As a small country we have plenty of opportunities to make good decisions. We have a strong industrial and welfare base - now we need to shift to a competence-based economy. Welfare services should be empowering, meaning that the public sector should provide opportunities to the citizens themselves. Industrial companies must also transform themselves into suppliers of services."
These are the thoughts of Antti Hautamäki, PhD, who has been appointed Research Professor in service innovation at the University of Jyväskylä. He believes that Finnish people will be ready for the new era provided that they are sufficiently well informed and understand the reasons why change is occurring.
"People in Finland certainly understand that the change needed by society will mean that public services are produced in a different way and more entrepreneurship will be required. The Finns are people who manage to muddle through," he says.
Antti Hautamäki - whose previous experience includes heading innovation projects at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund - is pleased that the five-year professorship will give him the opportunity to focus on his specialist subject.
"This is an excellent chance to do research into innovations. For 20 years I have given a lot of thought to these matters and followed developments in the field of innovation. Now I can really explore the subject in-depth," he explains.
Service innovations provide ample scope for research because changes in society will mean demand for services, at both the national and international levels. "The big trend is to include end-users and customers in the development process. The first step is to ask the customers what they want and what they are able to do themselves. Then - and only then - is end-user oriented development work started," Hautamäki states.
"I'm also interested in innovation environments, which I call innovation ecosystems. These provide excellent conditions for companies to develop new products and services. The requirements for ecosystems are strong research, corporate financing for new ideas, a trained and educated workforce, and good business support services."
The concept of sustainable innovation, which Antti Hautamäki developed, provides a new approach to the topic. "I developed the concept of sustainable innovation because the main focus of innovation thinking and policy has been economic growth. Innovation has not been applied to a sufficient extent to the greatest challenge facing mankind: climate change. Innovation should be used to create products and production systems that meet the criteria for sustainable development, and the objective of innovation policy should be the wellbeing of people and the environment."
When Hautamäki began to speak about sustainable innovation a few years ago, the concept was still new. Now it has become part of innovation policy and can be seen in many decisions and plans. The idea of sustainable planning has arrived. "The idea of sustainability can be clearly seen in people's attitudes. Finland should now be boosting its capabilities in environmental technology - that would be a great asset for the country."
Antti Hautamäki says that Jyväskylä is in a good position to develop into a world-class centre of innovation - an innovation ecosystem.
"A lot of capabilities and skills can already be found in Jyväskylä, especially in the human technology area, bioenergy, paper manufacturing and the application of technology to services."
The recent municipal merger has brought with it an enthusiasm to develop new things in Jyväskylä. On a world scale, though, there is still plenty of scope for development. "The world's successful cities attract skilled people, companies and investors in other ways. The region has to be a pleasant place to live with a strong 'wow factor'. Basic conditions are good in Jyväskylä and the standard of living is high, but work needs to be done to improve the cultural services."
He goes on to stress that innovations develop in areas where different types of competence can easily interact. "The innovation ecosystem must bring together different people and actors. Boundaries have to be lowered and collaboration increased. Within the ecosystem there must be a strong culture of creativity - bold, able to take risks, inquisitive and enthusiastic. These are the factors that give rise to innovations and the companies that can commercialise them."
"It's said that money provides a route to knowledge - innovation means that knowledge provides a route to money," Hautamäki states.
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ANTTI HAUTAMÄKI
- Born 1949 in Helsinki - Lives in Jyväskylä, married, two children
Career highlights - 2009-13 Research Professor, University of Jyväskylä - 1996-2009 Director, Innovations and New Solutions, Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, Sitra - 1993-96 Senior Consultant, EV-Development Group - 1987-92 Senior Consultant, HM&V Research Ltd - 1985-87 Senior Researcher, Nokia Corporation - 1969- Lecturer, University of Helsinki, Department of Philosophy
Education - Master of Philosophy, University of Helsinki 1975 - Licentiate of Philosophy, University of Helsinki 1980 - Doctor of Philosophy, University of Helsinki 1987
Publications
- Over 20 books and over 100 articles on philosophy, cognitive science, the knowledge society, public services, innovation and innovation policy.
words by nelli korpi photos by petteri kivimäki