Ambassador Hautala visited Washington state

High technology, including 5G, and green economy were the main topics of the visit of Ambassador Hautala and the Finnish delegation to Washington state in mid-September. Ambassador Hautala discussed these topics also with Governor Inslee and State Senators Marko Liias and Reuven Carlyle.

The Embassy of Finland, City of Tacoma, Washington Maritime Blue, Business Finland and Finnish companies are building cooperation on smart port solutions and enhanced connectivity for the Port of Tacoma, which is one of the biggest container ports in the US. Finnish companies have become global leaders in smart port technology with investments in 5G networks, Internet of Things technologies and software services. The Ambassador met Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards and U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer in Tacoma. Read more about the visit here(Link to another website.). 

The delegation visited 5G Open Innovation Lab test farm close to Seattle. Better connectivity and edge computing can help farmers reduce water consumption and increase efficiency. 5G Open Innovation Lab and Finnish companies look ways to scale end-user 5G applications on real industry applications. U.S. Representative Rick Larsen met the delegation at the farm.

During the meeting with the staff and students of the Scandinavian Studies Department of the University of Washington, we learned that around 10–20 students study Finnish per year. The Ambassador also spoke at the Nordic Innovation Series of National Nordic Museum, together with Ambassador Anniken Krutnes of Norway. Their discussion, which centered around foreign policy, Arctic affairs, innovations and sustainability, can be viewed on the Museum's website(Link to another website.).

Finland looks forward to continued cooperation with the State of Washington on matters involving 5G, technology and maritime solutions.