World’s Science Parks to Finland in June 2006
Finland will be the stage of a meeting between the world’s technology centers next summer. The world conference of the IASP (International Association of Science Parks) IASP Helsinki 2006 will take place June 6-9 2006.
It unites the network of the world’s science parks and technology centers as well as top speakers and experts of the field. The Finnish Technopolis Plc is organizing the conference in close cooperation with Finnish Science Park Association TEKEL.
All together there will be 40 presentations during the conference, all related to topics of current interest to science parks. These themes are divided to 14 different ensembles, including four in the form of workshops. The keynote speaker of the conference is Antti Piippo, the chairman of Elcoteq. Other invited speakers include Artturi Tarjanne (General Partner, Nexit Ventures Oy), Sten Tamkivi (Managing Director, Skype in Estonia) and Kari Nenonen (Lord Mayor of the City of Oulu).The program also includes Case Finland, which will showcase the Finnish innovation and technology achievement from many different viewpoints.
The conference will be held on the threshold of Finland’s EU Presidency and it is expected that 400-500 participants from around the world will attend. According to Mervi Käki, the director of Technopolis Plc’s Helsinkiarea operations, the main venue will be Finlandia Hall.
-The Conference is being organized in collaboration with a variety of actors. Significant partners include the Cities of Helsinki, Espooand Vantaa, which are providing venues for the conference program.
Käki, who is in charge of organizing the conference, is pleased with the role that Finlandhas received.
- Different organizations compete heavily for the organizer status of the IASP conference. The conference has been in Finlandonce before, in Oulu1992 and last year it took place in Beijing. Now we have received the opportunity once more. It’s a significant look out point from which to view the actors and operations in our field.
Worldwide Networking
The IASP network includes 302 members from 63 different countries. Luis Sanz, the Director General of IASP points out that for the organization the conference is the most important event of the year.
- Our World conferences are the perfect platform for our members to meet and contact personally and at the same time to update their knowledge on our industry.
The Helsinkiconference program emphasizes the customer dimension of the Science and TechnologyParkbusiness. According to the Director General Sanz they want to deepen their understanding on how much and in what way Science Parks support the competitiveness of their tenant companies and their cities and regions.
- In the conference we will be making an effort to analyze and better understand science and technology parks from the point of view of their strategic profile, as an attempt to produce a new science park models classification based on their main strategic axes, Sanz tells.
New Projects Support Client International Expansion
One of the main focuses at the joint strategy of the Finnish science parks is to increase the global competitiveness of the companies operating on the technology field anddeveloping the international activities of science parks. In addition activities which attract international companies and R&D-units to Finlandare viewed as important.
-The absolute strength of the Finnish science park field is a broad set of networks and intense cooperation among different actors. The IASP conference is a concrete example of international cooperation, but science parks also carry out comprehensive national projects, which aim at increasing internationalization. This produces clear added value first and foremost to the customers of the centers, says Kyösti Jääskeläinen, the CEO of the Finnish Science Park Association TEKEL.
IASP Helsinki 2006 World Conference(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
International Association of Science Parks IASP(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)