European CommissionResearch Executive Agency REA invited Karostech’s Senior Consultant Erik Raita to participate the evaluation of two EU funded research projects in Innovation Expert role. Project meetings took place in Paris and Brussels and the task of Innovation Expert is to assess project outcomes from the innovation potential perspective. Both projects were funded under Horizon 2020 Fostering Novel Ideas: FET-Open program and involved multiple participants from the leading European research organizations and universities, including Oxford University and Sorbonne University.
Ilkka Kakko was invited to have a workshop with the participants of Innopolis Foundation’s International Training Program. The title for a half-day event was ”Workshop on Third Generation Science Park Concept” and there were about 30 attendees, mainly STP managers and governmental policy makers from 15 countries.
The introductory presentation by Ilkka and the following work in small teams generated a lot of dialogue and the feedback after the event was really positive. This session held on November 12th was part of a continiuos collaboration between Innopolis Foundation and Karostech, which started earlier on the summer, when Dr. Seo from Innopolis Foundation was in Finland on a visit organized by Karostech.
Innopolis Foundation is the leading creative economy driver in South Korea and is promoting new technologies and markets. The focus in their strategy is to:
• Commercialize public technology and activate start-ups or business foundation
• Professionalize the commercialization mechanism
• Create open ecosystems for the growth of INNOPOLIS
We in Karostech have been active this summer in streamlining the global partnership network for the benefit of our customers.
During the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference on June Ilkka Kakko had a great chance to spend one afternoon in a workshop together with the directors of JIN (Japan Innovation Network). It was an awesome two and half hours and Ilkka got also an invitation to come and visit JIN in Japan in the near future. In the cover picture Ilkka is after the workshop alongside Urban Mill orchestrators Kari Mikkelä and Lars Miikki together with the top management team of Japan Innovation Network (JIN) Prof Konno, former President of Sony Corporation Dr Ando and Chief Executive Officer of JIN Dr Nishiguchi.
Karostech organized also a visit for our Korean contact Dr Seo from Innopolis Foundation. Dr Seo made an European tour visiting UK, Sweden and Finland and was interested in studying the latest developments on innovation platforms. Ilkka took Dr Seo to LADEC to show how the local science park in Lahti has merged with regional development company and what kind of experiences they so far have from this re-structuring process. We also visited an Lahti – based entrepreneur Jarmo Järvinen, who is running two amazing businesses, Lean Park Oy and Methator Oy.
After Lahti we continued the program and visited also Espoo Innovation Garden in Otaniemi, where Ilkka explained how 3rd generation science park concept is implemented and what it requires in practical terms. During the afternoon tour Dr Seo had the chance to meet people from Design Factory, Start-Up Sauna, Urban Mill and a recently established business accelerator Vertical.
Dr Seo was impressed and promised to take some of lessons back to Korea and start implementing them in his organization. He also invited Ilkka to visit Korea on November to conduct some training sessions in their innovation workshop.
In photos: Dr Seo visiting LADEC, where our host was Essi Artima-Sulkinoja and the Vertical accelerator in Otaniemi, where our hosts were Hanna, Kenneth and Paolo.
This is the opening blog for the new forum, where emergent management paradigms and fresh ways of thinking and even revolutionary visions are presented and discussed. If you are responsible of opening up new ways of thinking for your company or community, if you want to learn the use of new tools and inspiring facilitation methodologies – or if you just want to find inspiration for your every day activities, this is the right forum to visit regularly!
We believe that in this interconnected global business world the competitive edge comes from understanding that:
1) the fundamental and useful information is flowing instead of being stocked somewhere
2) the most effective form of organization is a movement
3) the leading actors are individuals and communities
4) the driving force is passion
5) the competitive edge evolves from diversity
6) the success comes from respecting serendipity
7) the sustainable work-life integration is the ultimate way to happiness
Our own formula for success c=km2 has proved to be a great trailblazer and highlights our philosophy when digging into the challenges of our customers. We believe in networked business models, where CNOs (Collaborative Networked Organizations) are essential elements. The impact comes from the flexibility and higher motivation levels in a structure, where passion in many cases is the driving force. There are some Living Lab initiatives and other good cases of community involvement, but overall the importance of this issue is not widespread understood in the contemporary business world. With well organized community facilitation methodologies the companies and the regions can revitalize their talent pools and attract motivated people.
The impact comes from the flexibility and higher motivation levels in a structure, where passion in many cases is the driving force.
Knowledge alone is not useful, if the motivation on individual, community or company level is the limiting factor. Even the big institutions are focusing more on talent and shifting their focus from engagement to passion. This was a clear message at IBM Connect 2013 just few weeks ago. For the big conglomerates this might be the mission impossible, if they are not able to attract the surrounding communities into their business processes. The same applies for innovation intermediaries like science parks, incubators and regional development organizations. This blog will keep following actively all those various issues related to community building and facilitation. The importance of vision and leadership, different types of communities and their life-cycle management, CNO issues, and various types of entrepreneurship will be discussed.
Some people just follow their passion, the others have to be engaged. Here is an insightful clip explaining the fact that even though engagement is vital, it can not be managed.
The leading thinkers and advocates for the future solutions of business ecosystems and innovation environments – John Hagel and Stowe Boyd – will be some of the figures we will follow actively. Both are enthusiastic, future oriented and have an ispiring touch when illustrating the possibilities of the ”Pull society” – like John and his colleagues in Deloitte have named it – or ”Post-normal” era – like Stowe likes to call this new business landscape we are entering.
Pull society or post-normal era – anyway, it reflects the fundamental shift in the ways of people’s thinking, how business is evolving, how innovations are created, the ways we communicate, interact and get excited, the drivers we feel passionate of.
Pull society or post- normal era – we could call it also the era of movements, the era of passion, the era of community empowerment, the era of respecting serendipity. What ever the name, the time has come. Be prepared!
Karostech participated in the Innovation Forum organised by the Ministry of Economy of Kazakhstan held in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana November 17-18. Chairman of the Board Erik Raita presented a speech about ”Innovative Networks and Technoparks of Third Generation”.
