Finland


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FOSTERING CURIOSITY

Demola is a co-creation programme between students and external organizations to deliver challenge-oriented ideas. It was created in 2008 within the innovation ecosystem of Tampere, Finland, thanks to the collaboration of municipality, local universities and the private sector. Building on a question or concept brought forward by the organization, Demola makes use of its extensive network of universities to select a multidisciplinary team of students that will complement the company’s current expertise.  

Demola offers the externalization of facilitation functions to access a larger collaborative network. Present in 17 countries and with over 50 universities being part of the framework, it can benefit organizations by delivering highly effective co-creative projects with multidisciplinary groups that improve the quality of the research. For students, it allows them to experience high pressured environments, with the added recognition in the form of university credits.

Demola embraces the need for multidisciplinary approaches for the educational community as well as public and private enterprises. Evolving around the concept of global megatrends, Demola reckons no organization can succeed without connected thinking. One of the priorities for Demola is to provide a co-creative ecosystem that is fair and reasonable for students. In order to achieve that, proposals from the challenges belong to the team, with the possibility for organizations to invest in the development of those concepts. The succession of feedback and internal assessment culminated in the development of New Factory in 2012, which operates as a hub for open innovation activity and Demola’s local co-creation centre.

OBJECTIVES AND IMPACTS          

The structure designed by the Demola team presents clear roles of students and organizations through the process. The nature of this framework protects the engagement of students and enhances the impact of their input in the project. By encouraging this equality in the dynamics within the group, Demola creates an environment that optimizes outcome via lack of hierarchy.

For example, enterprises have the opportunity to purchase exclusive usage rights to the results of the project. This distribution of ownership reinforces the direct relationship between students and organizations, with Demola providing a framework to regulate their negotiation for the usage of intellectual property.

The Demola program is a unique and innovative initiative connecting students with organizations in order to find creative solutions through collaborative partnerships. Some of the program objectives are:

  • Offer professional facilitation for companies to participate in co-creative activities, encouraging existing employees of public and private enterprises to experiment through co-creation with university students.
  • Develop a wider understanding of complex urban challenges, exposing the municipality to different perspectives and diversifying their approach through innovative thinking.
  • Offer a structure for students to access development opportunities outside the standard channels offered by their institutions, including new work methods and a different range of professional expertise, in order to cultivate skillsets that will equip them for their future career.
  • Provide a platform that connects the interests of companies and universities, allowing employees of enterprises to grow their skills while enhancing the teaching activities of the HEI.

Demola’s approach to collaboration sets itself apart thanks to the priority given to the relationship between students and organizations. This direct communication facilitates a greater focus on the specific challenge proposed by the partner. The Demola Alliance and its international reach allows companies to access a much larger pool of talent. The externalization of facilitation services provides a homogeneous co-creative process, optimized to the expectations of municipalities and businesses. The multifaceted, supportive, and expansive ecosystem created can be a valuable reference point for similar initiatives in the future.

Main Partners:

Featured picture by Pixabay from Pexels

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ITS FACTORY COMMUNITY SEEKS SOLUTIONS FOR MOBILITY CHALLENGES THROUGH CLOSE CO-OPERATION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

ITS Factory is a public-private collaborative platform that aims to maximise synergies to develop innovative solutions in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Reflecting the complexity of modern urban challenges, the ecosystem facilitates communication between the public sector, academia and businesses.

The development of solutions through the ITS structure creates a two-way exchange, from which developers and researchers gain access to the available data from public sources, and the region benefits from the production of the latest concepts in urban mobility. For the student community, this collaborative environment creates an opportunity to gain exposure to the iterative process that informs technological creativity, and to become more aware of the social component that is attached to the development of solutions for the modern urban environment.

Modern mobility solutions, and the application of technology, relies heavily in the collection, storage and distribution of data. There is an increasing awareness of the potential for open data to unlock unlimited solutions to deliver the promise of smart communities and sustainable urban ecosystems. The main objective of the initiative is to generate a collaborative community specialized in the delivery of intelligent transport solutions. By attracting as many stakeholders as possible, ITS Factory aims to make Tampere an international pole in the field of mobility innovation.

Image by Reijo Telaranta from Pixabay

COLLABORATIVE NETWORK

Together with the constantly expanding network of private actors, there are several institutions within public governance and education that participate in a more permanent role to provide infrastructure, data, and financial support. The different partners are allowed to develop their own ideas and execute specific projects within the realm of ITS. Some of the core activities include:

  • ITS Factory development
  • Commercialization and marketing activities
  • Facilitation for developers
  • Testing facilities
  • Interaction with end-user

The integration of ITS Factory within the Business Tampere structure allowed for a more streamlined co-creation process, resulting in the following impacts from this collaboration:

  • Commercialization of products and services
  • Creation of new research and development opportunities
  • Development of industry standards for the creation, exchange and management of data
  • Access to innovative transport solutions for the City of Tampere, the Tampere Region, and the citizenship
  • Associated societal impacts, including a more efficient transport network, reduction in emissions, optimization of costs, road safety, accessibility and public health

In order to reach the highest levels of innovation and co-production, ITS Factory aimed to create an ecosystem in which all stakeholders felt free to engage in research, collaboration and development of concepts. The flexibility of the creative model allows for extensive adaptability to the needs of developers and researchers. Due to the wide range of projects that can be integrated in the ITS ecosystem, the structure offers the possibility to benefit from the platform, including access to public data and real-life testing, to any type of venture. This perspective on stakeholder engagement, as well as the model developed, can be a valuable reference point for similar initiatives in the future.

Main Partners:

City of Tampere

Council of Tampere

Business Tampere

Tampere University

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