Forum
Virium
Facts
&
figures
• Turnover
3,4
M€
• 35
persons
• Project
por5olio:
13
M€
(Fin),
51
M€
(total)
• Growth
app.
15%
/
year
• Basic
funding
from
the
City
of
Helsinki,
25%
• Project
funding,
FP7
etc.
50%
• Commissions
20%
• Membership
fees
5%
• 1M
people
• Rovio
(Angry
Birds),
Nokia
HQ
• 7
UniversiVes
• World’s
Most
Livable
City
(various
years)
• World
Design
Capital
2012
• (one
of)
World
Startup
Capitals
(Wired
etc.)
• Smart
City
Top-­‐10,
Top-­‐6
lists
(various
years)

11. Finland
govt
Social
&
Healthcare
dept
Econo
mic
dev
dept
City
planning
dept
…
-­‐
Smart
City
World
Design
Capital
-­‐
Design
Driven
City
City
of
Vantaa
City
of
Espoo
Start-­‐Up
&
SME
Companies
Private
Sector
/
Big
Companies
University
of
Helsinki
VTT,
7
other
universiVes
SHOK
-­‐
RDI
EIT
ICT
Labs
-­‐
RDI
Aalto
University
Greater
Helsinki
PromoMon
-­‐
Invest
In
ICT
dept
6
largest
ciVes’
smart
city
office
Uusimaa
Regional
Council
Culminatum+
Ltd
-­‐
Economic
development
-­‐
ex-­‐
Triple-­‐
helix
cluster
SIMPLIFIED
VERSION
OF
SMART
CITY
ECOSYSTEM
IN
HELSINKI:
€
/
Ownership

12. Coordinating and
launching the
ecosystem: case
Forum Virium

13. 2005: Let’s set up Forum Virium
• Companies - Nokia, YLE, IBM, Siemens and 14 others -
proposed to set up an innovation platform for
development of digital services through collaboration
• ”Industry-driven cluster project”
• Ecosystem scenery around:
§ Nokia going strong
§ Regional triple-helix cluster Culminatum facilitating innovation
ecosystem and doing technology transfer
§ A few SME incubators, Software Entpreneurship Association, Tekes,
SITRA
§ 2002 startup hype bubble burst -- not yet the current startup setup
§ Mobile games was a hobby for nerds, not business

14. Vision for 2015
“Forum Virium Helsinki has made the Helsinki
Metropolitan Area and Finland an internationally
recognised showcase for digital services, in the
process attracting a number of top-level international
organisations as partners. Forum Virium Helsinki is the
EU’s central node in the development of the sector’s
products and services. The program has enabled
companies to generate significant international
business."

15. Private
companies
Public
Sector
Networks

16. Childhood, 2005 - 2008
• Joint Venture (Ltd) with companies and city as
shareholders
• Industry-specific technology push activities, like Mobile TV
(DVB-H)
• Focus areas: Healthcare, Retail, Education, Traffic Control,
Info and Entertainment, Multi-Channel Distribution
”Lot of planning and talking, not so much actual doing or
results”
Ø Commitment challenges, especially where public sector
involvement needed (e.g. healthcare)
Ø Operationalizing challenges where collaboration was
needed

17. Adolescence, 2009 - today
“Most of the innovations in everyday life of people come through the
city organisation at some stage”
• Focus change from specific industries (e.g. retail) towards
what is common for all (e.g. open data; user experience;
emerging technologies)
• City’s role as enabler of innovation
• City became a sole 100% owner of the FV Helsinki Ltd
Ø Forum Virium role as Doer, instead of Facilitator
Ø Open developer and SME approach – not just the
shareholders

18. Growing an
Open City

19. Choosing actors: things learned so far, #1"
"
The best innovations are not usually
hiding in the corridors of the city
government or the big companies."
"
But they pop up here and there, when a
little effort is made."
"

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21. Business
development
services
for
Helsinki-­‐based
startups

22. Helsinki<3Developers
• Developer portal dev.hel.fi , open APIs, open data
• Developer meetups, workshops, Apps Challenges
• Open walk-in office times to the city’s developers
• Cooperation e.g., with Code for Europe Fellows

24. CitySDK
• Open source toolkit/API for
developing digital city services:
opening and harmonizing city
interfaces, processes
& standards
• Mobility, Tourism, Participation
• Eight European cities,
15 companies and
research partners involved
EU Digital Agenda Inspiring Initiatives (EC 2013)
”Truly smart cities such as Helsinki are using
technology that is already out on the streets and on
the web, enabling residents to input and update via
smartphones, while apps help them to navigate the
city more efficiently” (Guardian 2013)
Helsingin kaupungin aineistopankki:Esko Lämsä

25. Helsinki
Region
Infoshare
• Public data pools from the Helsinki
Region as open regional data
• The opened data is ready to be
used by anyone freely at no cost
European Prize for Innovation in Public
Administration (EC 2013)
Datakuvat: Informaatiomuotoilu.fi

26. Public transport mobile
navigation apps for all
platforms (many of them)
Political/civic decision data
live & archived on mobile

27. Choosing actors: things learned so far, #2"
"
The City organisation has a remarkable
role in delivering new innovations to
everyday lives of the people."
"
It is the key gatekeeper in innovations
related to living, energy use, transport,
education, public space, healthcare and
services for the elderly and children."

28. Kalasatama -
Smart City Living
Lab
• A model district of smart urban
development, construction 2012 -
2032
• Developed through experimenting,
new technologies and the use of
open data
• Grows from the collaboration
between the city, companies, and
the residents
“Just when you thought Scandinavia couldn’t
get any more eco-friendly, Helsinki ups the
ante … Heck, the design of Kalasatama is even
set up to save residents a whole hour each day
on conventional chores.” (Inhabitat.com 2014)

29. City Gov Toolbox in Kalasatama
• Pilot and encourage by example
§ Construction of infrastructure - Smart Healthcare Center
§ Service provisioning - Kutsuplus 2.0 Public Transport on Demand
• Create easy-to-use enablers
§ Data and APIs
§ Infrastructure to tap further innovation into - Fisuverkko, resident ID
§ Living Lab Service
• Use regulation in a smart way
§ Energy regulation for developers
§ Requirement to install smart systems to buildings
§ Data opening regulations
§ Public space regulation - Noise level during nights > maintenance traf.
• Funding
§ Projects at ITI, INKA, Fiksu Kaupunki
§ Public procurement
§ Startup funding

30. Helsinki as Innovation Testbed
Helsinki City Strategy 2013-2016:
“Helsinki is an internationally recognized development and
piloting environment for new products and services.
New residential and commercial areas are exploited as
development-, trial- and up-take environments for new
products and services.
Kalasatama is the model district of urban smart
development.”

31. 24
hour
local
services
and
crowd-­‐sourced
logisMcs
in
energy
self-­‐sufficient
Smart
Containers
in
Kalasatama,
Helsinki

33. Actors: things we learned so far, #3"
"
Most things happen around some very
specific people."
"
That doesn’t read in their CV or the job
title."
"
Most of them are not working for Forum
Virium Helsinki."
"
"

38. Open And Agile Cities
Six largest cities of Finland
Joint Sustainable Strategy; 7 years, 80+ M€ (EU ITI)
Already approved joint activities include CitySDK
implementation in all 6 cities.

39. Actor strategy, FVH 2014
• Open developer and SME engagement
§ Need activation - innovation challenges, events, meet-ups, pilots
§ Need enablers – open data, APIs, test sites, innovation challenges
§ Continous process; not just at start
• City Government as the key actor
§ Procurer, pilot, problem owner, land/service owner, collaborator
• Key external networks
• enable understanding the new
• make the serendipity happen
§ E.g. ENOLL, EIT ICT Labs, Health 2.0, 6Aika, …
• Identified Change Agents - persons
§ within the city government
§ key large companies and organisations
§ direct link to start-up networks