Insights

The annual CTO Forum co-organised by Business Finland, Technology Industries of Finland and Spinverse is approaching on the 16th February, 2021. The spring event boasts interesting keynotes about sustainability and green digitalisation from ABB and SSAB, and award ceremonies for CTOs of the Year 2021 and Innovation Professor of the Year 2021. This spring, the event is virtual and we want to welcome everyone to join in!

Many companies have offerings that are just as suitable for the international market as they are for the Swedish market, which means it is interesting for companies to expand globally.
"It is both difficult and expensive for suppliers to enter markets abroad. However, with a delegation trip, where several operators collaborate, a neutral platform is created that can easily open doors," says Frida Barrett, Innovation Project Manager, IMCG, and recently responsible for a delegation trip to Chile.

Spinverse is one of the nine partners in the STARDUST project, launched in 2017, to create a miniaturised neurosurgical implant leading to a proof-of-concept for a new treatment approach for Parkinson’s disease. The four-year project has now progressed to its final year, coming a few steps closer to introduce novel ways to treat a wide variety of diseases.

Have you worked with an exceptional CTO in Finland? Would you also like to highlight an innovative professor whose work in the academia has successfully made a difference in the industry sector? We are now looking for nominations to find the CTO of the Year 2021 but are also in the search of the Innovation Professor of the Year 2021. Nominate your candidates today!

Heli Teerenhovi joined Spinverse as Senior Manager less than two months ago and has already familiarised herself with some of Spinverse’s health technology projects and the opportunities brought by EU funding to innovative technologies. We discussed with Heli about the future of health technologies and how the new solutions will help provide patients and their care personnel with a more personalised and effective care.

The European Commission recently funded AICCELERATE, a multiparty project aiming to develop AI solutions to improve patient care and hospital processes. The goal of the “AI ACCELERATOR – a Smart Hospital Care Pathway Engine” project is to demonstrate the scalability of the AI solutions for different types of healthcare use cases. The project consortium led by Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) consists of 16 partners from eight European countries.

The European Parliament and the Council finally reached an agreement on the forthcoming EU’s R&I programme Horizon Europe. To finalize the deal, it needs to be approved formally by  the European Parliament and the Member States. Moreover, Member States’ leaders reached a budget deal on EU’s recovery package and multiannual financial framework which brings the beginning of EU’s new budget period even closer.  

LuxTurrim5G is developing and demonstrating a fast 5G network based on smart light poles with integrated antennas, base stations, sensors, cameras and other devices. This ecosystem project led by Nokia and facilitated by Spinverse opens new digital services and business opportunities for a real smart city. One of the companies providing solutions for the ecosystem is Orbis from Vantaa, Finland. They manufacture radio frequency and optical fibre assemblies and take care of the assembly and device integration for the smart light poles. Orbis has experienced tangible benefits in the commercialisation process of their technical solutions after having joined the consortium a year ago.

Year 2020 has featured the starting point of a remarkable 10-year European investment into innovative low carbon projects. The European Commission has successfully launched the Innovation Fund, which is expected to provide over 10 B€ of grants between 2020-2030 for upscaling innovative clean technologies. The funding comes from revenues from the auction of emission allowances within the EU’s Emissions Trading System. 

Solving the critical environmental and societal challenge of recycling ever-growing piles of discarded textiles is the goal of the New Cotton Project. New Cotton will demonstrate the production of high-performing circular textiles and launch them to the consumer markets. The core of the solution is Infinited Fiber Company’s new innovative technology, which is an affordable and environmentally sustainable way to turn textile waste into cotton-like fibres with superior qualities. Spinverse funding experts helped secure EU Horizon 2020 funding for this exciting 8.9 M€ project, where Infinited Fiber Company acts as the project lead.