The international innovation conference Open Innovation 2.0 will be held between 8 and 9 June in Otaniemi, Espoo. The conference themes include entrepreneurship, startups, smart cities, digital platforms and digitized services related to open innovation as well as the development of the European innovation ecosystem. The conference is organized by the European Commission, DG CONNECT, OISPG and Intel Labs Europe together with Aalto University and the City of Espoo. Around 400 participants and a number of international thought leaders will be attending the conference.
The conference will discuss the implementation of the Dublin Declaration, which aims to create prosperity by applying open innovation in practice. The two-day conference will also feature a hackathon, where participants can build a range of prototypes and find solutions to societal problems. The first conference day will culminate in the Luminary Awards Gala. Each year the Innovation Luminary Academy awards innovation role models in recognition of their innovative achievements and to inspire the next generation of innovation specialists. Stephen Hawking, Sir Richard Branson, Felix Baumgartner and Alexander Osterwalder are among the recent awardees.
Espoo Innovation Garden offers an inspiring setting
The mayor of Espoo, Jukka Mäkelä, welcomes conference guests to Espoo. “It is an honour that Espoo has been selected as the venue for the conference, which is being held for the first time in Finland. Its theme is perfect for Espoo Innovation Garden, which is all about innovative operations and a culture of collaboration, a community approach to thinking and doing. The aim is to bring together the partners in the area, strengthen their cooperation and the communal aspect and to create new jobs and a good environment through the collaboration of businesses, communities and residents.”
Espoo Innovation Garden is located around the conference venue, in Otaniemi, Keilaniemi and Tapiola. The area is the largest innovation cluster in northern Europe and the home of a renowned science and research community of 5,000 scientists, 25 research and development units and a number of Finnish public companies. It is enlivened by various cultural activities and sports clubs, and it is also truly international: people of more than 100 nationalities live or work in the area. The speakers that have confirmed their attendance include Japan Innovation Network President, Noboru Konno, crowdfunding author, Dan Marom, Director General of Tekes, Pekka Soini, President of the European Committee of Regions, Markku Markkula, and founder of Slush, Miki Kuusi.
The Open Innovation 2.0 conference is preceded by the Aalto Camp for Societal Innovation (ACSI), which is held between 5 and 7 June 2015 in Espoo. The camp, organized by Aalto University and the New Club of Paris, is a platform for multidisciplinary groups where they can develop new ideas and perspectives on real-world challenges brought to the camp by cities, regions, business organizations, universities and NGOs.
