Insights

This year, the jury consisting of leading Finnish technology influencers selected EVP and CTO Jyrki Ovaska of UPM and CTO Duleepa Wijayawardhana of Supermetrics as the winners in the CTOs of the Year 2021 Awards. As a new recognition, the Innovation Professor of the Year 2021 was also awarded, and it was given to Professor Mikko Möttönen of Aalto University and VTT.

The CTO of the Year Awards are given by Technology Industries of Finland, Business Finland and innovation consulting company Spinverse to highlight the importance of Chief Technology Officers’ work on the future competitiveness of Finnish industry. This year, also the work of Innovation Professors collaborating with companies was recognised. The awards were published and given on the 16th of February 2021 at the CTO Forum, an event which this year was themed around digitalisation and sustainability.

Demands posed by digitalisation and environmental issues drive companies to invest more in R&D&I, reveals the latest CTO Survey conducted by Spinverse, Technology Industries of Finland and Business Finland. The survey sent to 400 respondents indicates a two-fold trend in R&D investments.

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!

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!

The bi-annual CTO Forum, co-organised by Technology Industries of Finland, Business Finland and Spinverse, was held on 10 November as a virtual event as most of the events at the moment. The overarching theme was "Leading green and digital growth" . The keynotes and workgroups made the online event alive with interesting discussions and insights of the relevant topics in technology industries. The preliminary results of the recent CTO Survey were also covered in the event. What is more, the nomination period for the CTO of the year 2021 was opened! 

The event was kicked off with the opening words from Pekka Koponen from Spinverse, Nina Kopola from Business Finland and Jaakko Hirvola from Technology Industries from Finland. The keynotes were given by CTOs of the Year 2020, Aki Mäkivirta from Genelec and Jani Vilenius from Sandvik. Aki and Jani discussed in concrete examples about the changes the Covid-19 situation brought to their companies and the message was clear - we need to be able to renew and find new ways to work. 

The workgroups discussed and shared their ideas on the following five thematic groups: 

• Increasing investments – How to drive investments and R&D in Finland
• Driving growth – How to succeed in internationalisation and enhancing exports?
• Building cooperation – How to build and operate R&D&I ecosystems?
• Boosting business – How to utilise innovation and investment funding?
• Building competences – How to attract new and needed talents?   

At the end of the event, the nominations of the CTO of the Year 2021 was officially launched open. Do you already have a candidate in mind? If yes, read below how to nominate your candidate! 

Have you worked with an exceptional CTO in Finland? We are now looking for nominations to find the CTO who makes the biggest impact in bringing the best out of their team, is an inspiring leader and adds significant value to the company through technology.

Who is eligible? Anyone who is responsible for their company’s technology in Finland. The selection criteria are very comprehensive and are specified by three categories: the person, the CTO's company and societal impact. The nomination period is open until 8th January 2021.

This year, the jury consisting of leading Finnish technology influencers chose Sandvik’s Director for Research and Technology Development Jani Vilenius and Genelec R&D Director Aki Mäkivirta as the winners in the CTOs of the Year 2020 Awards. The award went to those technology leaders who had contributed to their company’s growth or innovativeness over the past year with their impressive work.

Have you worked with an exceptional CTO in Finland? We are now looking for nominations to find the CTO who makes the biggest impact in bringing the best out of their team, is an inspiring leader and adds significant value to the company through technology.

Who is eligible? Anyone who is responsible for their company’s technology in Finland. The selection criteria are very comprehensive and are specified by three categories: the person, the CTO's company and societal impact. The nomination period is open until the 31th of January 2019.

The 2019 CTO Survey revealed that the way Finnish companies utilise data is changing.

Finland’s EU presidency begins on 1 July 2019. During that time, major changes to innovation funding were achieved. This time around, our presidency oversees the preparations for Horizon 2020 with unprecedented levels of funding. EU funding can be leveraged to further industry’s innovations and commercialising them, and access to EU funding is easier than ever. It is time for Finnish industry to make the most out of their innovations. EU innovation funding only has impact only if it has the industry to lead the way.

2019 CTO's of the year have been chosen by a jury of Finnish technology influencers.

The title of the CTO of the Year is awarded annually to highlight the importance of Chief Technology Officers to the future competitiveness of Finnish industries. Promote the CTO who has made an impact not only to his or her company, but also in Finland and globally. You can nominate anyone who is responsible for their company's technology in Finland. The nomination period is open until the 21th of January 2019.

This year the CTO Survey mapped which Radical technologies are the most interesting and in which areas Finland could have a competitive edge. The CTO’s were also asked which areas state and other research institutes should allocate their research and development investments.

The bi-annual CTO Forum spring event was held on 19th of March at restaurant Palace. This time the focus of the event was on Finland 4.0 - how to increase the R&D expenditure of GDP to 4.0%.

Vesa Varjonen, Vice President of Research and Technology at Planmeca and Matti Heikkilä, CTO of MetGen have been chosen as CTOs of the Year 2018.  The jury consisting of leading Finnish technology influencers emphasized the significant role of the awarded CTOS on renewal of the industry. The CTO of the Year Awards are given by Spinverse together with Technology Industries of Finland and Business Finland to highlight the importance of Chief Technology Officers work on the future competitiveness of Finnish industries. 

Spinverse and the Nordic Council of Ministers through the Danish Business Authority have broadened the CTO Forum concept to cover all Nordic countries. The first ever CTO Forum Nordics was held in Stockholm, Sweden on the 14th of December 2017. The aim of the day was to find ways to enhance Nordic cooperation in industrial digitalisation: Industry 4.0.

Do you know an exceptional CTO in Finland? We are now looking for nominations to find the CTO who is the most inspiring team-builder and leader, who adds significant value to the company through technology.  you can submit your nomination at http://www.ctoforum.fi/nominate. Anyone who is responsible for their company’s technology in Finland is eligible. The selection criteria are very comprehensive and are divided into three section: the person, the CTO's company and societal impact.

The exponential development of technology is driving fundamental change in the world. As the pace of change is continuously increasing, people and companies need to understand the nature of exponential growth.

Companies are now investing in digitalisation due to the competitive advantage and customer value it brings and not due to cost savings. Finnish CTOs believe that the key challenge in digitalisation is to develop related knowledge and skills. The latest CTO Survey conducted by Spinverse, Tekes and Technology Industries of Finland focused on how digitalisation transforms Finnish companies.

Reijo Salonen, Senior Vice President of Research and Development of Pharmaceuticals and Chief Medical Officer from Orion and Reetta Kivelä, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer from Gold&Green Foods have been elected as Finland’s CTOs of the Year 2017. In the selection process, the emphasis was put on companies with significant societal impact. “Election of the awardees was exceptionally unanimous this year. Salonen and Kivelä have both shown their remarkable contribution to their companies and to their societal networks”, says Chairman of the Jury Harri Kerminen. CTO of the Year award is a joint undertaking by Tekes and Spinverse.

Former Vice President of Intel Labs Europe and co-founder of the Innovation Value Institute, Martin Curley, who was speaking at the CTO Forum Finland in Helsinki on October the 13th, 2016, started off his address to the Finnish CTOs by saying that we live in a new era where the pace of innovation is a matter of survival.