1. Living Labs as National
Innovation tool to boost
innovation in Finland
PhD Seija Kulkki
Director, Center for Knowledge and
Innovation Research (CKIR)
EsoceNet Industrial Forum 2010
OPEN INNOVATION PLATFORMS &
CKIR Seija Kulkki
SMES EsoceNet Industrial Forum
Rome Dec 6, 2010
MATCH MAKING OF LIVING LABS

2. In Finnish innovation policy Living Labs
are Instruments for
• 1. Demand and user-driven open RDI (Research,
Development and Innovation) in service, business and
technology development
– Engagement of active citizens, users and customers to co-
creation, do-development and co-innovation
• 2. Creation of new RDI and business ecosystems that
are needed for new service and business architectures,
and market and industry creation
• 3. Reforming the private and public services
• 4. Industrial Reform
Eso ceNet Industrial Rome December 6, 2010
Forum 2010 Seija kulkki

3. Finnish Innovation Policy (broadly)
• Finnish National Innovation Strategy (2008) emphasizes
demand and user-driven innovation in parallel with
technology-driven innovation (supply-side)
• The Implementation Plan of Demand and User-driven
InnovationPolicy (Feb 16, 2010) has a program for
improving the demand and user-driven RDI and Living
Labs
– Concrete steps and resources to strengthen the national Living
Labs Network and its European and other international linkages
– Concrete means to promote theory and methodology
development of open and demand and user driven RDI in Living
Labs
EsoNet Industrial Forum Seija kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010c

4. Implementation Plan of Demand and
User-driven Innovation Policy:
• Emphasizes ways and means of engaging citizens,
active users and developer communities in RDI
– In solving challenges of today that are both local and global
– In creating solutions for everyday life by experimenting, prototyping,
testing and validating the new services, businesses and technologies
together with firms, cities, academia and other players
– In providing real-contexts and places of usage and real action
• The Ministry of Employment and the Economy views that the LL-
approach has a strong potential in renewal of industry and public
services.
• Question behind: What is Finland´s competitive future in global
economy as an open, small and human-centric welfare society?
EsoceNet Industrial Forum Seija Kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010

5. Industrial and Public Service Reforms
• The Finnish Funding Agendy for Technology and Innovation
(Tekes)
– SHOKs (Strategic Centers of Excellence for Science, Technology and
Innovation) established for reforming industries such as ICT, metal
product and mechanical engineering, forest, construction, health and
wellbeing, as well as energy and environment
– Programs include elements of demand and user-driven RDI and Living
Labs methodology for involving users in ecosystem creation
– Emphasizes industrial reform and entrepreneurial start-ups
• Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra)
– Experiments for major societal change projects, also by using Living
Labs methodology
– Develops design methods for societal change and action
<EsoceNet Industrial Seija Kulkki
Forum Rome Dec 6, 2010

6. Finnish Innovation Policy (broadly)
• The Finnish information society 2020 strategy
– Aims at human-centric societal development including services
and technologies that are all-inclisive, meaningful, safe and
accessible for everyone.
– Ease of use ensures that the digitized culture includes all
citizens.
– Solving wicked problems – such as climate change, energy
efficiency, wellbeing, aging and other major systemic and
structural challenges – call for mobilization of people and
social networks and wide use of ICT.
– Open innovation, public-private collaboration and engagement
of citizens in co-creation and co-innovation
EsoceNet Industrial Forum Seija Kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010

7. Finnish Innovation Policy (broadly)
• Country Brand Report (Nov 25, 2010): Mission for
Finland: How Finland will demonstrate its strengths
by solving the world´s most wicked problems
– Encourages openness and collaboration where individuals create side
by side with firms, academia, cities and public agencies.
– The idea is to experiment together for better future of humanity
– Mobilization of capabilities and enthusiasm of people, firms, and other
actors for solving local and global wicked problems such as climate
change, energy efficiency, green development, ageing, wellbeing and
social and economic structural change.
– Finland aims at becoming the Silicon Valley of Social Innovation
by 2030.
– www.tehtavasuomelle.fi
EsoceNet Industrial Forum Seija Kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010

8. Important role of LLs, cities and SMEs in
implementation of innovation policy
• (1) Policy on start-ups, growth firms and
internationalization of firm
– SMEs in new clusters (SHOKs) and Living Labs (industry-
based, service-development, city-development)
• (2) Regional innovation strategies – regions are
purposebuilt innovation ecosystems : local clusters of
competence
• (3) Cities have innovation strategies and act as Living
Laboratories
– Oulu, Tampere and Helsinki Metropolitan Region, Jyväskylä,
Turku, Lappeenranta
EsoceNet Industrial Forum Seija Kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010

9. LLs for solving wicked problems through
open human-centric RDI?
• Trinity of Empowered People, Places of Life and Modern
ICT
People
Cities ICT
EsoceNet Industrial Forum Seija Kulkki
Rome Dec 6, 2010

10. Finnish Innovation Policy and Living
Labs
• Thank You!
PhD Seija Kulkki
Director, Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research
(CKIR)
Aalto University School of Economics
seija.kulkki@aalto.fi
+358-40-353 8423
+358-50-584 9070