Europe’s most extensive Innovator joins Europe’s most effective Innovator – Demola and 700 000 Students join DIMECC to Boost Industrial Renewal

Press Release May the 28^th 2018

The radical, experimental and rapid innovation made possible by students and universities becomes part of DIMECC’s services with the Demola deal. DIMECC’s longterm RDI programs and the broad cooperation of companies and research institutes will thus be complemented by the agile Demola’s projects. Demola is based on agile and professionally guided co-creation projects, where the personnel of the client company and university students work together on a shared challenge for the future.

Co-creation means innovation by various actors in intense cooperation. DIMECC’s effectiveness in this has been proved to be the highest in Europe in 2016.

‘We have expanded internationally to 15 different countries and our community consists of 58 universities from four continents. It’s especially the Finnish Industry, universities and thus DIMECC that is the best possible partner for us to build international success and thereby Finnish competitiveness. We’re known in the world thanks to Finnish know-how in education, but now our international growth will be boosted by the innovation know-how of the Finnish Industry’, states Demola’s CEO Ville Kairamo. Kairamo was rewarded with the Nokia Foundation Award in 2013 for developing Demola.

According to Kairamo, DIMECC and Demola joining forces is an answer to the changing needs of expertise and an act to promote Finnish capacity for innovation.

‘Demola can be regarded as innovating innovation, as a model representing tomorrow’s way of including

personnel in continuous renewal and creating new expertise. The work done by DIMECC and Demola internationally is exactly what the Finnish society needs to stay competitive in the future. Thanks to this deal, DIMECC becomes a comprehensive innovation platform. The time to market will be shortened again, which is our most important client promise’, emphasizes Ilari Kallio, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DIMECC and Director, Digitalisation in Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

DIMECC and Demola will both be strengthened considerably. DIMECC gains more international presence while Demola benefits from the very top industrial background and competence offered by DIMECC.

‘DIMECC has put together and guided many projects necessary for industrial renewal and created new ways of co-creation. Demola brings another agile tool for this and at the same time offers students opportunities to work with the industry’, describes Lauri Oksanen, Research Director of Nokia Bell Labs and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of DIMECC.

Demola and DIMECC joining forces is a significant step and opportunity for the Industry to boost its competitity. It also develops cooperation and creates societal benefits.

‘Demola renews the business cooperation of universities by bringing a concrete tool to work with companies. This shifts the emphasis of the cooperation to real co-creation, not just shopping of experts and expertise, but to multidisciplinary development of expertise to match the needs of the future. This increases the societal effectiveness of business cooperation’, points out Arto Maaninen, the Vice Rector of Oulu University.

DIMECC’s Goal: Being the Best

‘The European Commission has just announced to increase contributions to RDI and the Prime Minister of Finland has announced a huge raise in RDI expenditures as the goal, compared to the present level.

There are thus major opportunities both in Finland and Europe altogether’, recounts DIMECC’s CEO Harri Kulmala.

Kulmala is unapologetically ambitious.

“Our goal has long been to be the best innovation platform in the world, and DIMECC and Demola together have a unique capacity to creatively disrupt and boost industrial renewal, with extreme speed as well as through our enduring cooperation platform. DIMECC wants to be open for all to contribute, Demola and highly educated young people are an unbeatable reinforcement to us’, praises Kulmala.

Further information:

CEO Harri Kulmala, DIMECC Ltd, +358 40 840 6380, harri.kulmala@dimecc.com

CEO Ville Kairamo, Demola Global Ltd, +358 40 566 7182, ville@demola.net

DIMECC Ltd is an innovation hub for digitalizing industry in Finland, bringing together the best forces from the Finnish manufacturing and digitalizing Industry as well as academic research. DIMECC’s shareholders are 69 top Finnish companies, universities and research institutes. DIMECC’s innovation platform brings yearly together a quarter of the member companies of the Technology Industries of Finland and over 2.000 top experts from the industries and research. www.dimecc.com

DEMOLA is a global platform for innovation, changing old ways of operating and thinking. Demola harnesses companies’ own innovation potential for maximum results. Demola combines companies, 58 universities and their over 700.000 students in 15 different countries. www.demola.net