Insights

R&D investments in Finland will continue to grow, driven by public funding. Finnish companies will continue to increase their product development investments in Finland also in 2022. Growth will be accelerated by the green transition, the advancement of digitalisation and the growth of public innovation funding for industry. This is evident from the CTO Survey directed at the Chief Technology Officers of industrial companies. The survey was conducted by Spinverse in cooperation with the Technology Industries of Finland and Business Finland. This finding is also supported by a recent investment report by the Confederation of Finnish Industries, in which the results on the growth of industrial investments were very similar.

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!

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.

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.

According to the annual CTO-Survey, Finnish technology companies are preparing for digitalisation. It is believed that digitalisation will create new business models and ways to accelerate the development of current business. New business is needed, as the survey results reveal a concern for public funding cutbacks and poor predictability of Finnish and EU legislators.