Timo Vuorensola, allies and Iron Sky revolutionize
Transcription
Timo Vuorensola, allies and Iron Sky revolutionize
visit innovate Live invest Timo Vuorensola, allies and Iron Sky revolutionize the film industry Space voyage by a volunteer community Microtask slices work worldwide Lymed applies healing pressure Finland tampere business 2012 Photo Annikaisa Knuutila tampere Living Colours How to make art for the visually impaired? This was the challenge facing Tampere artists Charles Sandison and Teija-Tuulia Ahola, when they were commissioned to produce an artwork for the lobby at Tampere’s new patient hotel and ophthalmic hospital. “At first it seemed like mission impossible,” Ahola says. “But then we studied research in areas like how a cataract patient sees things.” The colours of the media art piece portray the surrounding nature. “There’s a frozen lake, blue sky, forest, a jogger’s red scarf, different seasons. It’s visual data, it lives and changes every second,” describes Sandison, who is acknowledged internationally for his computeranimated installations. Finland’s first private patient hotel, Norlandia Care Tampere Hotel, has been opened next to Tampere University Hospital. Video work by Charles Sandison and Teija-Tuulia Ahola can be admired in the lobby. www.norlandiacare.fi Time to make a collective commotion We live and work together in the most attractive region – the Tampere Region – of Finland, the country that has also been nominated best in the word. We haven’t made much noise about this, even though we should. What makes magnetism? People, communities, companies, active achievement, bold choices – everything we’ve crystallized in our region’s international brand, Tampere All Bright! A brand is the sum of all the images and understanding we have of something. What’s best is that we don’t have to agree about every word that describes the Tampere Region. There’s plenty in Tampere for everyone. Tampere All Bright! is freely available for everyone’s use. It doesn’t replace the other strong brands in our region, but it increases our magnetism further. A bold, open and enduring image of the Tampere Region is supported by the VILI portal: Visit, Invest, Live, Innovate. The portal www.tampereallbright.fi provides information about our business and expertise platforms, all that we have to offer for tourists, and the region’s different environments for living. Strong expertise, and cooperation between companies, universities and the entire innovation community, are pivotal to our brand. The Tampere Region is known particularly for mechanical engineering and information technology, among others. The structures of trade and business are changing. In future we will continue to build our success on diverse and active business, and on high-level education and research. The City of Tampere is securing this future by embarking on a new, seven-year business and innovation programme, Open Tampere. Companies innovate continually, and internationality and networking are an integral part of the process. Innovations rarely emerge from the ideation of one stakeholder. In their innovation activities, companies usually favour partners that are geographically close: other companies, entrepreneurs, researchers and funders. A sufficient number of these is needed for successful innovation activity. In the Tampere Region, investment in our own innovation environment makes a difference. Also making a difference is the fact that we are making the change both together, and in the same direction. Päivi Myllykangas Managing Director Tampere Region Economic Development Agency Tredea Photo Annikaisa Knuutila all bright! Tampere Business Published in English and in Finnish • March 2012 publisher Tampere Region Economic Development Agency Tredea EDitor-in-chief Päivi Myllykangas, Managing Director editing Communications Agency Tammisto, Knuutila, Tammisto Oy layout Tiina Lautamäki Translation Violetti Valas Viestintätoimisto printed by Hämeen Kirjapaino Oy circulation 5,000 441 209 Printed matter HÄMEEN KIRJAPAINO OY 2012 additional copies [email protected] cover by Sami Mannerheimo All Bright! 2 Tampere Region Photo Emil Bobyrev The power of light! Light designers Roope Siiroinen and Katja Muttilainen caused a glow in Tampere's Hämeenpuisto park. www.valovoimainen.fi 6 Eco house built from recycled glass and shipping containers 8 Power from open and agile innovation across industries 11 Microtask slices work worldwide 12 Space voyage undertaken by a volunteer community 14 Cargotec builds the future of container handling 16 New union of biosciences and technology 20 Lymed’s pressure garments help seriously ill patients and top athletes 22 Windows opens windows: ICT expertise up for grabs! 24 Bernard Garvey in Tampere for international operations All Bright! 3 Tampere Region Image University Properties of Finland Ltd/ LSV-arkkitehdit what's up Photo Martti Tammisto TUT will have more room as well as space that inspires interaction and meetings. Winds of change in building “The operations of rulers must be transparent. We work to ensure that whistleblowing would be easy and safe for the whistle-blower,” says founder of OpenLeaks Herbert Snorrason. There’ll be chaos, but so what? The latest MindTrek conference dove deep into social media. The impact of social media is unpredictable because some of the earth’s inhabitants have leapt to become subject matters and users directly, without the intermediate stages that westerners have taken. There will be chaos, but so what? And so the divide between developed and developing regions was crystallized. Herbert Snorreson from Iceland, selfproclaimed anarchist and founder of WikiLeaks breakaway OpenLeaks, and Mohamed El-Fatary from Finland, founder of the hugely popular Muslim lifestyle website Muxlim, welcomed chaos as an inevitable step towards change. Indian journalist Shali Ittaman was left almost alone with a worry: In social media, a careless word can bring blood on the streets, and chaos is dangerous because people die. MindTrek is the most significant conference in the field of digital phenomena in the Nordic countries. This year it takes place between 3–5 October. www.mindtrek.org The Tampere Central Deck and Arena project designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind has attracted a lot of publicity and has strong wind in its sails. It isn’t the only spectacular building project under planning in the Tampere Region. Barcelona-based company MX_SI architectural studio has been selected to implement an extension to the Serlachius museum, Gösta, in MänttäVilppula. Those roaming about in Tampere’s city centre will meet a charming view of a glass pavilion designed by ALA Arkkitehdit by the Hämeensilta bridge. The pavilion, Magnolia, will function as the air circulation and entrance to a parking cave. University campuses are also being renewed. Tampere University of Technology (TUT) intends to invigorate its campus with a futuristic arena, and a new campus is also under planning for medicine. A visionary image ALA Arkkitehdit Photo Annikaisa Knuutila “It takes two to tango” Tampere exuded the spirit of innovation as it hosted the annual conference of Technopolicy Network, a community focusing on regional innovation processes. The theme was open innovations in regional development. And open innovation is today’s must have, such was the shared opinion. “It takes two to tango. Innovations emerge from networks and interac- tion. In the past the aim was to achieve technology transfer from universities to companies, but today we must strive to share technology and knowledge. Universities, too, need more and more knowledge and expertise from outside, from companies,” evaluated Erkki Ormala, Director of Technology Policy from Nokia. The role of open innovation in regional development was discussed at Technopolicy Network’s conference in Tampere. All Bright! 4 Tampere Region Ageing well New solutions are required to ensure services for the ageing population and to develop society for the aged. Tampere is answering this challenge with the launch of a sizeable programme, TampereSenior. In the programme, ageing is seen both as a resource and a positive change that creates opportunities. The aim is to bring together existing research and development projects and service innovations linked to the field, and to promote the operations of companies and the establishment of new ones. Tampere is set to be the world’s best place to age in 2020. The move is perfectly in synch with the times, as 2012 is the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Teppo, man of steel Just after an exhibition opened with the title ‘A defender of four decades’, the name could have been appended with ‘and a coach of a fifth’. The exhibition at the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in Tampere features the long and significant career of Teppo Numminen, who finished his player career in 2009. Numminen has picked up the puck once again. He has become assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres. History is in the making, as he is only the second Finn to take a coaching position in the NHL. Man of steel Teppo Numminen: A defender of four decades Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame until 2 Sep 2012 Vapriikki Museum Centre Photo Jukka Rautio/Europhoto Backlight illuminates again Photo Backlight/Ida Nisonen The international Backlight 2011 photo festival drew a significant audience: 10,000 people viewed works by 44 artists on the themes global mobility and the desire for a good life. A photo from Finnish photographer Ida Nisonen’s series, Immigrants-in-Studio, was featured in Backlight’s theme exhibition, Migration and Nomadic Livin. Photo Petri Heinonen Accessibility improved in theatre Tampere, the theatre capital of Finland, is improving accessibility for theatre audiences speaking another language or with impaired hearing. Tampere Comedy Theatre is testing a new personal texting service on iPad during the play Five Women in a Chapel. Texts are available in English and Finnish. The application is being implemented by the Comedy Theatre and Tampere-based software firm Kyy Games. Now also in English! The Comedy Theatre launched a new text application for the play Five Women in a Chapel. All Bright! 5 Tampereen seutu Photo Antero Tenhunen what's up A visionary image of the eco-house/Petra Savela, Arkkitehtiruutu Oy Ecologically exemplary li Eco house from glass and shipping containers Whatever is going on in Lempäälä? Glass Refining Finland Ltd is building an eco-house based to a great extent on recycling and a bold test implementation of new technologies. The building materials are recycled glass and second-hand shipping containers! A huge glass sphere will cover a 200 m² house, sauna building and swimming pool. The 900 m² covered by the sphere will also have a vegetable garden and rainwater collection system. www.ekotaloprojekti.fi All Bright! 6 Tampere Region Vuores is incorporating sustainable energies into everyday living. This green district of some 13,000 residents is currently being built on the border between Tampere and Lempäälä. A preview of Vuores will be open at a housing fair this summer. V uores is one of the largest urban building projects in Finland. It brings together high-quality architecture, ecology, state-of-the-art technology and proximity to natural surroundings. Energy- and eco-efficiency will be under the spotlight at the housing fair, with both passive and zero energy houses on show. “The City of Tampere is giving a 50 per cent reduction on plot rent during the first five years for those who build passive or zero energy house. It’s an excellent, innovative idea which would be fine to see implemented in other cities too,” says Managing Director of Housing Fair Finland, Pasi Heiskanen. Vuores will also energize its inhabitants: they will have allotments for their own use, and the district’s traffic solutions will support public transportation as well as cycling and walking. Natural rainwater and leachate processing, by keeping and absorption, emphasize a nature-oriented focus. New technology will be used in areas like waste management handled by a pipe collection system, LED lighting for streets and parks, and an ultra-fast data network. The City of Tampere will bring art to public spaces, bridges and squares. Art will also be acquired by developers, private families and house manufacturers as part of their building projects. Temporary art will be placed in the area for the duration of the housing fair. Finland’s largest wood-built apartment area Tampere is also planning Finland’s largest area of modern wood-built apartment houses in the Isokuusi area of Vuores. There will be 1,650 apartments, between Hannele Räikkönen, the Tampere Region’s EU Liaison Manager in Brussels, writes about her tasks and experiences thus far within the sphere of the EU. brussels calling Hammering ahead at the housing fair area in Tampere’s Vuores district. Jani Lehtimäki in the midst of the building work last autumn. Open Tampere: future success stories being built today – together ving 500 and 700 of them in wood-built houses. In addition to building with wood, ecoand energy-efficient housing in the area is being developed under the leadership of Tampere’s ECO2 project. It hasn’t previously been possible to implement an eco-efficient and competitive wood-built apartment house area like Isokuusi. Building has been hindered by fire regulations as well as a lack of expertise and experience. Wood isn’t the only building material used for the Isokuusi houses, which also incorporate steel, concrete and glass. Housing Fair in Tampere 13.7.–12.8.2012 l a 15-hectare estate for some 600 residents in Vuores l a total of 39 display homes: detached houses, apartments, terraced and semi-detached homes, a service home for the mentally impaired, and a cut- way display house l targeting 10 passive energy houses and 2 zero energy houses l organized by Housing Fair Finland and the City of Tampere. www.vuores.fi European debate has in recent years emphasized the future and the challenges to competitiveness which follow. In addition to the economic crisis, the many challenges range from a rapidly ageing population to rusting infrastructure and crumbling education systems. Views on Europe’s future prospects, held by former IBM president and current chairman of the board Samuel J Palmisano, were recently heard at an event arranged by Lisbon Council, the Brussels-based think tank. Being “Pragmatically optimistic” he convinced us in the audience that the European Union will continue to have influence. But we must focus on ensuring that we have an operating environment that enables innovation, and also strong leaders. In other words, we need both vision and commitment. Of course, Palmisano’s message is neither new nor revolutionary. The European Commission has for a long time outlined strategic thinking and developed new operating methods for European innovation activities. The Europe 2020 strategy and its flagship Innovation Union initiative present clear growth-supporting targets for Europe. The programmes during the next funding period, such as the 80-billion euro Horizon 2020 which funds research and innovation, provide resources that will enable these targets. We in the Tampere Region are also convinced that the future will be built on innovation. However, innovation activities require support from both builders of frameworks and networkers. The objective of the innovation and future-related work led by the Council of Tampere Region is to develop the preconditions for innovation activities as a whole. The City of Tampere’s Open Tampere programme is a new innovation platform programme which aims to generate and develop environments and methods that enable fast and open innovation activities in the Tampere Region. The programme strives to ensure that our region will continue to be an internationally attractive environment for innovation and business. The Tampere Region is pointing in the right direction. We have a vision to ensure the region’s future well-being and competitiveness, and we are committed to reaching our aims. Subsequently, perhaps, we can export this culture of getting things done: Open Tampere – Open Europe. All Bright! 7 Tampere Region innovate Let i t ! o d 's What happens in Tampere when the world changes – when new operating models and a new angle on development are required, and when there’s a need for communal spirit, openness and innovation? People roll up their sleeves and reach the same conclusion: Let’s do it! Text Annikaisa Knuutila All Bright! 8 Tampere Region lll When industry was dealt a blow by structural change in the late 20th century, the reverberations on a traditional industrial city had a hardening effect: Tampere began developing into a city of knowledge society by bringing information and communication technologies and services into its core development. Health technology was also selected as a focal area. The Tampere region Centre of Expertise and the City of Tampere business development programmes have built bridges over structural change and driven the wind back into the city’s sails. The eTampere knowledge society programme was followed by Bio neXt, which focused on health technology, after which the developmental lead was taken by Creative Tampere (2006–2011). The next thrust launches this year with the Open Tampere innovation programme (2012–2018). Boost for creative economy The Creative Tampere programme returned a first-rate result: growth in creative industries accelerated faster than anywhere else in Finland. More than 1,000 companies took part in the programme and more than 700 new businesses were established. The programme produced a centralized method for developing creative economy companies which received international attention. Today, Tampere is participating in the European Commission’s Creative Cities activities, and together with Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Nantes and Milan is brainstorming policy programmes to create tools for the development of innovative creative economy and service industries during the new structural fund period. novation platforms that cover multiple industries and focus on actualization. Among these power plants are New Factory, which focuses on fast innovation and the development of company startups in its Demola and Protomo subsidiaries, and Konela, which crosses the boundaries of science and technology to target the commercial utilization of research knowledge in mechanical engineering. Also under construction is Mediapolis, a minicluster developer for creative industries. Another new and unique development environment, BioMediTech, combines biomedicine and technology from two universities. Iron Sky, a communal film production which demonstrates the power of voluntary input, represents a new spirit of achievement in the creative economy. Open Tampere follows the path of creativity Students rush to Demola The objective of the Open Tampere business development programme is to further transform Tampere into a worldclass development environment, a city of innovation. The programme encompasses all industries and adds impetus to expertise; joining competences and experts, generating new businesses, and bringing renewal to existing companies. The aim is to improve communal expertise in product development, design and innovation, and to utilize this expertise more effectively. New and existing innovation factories provide stimulus for the programme. These factories, spaces and operating methods, are communal in- The operating models and environments of open and agile innovation flourish in New Factory and its Demola and Protomo programmes. Both have proven themselves as growth environments for winning teams. In Demola students develop demo products and services in collaboration with companies. The activity began two and a half years ago. Thus spring 2012, 210 projects have been established with participation by 1,000 students. Students of Tampere’s higher education institutions are today able to include a Demola Academy study module in their degrees. The Demola Academy represents innovation with real-life R&D seeds provided by companies, and lll All Bright! 9 Tampere Region lll immediately gained high popularity. More than 400 applications were submitted for the first round, from which 180 students were selected. 35 projects were set up with 26 companies. The student teams’ development results include intelligent technology to enable more precise drilling for Sandvik, a personalized mobile user interface for the control of industrial processes – the LiveManual – for Metso, and mobile and computer applications, operating methods and services for the residents of Tampere’s new Vuores district. The joint Demola operating model by the University of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology and Tampere University of Applied Sciences is internationally pioneering. www.demola.fi New Factory produces winners In New Factory’s Protomo programme, experts from different fields refine ideas and generate companies worth funding. Newly established companies are among the visible results. And not just any companies: Ovelin enhances guitar learning, and Zonear makes HTML5 technology easier. Both have taken off from Protomo to reach winning positions during last two years in Startup Sauna, an Aalto University event bringing together start-up teams from around the Baltic. The shiniest example is Ovelin. The company’s WildChords software combines learning to play a guitar with gaming. In autumn 2011, WildChords became the most downloaded game in Finland, and by early 2012 it was App Store’s most downloaded music application in 34 countries. Ovelin and WildChords have achieved top awards in various competitions: a category win in the 2011 European Best Learning Game competition, the Nordic Dimension Music Innovation Award 2011, first position in the Slush100 pitching event in a North European start-up conference, the title of Overall Entrepreneur of the Entrepreneurship Festival in England and a category win in the MIDEM labs startup competition. Ovelin gained solid support for its work to make the world more musical in February, when American business True Ventures invested in the company to the tune of 1.4 million dollars. www.newfactory.fi Unique environment for innovation is also the joint research unit of The University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology. Biosciences and technology are combined at BioMediTech , page 16 A novel way to create: the online community was invited to take part in making the movie, Iron Sky page 12 All Bright! 10 Tampere Region Tampere games hard The game industry is growing fast in Tampere. There are some 25 game companies, eight of which were established in 2011. Growth is accelerated by enthusiasm, good conditions and support measures. These measures include the Manse Games project for the systematic development of the industry, the national Neogames research and business activity, and an expert workforce. Momentum has multiplied with entry to Tampere by Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds. www.mansegames.fi innovate Microtask slices work worldwide Text Martti Tammisto S ome years ago, Tampere local Otto Chrons was pondering how people living in developing countries could earn money with their mobile phones. At the same time, amateur photographer Ville Miettinen from Helsinki was mulling over how to categorize and arrange his 150,000 photographs. Their paths crossed, and they noticed they had taken different routes to arrive at a similar system. Together, and bringing in two other partners, they established Microtask, a company based on crowdsourcing. Both men had previous experience of launching a company start-up, growing it and selling it to a large international company. There is an endless number of paper forms, coupons and cards carrying information that needs transferring into digital format. Optical text recognition software can read printed and typed text, but a human is required to interpret hand-written text. This is where Miettinen and Chrons identified a market for the system they had outlined. Three years later, the company’s head office and product development are located in Tampere, and its sales and customers in the United States. The US office was set up last September, and six sales persons were hired nationwide. “We won our first large projects in November – extensive archive projects, lifting names, dates of birth and phone or driving licence numbers from administrative materials, work satisfaction surveys, customer competition entry forms, and filing address data from cards,” describes Otto Chrons. “We’re now growing well, as the sales people have learned what they’re selling.” What does this say? Microtask’s typical customer is a document management company which receives forms from its own customers, scans and sends them to Microtask for processing. A browser-based system is ‘taught’ which data is to be picked from the forms and the work is divided into small pieces, micro tasks, such as querying whether a form has a tick in a box or not. Somewhere in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, China or Mexico, someone types the answers to Microtasks’ questions using their own computer or that of a village school, for example, earning a salary of two to five dollars an hour. The workforce is not employed by Microtask; their salaries are paid by the company’s local partner. Otherwise, recruiting employees and managing salaries, taxes and other payments in different countries would be impossible. In Pakistan, for example, Microtask’s partner has 900,000 people on its books who are able to work online at least occasionally. In the western world, it is impossible even to find people to do similar tasks. Microtask operates in the same market as many other players in India, for example. The market is worth an estimated 300 billion dollars. The value of the data entry tasks suitable for Microtask’s system is 30 billion. together with the National Library of Finland. The library has digitized its newspaper archives by scanning. The problem stems from the Fraktur typeface used in old newspapers, which text recognition programmes are unable to read sufficiently well. Some 100,000 Finns took part in fixing the mistakes using a system built by Microtask in game format. Otto Chrons believes that in a few years Microtask could employ tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. By then, the company is likely to be a part of a larger conglomerate, and its founding serial entrepreneurs will already be developing something else. Efficiency and accuracy How does a Finnish start-up succeed against the competition? “Our system is faster and more efficient, and the results are of a higher quality compared to our competitors,” Otto Chrons says. “The concept is a hybrid system where as much work as possible is done with machine intelligence. But because it isn’t able to do everything, the machine intelligence is assisted by human work. By fixing mistakes made by machine intelligence, people teach the machine.” When constructing their system, Microtask organized the Digitalkoot project “There are millions of people with some kind of online access in developing countries. Microtask gives them an opportunity to use the web to work and earn,” says Otto Chrons. All Bright! 11 Tampere Region After Iron Sky, the Wreckamovie website has attracted hundreds of other productions from different fields. An opera titled Opera by You is being created online for presentation next summer at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. “We’re constantly developing the site. Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka is also involved in the work,” tells Timo Vuorensola. Space voyage undertaken by a volunteer community The credits at the end of director Timo Vuorensola’s sci-fi parody Iron Sky last six minutes. That’s how long it takes to list everyone who took part in the production; tens of thousands of people from all over the world. Text Katriina Liusjärvi Photo Sami Mannerheimo All Bright! 12 Tampere Region Wreckamovie While the script was being written, the online community was invited to take part in making the movie. “We launched the Wreckamovie website in 2007. Iron Sky was the first production on the site.” Wreckamovie offers a platform for fans can take part in movie-making interactively. Community members are invited to act in mass scenes, for instance, or to give their opinions on advertising posters. When you ask something from a community, willing participants come forward fast and in large numbers. A group of some 20 trusted people eases the director’s work and filters through the best comments and suggestions. Nothing is promised on either side: the community contributes voluntarily and for free, and the director uses these elements as he sees appropriate. The community doesn’t even know the movie’s plot. “If the whole plot were to leak out, it would undermine interest in the film. We ask for the community’s help mainly through the Wreckamovie website, and also elsewhere in social media. On Facebook the movie has close to 90,000 fans.” Crowd investment The community is also asked to assist financially. Iron Sky has the biggest movie budget to date in Finland, at 7.5 million euros. Of this, a million is to be raised by fans. “Investments start from 1,000 euros and there’s no upper limit. It works out so that the money invested in the movie generates a profit proportional to the investment. Money starts coming when the makers reach a profit.” “When people have their own money invested, they’re sure to spread the word among all their friends and family,” Vuorensola believes. To date Spring 2012, the movie has been sold to almost 30 countries. welcome the Nazis, Vuorensola is already dreaming of the next project. It might be a sci-fi series for international TV distribution. “Nothing new has happened in this area for years, but the sci-fi fans are still out there.” Something even more tangible will endure in Tampere even after Iron Sky: world-class expertise in computer graphics. “Tampere now has every chance to develop into a place where special effects are made. There’s already worldclass expertise here.” Vuorensola believes that Tampere could easily become even the Nordic countries’ leading location for creating virtual sets and special effects for movies. Energia Productions, for instance, is extremely well-versed with the technologies, and there are plenty of large halls available in Tampere for filming backgrounds. Concept art Jussi Lehtiniemi E verything began with a dream seven years ago. Finalizing work for the previous film, Star Wreck – In the Pirkining, was in its last stretch when one of the film-makers, Jarmo Puskala, mentioned he had had a dream about Hitler. “And then he said we should make a film about Nazis on the moon,” Vuorensola laughs. The idea clicked into place only after it was related to Tampere writer Johanna Sinisalo. She adopted the idea and embarked on a five-year script writing process. The future Iron Sky’s world premier took place at the Berlin Film Festival in February. While the world is only just preparing to All Bright! 13 Tampere Region innovate Konela engineers leadership Tampere is defending its position as a strong competence centre for the work machinery industry. Konela is the latest resource for taking a trailblazing position in operating methods and research project management for mechanical engineering. Konela was established in autumn 2011 to solidify cooperation between companies in the industry and to accelerate research for the industry’s needs. The adopted working method is open innovation activity, which has been applied for some time in the ICT field in Tampere with good results. Through Konela, these proven concepts, innovation tools and experiences are now being transferred into the mechanical engineering. Due to the exceptional strength of the mechanical engineering cluster in Tampere – there are several market leaders, for example – the new operating method will be channelled into research. The aim is to generate new innovations that will benefit not only the engine companies but the SME network that has emerged around them. Konela’s workspace is located in Hermia. The researchers participating in Konela’s company projects meet more or less fortnightly with company representatives to discuss achievements since the last meeting. The targets for the next two weeks are also agreed, and the project is advanced using the methods of open innovation. Konela is also raising next-generation professionals. Tampere University of Technology ’s mechanical engineering students conduct their own company projects in the communal workspace, and at the same time are able to follow the work of established professionals. All Bright! 14 Tampere Region Cargotec builds the fut Leading manufacturer of container handling solutions Cargotec is investing 35 million euros to build an innovative Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere. Modern offices, a prototype workshop and a large testing area will be completed near Tampere University of Technology by the end of 2012. ture of container handling in Tampere Text Martti Tammisto Photos Cargotec T ampere is an important centre of technology development for Cargotec and a spearhead in technologies related to intelligent machine operation and energy efficiency. The new centre will be part of Cargotec’s global competence centre network. The Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere will host the world’s most modern, and smallest, container terminal. This terminal will facilitate testing related to processes, functionality and machine durability. It will also be used to test new machine features and to gather data for use in future machines and solutions. Cargotec’s Tampere branch is rooted deep in industrial history. The facility was built as the state aeroplane factory 75 years ago, and together with other mechanical engineering companies in Tampere it has been an important facet in the industrial past of the Tampere Region and Finland as a whole. Equipment from railway engines to lifts has been manufactured at the site. In recent years Cargotec has manufactured Kalmar container straddle carriers, RTG cranes and terminal tractors in Tampere. During the last five years, production has been shifted to Asia and Poland, closer to customers. “Tampere has been the home of Cargotec’s technology development for 75 years. Many of Cargotec’s current solutions weren’t even imaginable some decades ago, but they are now leading examples of the technology in their field,” says Matti Sommarberg, Chief Technology Officer of Cargotec. Open innovation In Sommarberg’s view, Tampere’s strength is down to the expertise of the staff and local cooperation partners. “Tampere is the focal point of fields like mobile work machines as well as the related research. The upcoming cooperation with Tampere University of Technology, re- search institutions and companies manufacturing mobile machines will be inspiring,” explains Sommarberg of the reasons for building the centre in Tampere. Cargotec has been an active participant in FIMECC Ltd, the Finnish Metals and Engineering Competence Cluster, since its establishment. FIMECC is an open innovation company which deepens cooperation between its shareholders. According to Matti Sommarberg, innovation communities are excellent players for carrying out pre-competitive research. The New Factory and Konela communities developed in Tampere are in a league of their own as innovative meeting places for companies, students and researchers. Sommarberg says he’s impressed by the quality of work done by students at the end stage of their studies. “Cooperation that breaks industrial boundaries combined with the enthusiasm of students and the latest research is a model that works. We are in the midst of change brought about by globalization. In Tampere this change is present as a positive environment that enables innovation.” Cargotec’s new Technology and Competence Centre includes a fivehectare test area for testing the results of planning and design in practice, for instance with unmanned and remotecontrolled prototypes. In addition to an office building, a prototype workshop will be built in the area (in the picture). “Cargotec’s Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere will be the flagship of the company’s sustainable solutions. The new facility will also be a forerunner in energy efficiency in office buildings in Finland,” says Matti Sommarberg, Chief Technology Officer of Cargotec. All Bright! 15 Tampere Region innovate New union of biosciences and technology Text Päivi Eskelinen The University of Tampere (UTA) and Tampere University of Technology (TUT) took a bold step in spring 2011 by establishing the joint research unit BioMediTech. BioMediTech is a milestone in the combination of different kinds of competences, a practice carried out by Tampere universities since the 1990s. The new institute assembles all biomedicine research at UTA and the key biotechnology research groups at TUT. The institute has challenging aims: a more effective intertwining of bioscience education and research, the generation of new business, and the strengthening of domestic and international research funding. The effort to raise Tampere-based expertise onto the global forefront has begun with a sizeable Human Spare Parts project worth more than 10 million euros. The project’s themes include growing new bone and heart cells from stem cells, and the development of therapies for spinal cord damage and age-degeneration of the eye. All are fields in which Tampere research groups have produced worldclass results. Moving together “We’ve got off to a swift beginning, characterized by enthusiasm. The next thing under planning is to bring the institute’s research and product development together as well as students from the two universities’ different units – in the physical sense, too, at UTA’s Kauppi campus,” explains Director of BioMediTech Hannu Hanhijärvi. All Bright! 16 Tampere Region “Daily interaction would expose engineering and biosciences to mutual influence in an interesting way. Linking BioMediTech more closely to the other disciplines on the campus – medicine and health sciences – could also produce new openings,” Hanhijärvi reflects. Changing research culture At BioMediTech, the emphasis of research funding is being shifted more clearly from fundamental research to strategic, goal-oriented research. A key aim is to increase the societal impact of biosciences. This will require a novel operating culture. “Sizeable research projects such as the Human Spare Parts project are like pyramids, where every new research stage is built on those previous. This means that the projects are sensitive in terms of schedules. The research groups have to understand the goal-orientation of the research and the importance of following the timetable, not just from the funder’s perspective but from the perspective of the work of another research group,” Hanhijärvi says. Support is provided to keep pace with timetables if needed. At the same time, services are being built to improve the groups’ abilities to evaluate the applicability of their inventions and observations in practice, and to support the researchers in processing invention disclosures. Good eyes restored b spare part Text Aila Välikoski Photo Petri Laitinen, manipulation Tiina Lautamäki If eyesight is lost due to retinal disease, support could be available from a human spare parts department. A n electronic retinal prosthesis may be fitted to the eye, or sight may be restored with a retinal implant grown from human stem cells. Tangible steps towards such new treatments are being taken in research led by Professor Minna Kellomäki from the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) Department of Biomedical Engineering. A number of researchers across different disciplines are taking part in the Vision is considered the most important sense for a human, and vision requires a functional retina. Work by Professor Minna Kellomäki’s research group aims to develop a retinal implant grown from stem cells. ight y s department research – from TUT, the Ophthalmology Group at the University of Tampere Institute of Biomedical Technology, and the Research and Development Center for Ophthalmic Innovations SILK. The research follows two lines: an ICT-based retinal implant, and a new retina grown from human stem cells. “Among the cooperation partners is the University of Tohoku in Japan, where researchers have previously developed an ICT-based retinal implant to replace the functions of a destroyed retina, ” Minna Kellomäki says. Researchers from Tampere are now providing knowledge on the bio-electronic functions of eye cells as well as material and tissue technologies. A retinal implant fitted in the eye needs to be made from materials that are maximally tissuecompatible and also support the electric operation of the retinal prosthesis, for example by conducting electricity. The best possible home for stem cells As people age, the functioning of the retina is threatened by many serious eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy. “Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of visual impairment in the western world. More than 50 million people are affected, and for a large proportion of sufferers there is no treatment.” A tissue spare part made from embryonic stem cells – a new retina – would be a revolutionary therapy for blinding patients. The research communities in Tampere are looking for a pioneering solution. As a whole, the work of Minna Kellomäki’s group is to develop the best possible home – a cultivating environment – for stem cells being grown into a retina. Retinal cells have a tendency to grow slowly and attach to each other, cell membrane against cell membrane in layers the thickness of one cell. What kind of conditions would best please the fuzzy cells? What kind of materials, biodegradable or stabile? In what kind of biochemical conditions do the cells flourish? Would they benefit from electric stimulus during growth? Not everything is known yet. What the researchers do know, is that if it is possible to find the right answers somewhere, it is possible in Tampere where research communities – of ophthalmology, tissue and stem cell technology, biomaterials engineering, electrical engineering and information technology – work at the international forefront in their respective fields and in close cooperation. All Bright! 17 Tampere Region news Photo VTT Turn your mobile into a microscope Angry Birds fly as robot measures man VTT has developed an optical module for mobile phone cameras which turns the phone into a powerful microscope. The device can achieve an accuracy down to less than a hundredth of a millimetre and will be of interest, for instance, to the printing industry and consumers and in security and healthcare. VTT is commercializing the product together with Tampere-based company KeepLoop Oy, which develops optoelectronic devices for the mobile world. www.keeploop.com Fun expertise! Tampere-based OptoFidelity, a technology company specialized in machine vision and optical measuring technology, was inspired to demonstrate the operation of a testing robot by making it play Angry Birds against a human opponent. The online video ‘Man vs Robot in playing Angry Birds’ has attracted more than 130,000 views. The video has also been noticed by Time Magazine’s web publication Techland, and the Vision Systems magazine online. Who won? Find out at www.optofidelity.com/en/videos/ Photo VTT Ecological hologram Package wrapping, mobile phones, cd covers and laptops are getting a brand new look thanks to environmentally friendly hologram technology developed by VTT. The technology, which can be printed on plastic and fibrebased packaging as well as plastic products, is being commercialized by VTT and a new Tampere-based company, Iscent Oy. The technology is suitable for mass production and can be integrated directly into existing printing lines. The technology enables brand owners, for example, to provide assurance of the authenticity of their products with a technical solution that is difficult to copy. The method also allows printing houses to reduce ink volumes. Commercial hologram technologies are based on metallized solutions, often with laminated structures or producing effects with UV varnishes. The new method reproduces the colour phenomena of a rainbow without using additives, by modifying the topography of a plastic or paper surface. Numbers reveal what the eye can’t see Childhood memories booked online TUT Professor of Medical Physics Hannu Eskola and his research group can see things in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) images that human eyes cannot – attracting a lot of interest from the international science world. Eskola’s Tissue Characterization (TIC) group has studied quantitative images and the generation of quantitative data from normal medical section images, such as MRI and CT (computed tomography) images. The group is focusing on using a machine-vision based method of analysis – texture analysis. Tex- Intoloop Kids, the online child journal developed by Starduck Studios, is proving to be an international hit. Parents can quickly and easily share their child’s daily news, funny moments and photos with relatives and friends. The child’s information is secure in the service because Intoloop Kids operates with encryption in the same way as online banks. Full rights to the data remain with the parents. The service already has thousands of users in 15 countries. There are also mobile apps for the child journal in iPhone and Android environments. www.intoloop.com All Bright! 18 Tampere Region ture analysis of MRI images has been little researched elsewhere. The TIC group, which operates at Tampere University Hospital, is a pioneer in its clinical application. The method has been tested, among others, in the diagnostics of lymphoma, breast cancer, MS and brain injuries and the monitoring of therapy results. “The results are promising. With brain images, for example, our method identifies things that radiologists can’t see,” Eskola explains. column Petri Räsänen Director, Innovation and Foresight Council of Tampere Region Winners produce well-being The number and quality of growth-seeking company start-ups in the Tampere Region is growing strongly – as proven by the success of the region’s companies in the international Startup Sauna accelerator. Tampere-based companies have been selected as the best Finnish operations in the programme for two years running, first with guitar-playing enhancer Ovelin, and last year with Zonear, which brings ease to HTML5 technology. Neither team has emerged out of the blue. They entered Sauna from a background of development in the communal environment New Factory. The teams had gained invaluable field expertise in entrepreneurship from other experts, customers and funders. Ideas had been refined into product and service demos and prototypes. They had learned to try, to learn, and to change their value proposition according to feedback. The winners have also had the ability to creatively solve the challenges they face, because the teams possess a wide range of expertise and have the ability to seek solutions to adjust their business as required – from several directions, personal networks and the surrounding community. In New Factory, innovation projects are destined for shortages. The same is true for these winners. There has been little space and few tools, and a small budget for experts; the parties have been subdued and publicity has been hard to get. On the other hand, diverse expertise and tangible achievement have been buzzing around them. This combination of shortage, expertise and achievement drive hunger. More innovation factories like New Factor will be generated through the recently launched Open Tampere programme. This means that development environments supporting the emergence of hungry start-ups will be trimmed into excellent shape in Tampere. The emergence of growth-seeking companies is not enough in itself, however. In order to generate genuine well-being in the region from the seeds of growth, we should have tools to accelerate and anchor growth in the Tampere Region. Currently these tools aren’t in the best possible shape; in particular there is a lack in the growth funding that companies require. Sustained efforts are also required to support companies’ readiness for growth and funding. To preserve the fruits of growth, we must seize these challenges without preconceptions. For example, innovative funding cooperation between public and private sectors and communal crowdsourcing operating models could provide the means necessary to clear bottlenecks. Winning start-ups deserve a winning growth platform – and this is what we are developing in the Tampere Region. All Bright! 19 Tampere Region Healing pressure – impossible to copy Designer Milja Kansanen (left) ensures that everything is correct with the pressure levels and complicated structures of a pressure garment used to treat swelling. “Producing pressure garments takes experienced professionals. It wouldn’t be possible without them,” says Managing Director Teija Toikka. All Bright! 20 Tampereen seutu Photo Tomas Whitehouse The textile technologies developed by Lymed Oy for its pressure garments are the result of multidisciplinary product development and constitute a sizeable bundle of innovations. They make it possible to create a healing pressure that can’t be copied. Text and photo Aila Välikoski L ymed’s pressure garments help both seriously ill patients and international top athletes. The garments are used by premier players at Dutch football club Anderlect, among others, as well as by the prospective superstar Romelu Lukaku, who transferred from Anderlect to English club Chelsea. In Finland, the pressure garments are used by leading clubs in many sports. The pressure garments provide support for athletes’ ultra-tuned physiques. They correct the effects of old injuries and anatomically incorrect positions, improve balance and accelerate recovery. Wearing pressure garments is a novelty for athletes – but standard therapy for many conditions such as the after-treatment of scars from deep burns. Pressure garments prevent and ease swelling after cancer therapies, among others, and they are worn after liposuction and facelifts. With neurological functional disorders, pressure garments have provided good results with autistic children. Technologies meet tailors The required pressure for pressure garments is calculated based on the laws of mathematics and the elasticity and reversibility of textile materials. Every garment manufactured by Lymed is made individually for its user. According to Managing Director Teija Toikka, the garment as a whole incorporates an individual measuring and design process, materials, sewing technologies and design. At Lymed they are all unique. “More detailed tailoring is what separates us from competitors. We can work different levels of pressure into the same garment as well as unique support and structural solutions.” The group working to produce the garments has included plastic surgeons, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Lymed has developed the material in cooperation with experts from VTT and TUT. Another cooperation partner is Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Product development is continuous: new fibres and fibre structures are under constant research and the material improves all the time. Training the makers of growth More than 50 per cent of Lymed’s production is exported to hospitals around Europe, Japan and Saudi Arabia. New export countries are adopted without hurry. Importers take care of sales and train the local occupational therapists and physiotherapists responsible for measuring for the garments. All pressure garments are manufactured in Tampere. “We can’t be copied, and our production can’t be moved elsewhere. The manufacturing chain right the way through to sewing requires a workforce with a diverse range of training, which we take charge of ourselves. By increasing our exports in a controlled manner, we make sure that a workforce shortfall won’t become a bottleneck for growth,” Teija Toikka says. Lymed Oy l Industry: manufacture of pressure garments l Turnover: 1.5 million euros l Employees: 23 www.lymed.fi Kiira Korpi won silver in the European Figure Skating Championships. Elina Loueranta designs the sport star’s outfits. Textiles on the move Tampere is renewing its textile traditions, too. In addition to Lymed, many companies specialized in sports clothing are a source of new vitality for the city of cotton factories – like swimwear manufacturer Delfi Oy, dance and gymnastics outfit manufacturer Mia-tuote Oy, and Piruetti Oy, whose ballet shorts have attracted interest from pop icon Madonna. Design from Tampere also lends the final touch to figure skater Kiira Korpi’s loop and Salchow jumps. Korpi, who won silver at the European Championships in Sheffield, performs in outfits designed by Elina Loueranta. All Bright! 21 Tampere Region invest Seize the Day, Smartrac purchases UPM’s RFID business UPM has sold its RFID business to Dutch company Smartrac. Smartrac is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of RFID remote identifiers used in passports, credit cards and public transportation tickets. UPM RFID is the world’s leading manufacturer of passive HF, NFC and UHF RFID remote identifiers. “UPM RFID is the undisputed pioneer in the manufacture of RFID remote identifiers. With the deal, Smartrac gains a wide NFC and UHF RFID product range, and production facilities in strategically important markets,” says CEO of Smartrac Christian Fischer. More renewable energy Photo Nokia The Finnish cities of Tampere, Turku, Oulu and Vantaa and the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority are launching cooperation to increase the use of renewable energy. Key areas in the cooperation are the generation of new operating models and the management of the energy system. In Tampere the areas of development are solar energy R&D, the adoption of renewable energy in the Kämmenniemi district heating network, a heating plant operating with wood pellets, and carbon neutrality for the Särkänniemi Adventure Park and Tampere Hall. The RESCA project (Renewable Energy Solutions in City Areas) will continue until February 2014 and is coordinated by Hermia Ltd. Hermia and ECO2 are responsible for Tampere’s input. www.resca.fi All Bright! 22 Tampere Region Intel is establishing a research unit in Tampere as Rovio brings Angry Birds developers to town. Qualcomm is seeking new people for customer support from Tampere while Samsung funds Future IT research at Tampere University of Technology through its SAIT GRO programme. The new strategy of mobile phone company Nokia was initially unsettling news for Tampere. It turned into an opportunity opener: Windows opens windows. Text Annikaisa Knuutila O f course Nokia continues to have a strong presence in the city. Tampere has been the company’s largest R&D centre and is now one of the main locations for phone development in Europe and an important development centre for start today! Windows phones. Furthermore, some thirty new growth-oriented companies have been established in the region with Nokia in the background. Nokia’s decision to focus on Windows phones untied a large number of mobile phone and software experts from Nokia and its subcontractors. The strategic move prompted these experts to have a good look around them and consider their career alternatives. Business Development Director and invest-in activator Petri Nykänen from the Tampere Region Economic Development Agency Tredea, believes the availability of a skilled workforce is the current hot magnet. “Now is the time to consider establishing a company or unit in Tampere or to seek research cooperation,” Nykänen encourages. As a case in point, Intel set up a high technology unit of more than 50 people in just a hundred days. “And the people are guaranteed to have high-level competences. It’s now completely possible to achieve things like this, due to the mobility of experts.” Engineering talent on offer Also a strong asset is the pricequality ratio of Tampere experts. “Salary costs here are lower than in countries like Great Britain or Germany – and about 20 per cent lower than in Helsinki. Rovio, for example, has stated that it is easier to hire a workforce for its needs in Tampere than in the capital region. Furthermore, the staff stay. In China the cost level is already high for tasks requiring strong Tampere’s strengths include the availability of ICT experts, a partner network and leading-edge research expertise, and cooperation between companies and universities. Tampere is also Finland’s most attractive city to live in and take studies. technical expertise. India is still cheap, but staff turnover is high and the best are just passing through.” Nykänen also emphasizes the expertise of engineers. The transition has projected them onto a path of continual learning and they have had to adapt to agile methods. Methodological expertise is strong in research and product development. There are abundant experts and companies regardless of field: in user interfaces, mechanical products, applications and online and mobile services. Gaming too is in a phase of intense activity, with games researchers and skilled game developers spinning the dice. Research on the global level is being conducted in many IT-related fields, for example in signal processing and optoelectronics. Mobile-related research also has a long tradition in Tampere. significant international recognition by receiving the Innovation Award of the Assembly of European Regions in 2010.” New and existing innovation factories provide momentum and are development engines in the City of Tampere’s new business development programme, Open Tampere. “And if you look at the operating environment, our location within the EU market and Tredea’s openings towards Russia generate interesting possibilities,” estimates Nykänen. “We’re a good stepping stone for European operations, too. The ophthalmic drug company Santen is a good example of this.” Mobile Tampere l mobile products and services, games, embedded systems (intelligent traffic, intelligent machines) lmore than 6,000 jobs and 25 to 30 companies in the mobile cluster lan estimated 8,000 to 13,000 total jobs in the ICT cluster www.investtampere.fi Photo Rovio Development momentum from innovation factories “Companies are also interested in our development model for innovation activity. Innovation factories like New Factory and Demola operate effectively. Demola gained The availability of competent workforce brought Rovio and Angry Birds to Tampere. All Bright! 23 Tampere Region live Love brought American Bernard Garvey to Finland. That, and a meaningful job in New Factory’s Demola keep him in Tampere. “We’re happy here, cultures and feelings are in balance. The weather is cold like in Michigan; I’m not afraid of winter. And summer will always come!” “I’d like to introduce you to someone…” “Hi, I know someone you should meet…” “Do you know each other already?” Bernard Garvey weaves connections for New Factory’s Demola, and there’s a reason why his business card carries the designation ”collaborates internationally” Text and photo Annikaisa Knuutila A s international coordinator of technology company Hermia and facilitator of the innovation environment Demola, Bernard is in his element. He brings people together – in Finnish and in English – and increases the international presence of Demola while tending to Demola’s student teams in New Factory. “This work is… totally awesome. When Demola was one year old, I started study- All Bright! 24 Tampere Region ing how the concept could be extended elsewhere, and how these kinds of innovation platforms have been implemented elsewhere. Demola differs from many others in that high quality is produced on a small budget, the emphasis is strictly on getting things done. Many have been surprised how three institutions of higher education have started to cooperate. That isn’t something you can take for granted.” Demola is currently in talks concerning cooperation with many European cities. TOP School is in “Demola somewhere else is probably not going to be like Demola in Tampere, but we aim for a free flow of ideas and an exchange of expertise in projects. We give and receive knowledge. The EU, too, is more interested in innovation platforms, which is likely to increase international activities.” “We have hit the mass” Bernard recruits students to Demola together with other facilitators. When groups have been established, the facilitators maintain the teams in operational form. “The students have good competence in their fields, they are experts in the projects’ subject matters. We facilitators help them get the best out of themselves. Help is also needed to make IT engineers, well-being experts and mechanical engineers work together. At the start of each Demola project we set aside a lot of time for building the teams and team spirit. Before you can talk about a project’s content, you talk about the people.” In a few short years, Demola has established itself to the point that students ask to participate in the projects. “Yes, we have hit the mass,” Bernard muses. “For example, we received 600 student application relating to 35 projects for the spring 2012 Demola Academy. A similarly large number of applicants can be expected to apply for our summer job campaign. Last year’s InnoSummer offered full-time summer jobs to 23 students. In a way, it’s a positive problem and a challenge to find a way to help those left out from Demola projects. There’s so much talent that we should be able to build opportunities for.” Bernard’s transition into an international engine in Tampere started after he met his fiancé in the United States. Their shared path took them from Michigan to Toronto, where Bernard studied film and TV production, and in 2005 to Tampere for studies. “There were a couple of difficult years in short-term jobs. I studied a degree in International Business at Tampere University of Applied Sciences even though I already had studied business economy in Michigan. I wanted to learn European business culture and Finnish habits. My thesis and practical training at the technology company Hermia then led to Demola and New Factory.” “I also studied Finnish language for a year. I hear and write it quite well but when speaking I prefer to use English. In Demola everyone speaks English, but knowing Finnish helps a lot in other projects.” Tampere has adopted the development of learning environments as a strategic aim. The TOP School project has been launched to coordinate this development and runs until 2013. The objective is to realize learning environments that correspond to the needs of the knowledge society and the children and youths born into it. The project aims to generate references of international interest, potentially turning Tamperebased expertise related to education and learning into products and exports. “This aim is quite attainable, the elements exist. A lot of development has already taken place,” evaluates project manager Riitta Juusenaho. In the project, the term learning environments encompasses physical spaces, teaching technology, software, pupils and staff, choices related to teaching and its organization, the operating cultures of schools, and cooperation networks. http://tampereenoppimisymparistot. wordpress.com Image Arkkitehtitoimisto Aarne von Boehm Oy “I also like mämmi” Cooking tops Bernard’s list of hobbies. “We’re food addicts, we try new recipes all the time. My specialities are desserts, cakes, everything unhealthy!” One has to ask a food enthusiast: do you like Tampere’s traditional black sausage? “Oh, of course! As for mämmi, a rye-based desert which isn’t to everyone’s taste: “It did take me three years to get used to it, but nowadays I’m happy to eat this Finnish Easter dish. My boss Ville Kairamo says that in this respect I’m more Finnish than Finns.” Bernard speaks so warmly of food that it’s no surprise that his favourite spots in Tampere are related to food: the Market Hall and markets. “And our own garden is definitely one of my favourite spots. I live – like Finns dream to – almost in the middle of a city, on a lake. I just have a few too many neighbours,” he jokes, knowing that Finns love their privacy and space around them. The City of Tampere will invest 108 million euros to build and renovate schools in the coming years. The Vuores school centre will be built with particular consideration to novel learning environments and methods. The first stage will be completed in spring 2013. Start-up for international school The Finnish International School of Tampere (FISTA) starts operations in Amuri next autumn. First, third and fifth graders will begin their studies following a new curriculum. All grades will be included in autumn 2015. All Bright! 25 Tampere Region visit You’ll find everything you need to know about events and activities, restaurants and shopping opportunities in Tampere at www.visittampere.fi. A visitors’ online shop opens at the same address this spring. Where to go? www.visittampere.fi MEMO 2012 lTanssivirtaa Modern Dance Festival 17.–22.4. lTammerfest 11.–14.7. lTampere Floral Festival 27.7.–4.8. lTampere International Salsa Festival 27. – 29.7. lDelfin Basket Tournament 2.–5.8. lTampere Theatre Festival 6.–12.8. lWorld Tango Festival 14.–16.9. lMindTrek conference 3.–5.10. lTammer Tournament 18.–21.10. lTampere Illuminations 28.10.2012–6.1.2013 lFinnish Handicrafts fair 16.–18.11. Photo Maarit Kytöharju Photo Tampere Art Museum l J.M.W. Turner Liber Studiorum at Tampere Art Museum 25.8.-4.11. A strong event, a memorable experience – including beats from Yemen Blues. Tampere Jazz Happening Festival of the Year 2012 J.M.W. Turner, Coast of Yorkshire/ Near Whitby, 1811. Tampere Jazz Happening is swinging. Last autumn the event attracted an audience of more than 10,000 with over 140 musicians from 15 countries performing on stage. It’s getting even better: Finland Festivals awarded Tampere Jazz Happening the accolade Festival of the Year 2012. This year the event takes place between 1 –4 November. The event is produced by Tampere Music Festivals, part of the City of Tampere Cultural Office. Photo Jussi Koivunen l Erik Enroth at the Sara Hildén Art Museum until 6 May. Erik Enroth, Elonleikkuu, oil on canvas, 1953. up and coming in 2013 l European Athletics U23 Championships l Creativity World Forum, the world’s largest creative economy event l Metropolis, global conference for migration researchers and stakeholders Major Event Office Would you like to arrange an event in Tampere? Help is at hand at Tampere’s new Major Event Office. The office is responsible for coordinating major cultural and sports events, provides support for the implementation of large-scale events in Tampere, and provides a data bank for event organizers. Contacts: [email protected], [email protected] Check out! www.virtualtampere.com. All Bright! 26 Tampere Region Ilmakuva Hannu Vallas Photo Ravintola C Clarity and care, the policy at C. Vistas on a plate. News agency CNN has recognized Restaurant Näsinneula on its list of rotating restaurants achieving the globally highest standard. The restaurant was praised particularly for a menu which favours local food and seasonal ingredients. www.nasinneula.fi Restaurant C, Finland’s best ‘C’ in Tampere won recognition as Finland’s Restaurant of the Year 2011. The award distinguished the clarity and care of food preparation. “The decisive factor was C’s appreciation of high-quality ingredients, careful preparation of food that follows the seasons, and a careful pairing of food and wine,” says Raili Koroma, Chairman of the Finnish Gastronomic Society which gave the award. www.ravintola-c.fi The Tampere Region l490,000 inhabitants ltwo universities, three universities of applied sciences lthe biggest private employers include Nokia, Metso, UPM, Metsä Group, Nokian Tyres and Pirkanmaan Osuuskauppa Top expertise in ICT and Mobile, Intelligent Machines, Life Sciences and Health Technology, Biotechnology, Optoelectronics www.innovatetampere.fi Easy to reach Tampere-Pirkkala airport has direct connections from e.g. Stockholm, Copenhagen, Rome, London and Frankfurt. See www.tredea.fi/tmp Two thirds of Finns live within a two hundred kilometre radius of Tampere. Tampere Region Angry Birds land in Särkänniemi Furious feathered animals are invading the Särkänniemi Adventure Park this summer with the opening of the world’s first Angry Birds Land. The diverse theme area is intended for families and children. The area will also include a ‘Magic Place’ where physical activity meets the entertaining world of gaming. Särkänniemi is Finland’s leading leisure centre according to a survey by Taloustutkimus, receiving its highest rating for versatility. l The summer season at the Särkänniemi Adventure Park starts on 28 April. www.sarkanniemi.fi Interior design among the best in the world Sokos Hotel Villa, built in an old grain store and fully renovated last year, placed in the top six in the hotels category of the international Interior Design Awards 2011. The winning hotel design went to W London in Leicester Square. The architectural and interior design for Sokos Hotel Villa were created by Sisustusarkkitehdit Gullstén-Inkinen Oy. Vesilahti Get in touch lTampere Region Economic Development Agency Tredea Oy Managing Director Päivi Myllykangas phone +358 (0) 40 743 6417 [email protected] www.tredea.fi lTampere Business Region www.investtampere.fi lTampere Region EU-office in Brussels EU Liaison Manager Hannele Räikkönen phone +358 (0)40 776 3446 [email protected] www.tampereallbright.fi Kuva Sokos Hotel Villa All Bright! 27 Tampere Region visit innovate Live www.tampereallbright.fi “Tampere is a city that has replaced heavy industry with heavy thinking and heavy rock. To me that’s an ideal combination.” Howy Jacobs, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Tampere invest