Sitra Report Urges Finland to Breed Innovation

A blue-ribbon panel of experts has issued a stark warning to Finland’s political and business leaders: foster innovation or risk foundering in the global market.

Entitled Making Finland a Leading Country in Innovation, the report was published recently by the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra). It is the first major fruit of Sitra’s Innovation Programme, launched last autumn with the ambitious aim of “developing Finland into an innovation pioneer”.

Two dozen key decision-makers contributed to the project, coming up with 27 concrete recommendations for what Finland should do to create “a dynamic innovation environment that will attract experts and investment”. According to Sitra’s Programme Director, Antti Hautamäki, the panellists are themselves “major actors in the field” who have pledged to carry the initiative forward.

Their proposals range from tax and immigration reforms to more effective networking of companies and universities, as well as the establishment of regional innovation centres.

Read more here.

News Source: Tekes, National Technology Agency Finland.