Finland’s artificial intelligence area drives the digital growth of small businesses
In October, the Finnish Artificial Intelligence Area (FAIR) will launch an ambitious initiative to help small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies to promote competitiveness and international growth.
The initiative, which runs through FAIR’s Innovation Hub in Helsinki, is intended to help SMEs in the capital region to develop and transform artificial intelligence-based innovations into marketable products and to streamline their own processes.
FAIR’s project mainly focuses on SMEs with less than 100 employees, which are in the early stages of daily use of artificial intelligence. The SMEs currently targeted by FAIR are mainly engaged in the delivery of digital services to support the development of smart cities and the delivery of healthcare. Erja Turunen, vice president of digital technology, state-funded national technical research center VTT which is one of the 11 founding organizations behind FAIR.
“The goal is for FAIR to help SMEs develop artificial intelligence-based innovations and turn them into marketable products,” said Turunen. “FAIR helps SMEs streamline their internal processes with the help of artificial intelligence and identify business opportunities created by artificial intelligence that can support their use in companies. SMEs have access to a wide international network of experts, which we are constantly strengthening.
Regarding the mostly free support services offered to SMEs, the four main pillars of FAIR’s Innovation Hub are test platforms, financial support, competence development, and building innovation ecosystems and enhanced networking.
FAIR’s support program running alongside the Innovation Hub initiative includes a EUR 3 million fund from which companies can increase the digitalization pace of their business.
FAIR offers an important resource platform to support Finland’s national innovation environment and promote the utilization of both artificial intelligence expertise and artificial intelligence. Sasu Tarkoma, dean and professor at the University of Helsinki Department of Computer Science.
“The goal is for the Innovation Hub to promote higher levels of collaboration between private companies and universities, leading to a more sophisticated flow of ideas and basic research across the AI spectrum,” Tarkoma said.
Along with VTT and the University of Helsinki, FAIR’s founding members include: Aalto University, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, the state-run Science Information Technology Center CSC, KIRA-Hub, digital innovation transformation EIT Digital, and the city councils of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa.
The FAIR Innovation Hub prioritizes mature SMEs that are already established in their service area, but do not have the capacity and means to develop a product or service that utilizes artificial intelligence. Hub’s business model means it works with individual SMEs to help them validate, implement, maintain and further develop products and services.
FAIR plans to work with more than 100 SMEs over the next three years, said Marja-Leena Rinkineva, City of Helsinki Business Director.
“We want to develop the core functions of the FAIR Innovation Hub to strengthen our position as one of the best innovation environments in Europe,” he said. “Our goal is to achieve this by systematically promoting the development of existing business and creating even more attractive jobs. FAIR also builds Helsinki’s attractiveness as a city and region with a skilled workforce.
The fair’s innovation center also strengthens the general competitiveness of companies operating in the capital region that want to launch or expand to the global market. Harri Paananen, business director of the city of Espoo.
“The Helsinki metropolitan area is already one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence competence centers,” he said. “With cooperation, we can increase the opportunities for companies in the region to benefit from this know-how and testing opportunities.”
Famous AI users
Software and construction companies have become significant users of artificial intelligence in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and VTT estimates that currently more than 50% of healthcare startups use artificial intelligence. FAIR Innovation Hub’s service offering enables companies in these and other sectors to move from the application to the implementation of artificial intelligence more quickly.
“Pioneer construction companies want to start applying artificial intelligence in automated design to create a real-time snapshot and optimize the energy efficiency of buildings,” said Teemu Lehtinen, CEO of KIRA-Hub, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable digitization in Finland’s built environment. “To achieve real efficiency, we need to reach a larger mass and get more SMEs to take advantage of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence.”
The FAIR Innovation Hub is the latest initiative by the Helsinki authorities to encourage the adoption of digital information and artificial intelligence technologies to develop skills that increase employment opportunities.
In February, the City of Helsinki launched the Digital Work Life project, the aim of which is to offer residents free digital skills courses. It is significant that the initiative is also aimed at Helsinki’s growing immigrant community, and courses are organized there in Finnish, English, Somali, French and Arabic.
“Employment is related to personal well-being,” said Annukka Sorjonen, City of Helsinki’s immigration and employment affairs service manager. “Helsinki needs a skilled workforce. Companies operating here have a growing need for employees with digital skills. The availability of digital skills is a key factor in the growth of our companies.”
Helsinki’s digital and artificial intelligence adoption initiatives are also being used to attract even more foreign investment from global players in the IT industry. Finland has recently recorded several high-profile successes, with Google and Microsoft making separate investments to expand their operations in the country.
Google has bought a 50-hectare plot from the city of Hamina, which can be used to expand its data center operations in the area. The EUR 4.3 million deal is part of Google’s long-term plan to increase production and take advantage of Finland’s cold climate operating environment and the availability of renewable energy.
The land acquisition gives Google the opportunity to expand in Finland, although the company has not yet decided when it could develop the site, says director Lauri Ikonen. operations in Google Hamina.
“Having the land bank means we now have the flexibility to move quickly if we decide to expand to Hamina,” Ikonen said.
About 400 people work in Google’s Hamina data center and related functions. The company opened its sixth data center in Hamina in 2020. The cooling system of the facility, which uses seawater from the Gulf of Finland, receives electricity from three newly built wind farms.
In March 2022, Microsoft announced its plan to build an emission-free, energy-efficient, heat-producing data center in Finland. The investment can create up to 11,000 jobs in Finland.
The facility is Microsoft’s largest initiative to recycle waste heat from data centers. The plant, which will be built in cooperation with the Finnish energy group Fortum, will be able to supply district heating to the municipalities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi.