news 3 when OK Is not Good enough

6 Inseparable Companions

12 what sells Right now?

20 Dress smart

When OK Is Not Good Enough

I’m passionate about service. I can’t help it. People think of me as a “difficult” customer – and for good reason. I do not settle for poor service, even though people who complain

are often silenced by denial or excuses. “No one else has com-plained…” It’s like giving someone the finger. On the other hand, when I am satisfied, I concentrate my purchases and am loyal.

The theme of this issue of Technopolis News is service design, which is part of our strategy. Technopolis is better than average. Our service is not good enough – there is still a long way to go. However, I cannot stop until even difficult people think that we are really great – continuously, consistently, and internationally. We do well because our competitors are so much worse. But that isn’t enough for me. I want to crush the competition. I want them to have sleepless nights. I want to ruin their day. I want to… I guess you already get the idea.

Technopolis people’s own uncompromising service values are at the core of our service. Good service is not rocket science, but it is surprisingly difficult to replicate and implement. It has quite a lot to do with attitude, so we need to pay attention to that right from the recruitment phase. If the person’s attitude is in order,

Good service is not rocket science, but it is surprisingly difficult to replicate and implement.

” Pho

to

Joh

an

na

Kin

na

ri

Editorial

you can train them to give good service; but if their attitude is all screwed up, no amount of training will fix it. Ignorance is the worst thing from the point of view of service quality; but, on the other hand, positive passion can also be actively spread through the organization.

Our slogan – More than squares – refers to our attitude. We stand out from our competitors by both owning and operating in our facilities, designing and developing the use of space for the changing needs of our customers. We do not have to beg an external owner for a permit or money for reforms, – we can decide on everything ourselves.

Because customers do not always know what to ask for, our task is to find out what they want, and proactively offer them better service. Customer experience is one of the incentives of our staff. We want to get actively involved even before the customer has moved in, and we build the service according to what our customers need and what they are aiming to achieve.

Moreover, we do not want to sell the customer even one square meter more space than they need – quite the opposite. If 8 sqm per employee is enough for the customer because they are ready to use the common service infrastructure of the campus, Tech-nopolis will be able to fit more customers in the common multi-user environment. Everyone experiences increased efficiency and lower costs. This is our shared objective!

More than squares is not only a slogan. We want to tell our customers that our premises are not merely space, but also ser-vice. We believe that it is the overall service quality and overall service costs, not the price per square meter, that make or break the deal, for us and our customers.

keith silverang Ceo

3Technopolis NEWS

Contents

Technopolis PlcWE PrOvIdE the best addresses for companies to operate and succeed in Finland, norway, estonia, Russia and Lithuania.

WE dEvElOP, own and operate a chain of 20 smart business parks in 12 cities in the nordic-Baltic region. The cities include Helsinki, espoo, Vantaa, Oulu, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lappeenranta, Oslo, Tallinn, st.Petersburg and Vilnius.

Over 1700 companies and their 40 000 employees operate In Our CamPusEs.

WE WanT continuously exceed customer expectations by providing modern and flexible facilities with versatile services, which we develop actively.

WE OffEr an optimal operating environment for growth and success. we help our customers to focus on their business and growth, cut costs and reduce the environmental impacts. we also enhance the development of local and international networks.

Our nET salEs in 2013 was 126,3 million euros and operating profit 64,1 million euros.

In short

Editorial 3When OK Is not Good Enough

Theme 6Inseparable Companionsservice and design are connected inseparably. They help in customer-oriented business development.

Theme 10The Time of staff Canteens Is OverThe most important thing is the look and feel of the restaurant.

In time 12What sells right now?The emphasis of office space is on efficiency and quality.

Inspiring place 17mika mäkeläinenexpose yourself to random encounters.

What’s new 18dress smartIn the future we are wearing technology from head to toe.

Investigated 24Open Office or Cubicle?nowadays, neither. A multi-functional office features space for diverse purposes.

reportage 26visiting the Birthplace of sailfishJolla develops sailfish operating system with a community-oriented approach in Tampere.

matchmaking 30Three stories about networkingnetworking makes it easier for you to find partners, customers and talent.

4 Technopolis NEWS

authors

6

26

10

18

TECHnOPOlIs nEWs

Technopolis news is a magazine published yearly by Technopolis Plc.

www.technopolisnews.fi

Publisher Technopolis Plc elektroniikkatie 8 FI-90590 Oulu Tel. +358 46 712 0000 www.technopolis.fi

Editor-in-chief Keith silverang

Publisher Kustannus Oy Lampila www.lampila.fi

Editorial staff Kansi-kollektiivi www.kansi.fi

layout and design Mainostoimisto Mediataivas Oy www.mediataivas.com

assistants Hanna Rusila, Ari Ijäs

Place of Printing PunaMusta Oy, Joensuu

subscriptions and Change of addresses info@technopolis.fi

advertisement sales Jouko Lampila Tel. +358 10 666 5350

Issn 2342-6802

5Technopolis NEWS

Theme

6 Technopolis NEWS

Laura Franck designs Technopolis services for campus navigation. A successful pilot project in Ruoholahti, Helsinki is being implemented also to other campuses.

service and design: Inseparable Companions

text hanna rusila • Photos Johanna Kinnari & Timo heiKKala

How are service and design connected? Closely, if not inseparably, say service design experts.

service design, touchpoints or service strings do sound a little like consultant jargon, to be honest. However, there is rational action behind these terms in our changing world. Tailoring their offerings

to customers’ needs and creating new ways of working puts companies in the best position to handle tougher competition.

– Service design emphasizes three things: empathy, creativity, and rationality, explains tuomo ketola, Service Designer at Palmu, the biggest Finnish office in the field. – Empathy is needed for a deep understanding of the customer, creativity for seeing new opportunities, and rationality for implementing things.

– It’s about having a mindset and approach that challenges the status quo. Service design is a tool for customer-oriented business development, says laura Franck, Account Manager at service design office Diagonal.

Sounds logical, but what does a company get when it seeks help from a service designer?

7Technopolis NEWS

from Pharmacies to Cancer TreatmentFranck gives us an example from the pharmacy busi-ness: As the margins from sales of drugs become nar-rower, pharmacies need new business alongside them. A cooperation network consisting of several pharmacies decided to develop its concept in a more customer-ori-ented direction. Diverse service ideas were tested in a number of locations, and the first pharmacy to follow the new concept is now operating in Ympyrätalo in Hakaniemi, Helsinki.

– Queuing up to pick up a prescription has been replaced by faster and slower service points. Alongside conventional health products and drugs, customers can get smoothies and foot care from pharmacies, Franck tells us.

Ketola says that service design benefits the public and private sectors alike. The size of the organization does not matter, either.

– Our customers range from startups to large cor-porations. In the public sector, service design helps in solving the right things. Companies usually try to utilize

it to help their business grow, he says.The voice of a cancer patient, for example, is heard

better in the treatment process when that process is developed on the basis of the customer’s experience. For private hospitals, customer focus is usually vital.

stickers Guide CustomersInvesting in a combination of space and services, Tech-nopolis leverages service design in several projects. Both Ketola and Franck have taken part in them.

Technopolis Ruoholahti in Helsinki is currently fine-tun-ing the service experience with an experiment using guidance stickers implemented by Diagonal. The stickers make it easier for visitors to move around the building and tell them about different types of services available, such as business lounges and meeting

Theme

service design emphasizes three things: empathy, creativity, and rationality.Tuomo Ketola

”

8 Technopolis NEWS

rooms with videoconferencing facilities.– The stickers have been received favorably by customers, so we

are going to replicate the idea at other sites as well, Franck says.This is a perfect example of the ingenuity of service design

thinking.– Fast, lightweight pilot testing combined with, for example,

changes in net sales and measurements of customers’ willingness to recommend an idea indicate whether the direction is correct. Only when the reform is seen to yield results, is it adopted more extensively, Ketola explains.

Top-down or Bottom-up?Finland is not usually considered to be the promised land in terms of service. Rather, self-service thinking flourishes here, and the corporate culture is strongly product-focused. The world is changing, however, and even in the taciturn north, there is talk of a service society.

Services already generate more than two-thirds of Finland’s GDP, while industry only accounts for one-fifth nowadays. “Ser-vitization” is, in fact, extending to the entire corporate sector.

– The Finnish engineer-driven mindset means that people easily look at things from the point of view of technology or

organization – top-down. This may result in the wrong kind of a product. Customers do not necessarily adopt it, even if large sums were spent on the development work, Franck warns.

Service design aims to reverse the direction – bottom-up – meaning that the customer experience comes first.

– We believe that with tougher competition, customers and their genuine needs must increasingly be taken as the starting point, Franck emphasizes.

Ketola agrees:– It is increasingly difficult to do well only with a product,

and there are few fields where ‘basically good’ is enough. Service design is a positive arms race.

using design ToolsBut why is service development called “design” – is there anything significantly new here?

According to Franck and Ketola, the answer is both yes and no. Service design draws its influences from the world of design, where dozens of creative solutions are developed and prototyped.

– For example, a hundred versions of a chair can be made before finalizing one that is put into production. The product must serve the user, but it must also be possible to make it at a reasonable cost, Ketola says.

– The same sensitivity towards the user is emphasized in ser-vice design. Does the service offer them what they are after? Are we solving the right thing from the customer’s point of view? he compares.

Franck likes to talk about her work as strategic design.– We offer strategic support and tools for the company, she says.Diversity is essential. Service design unites designers, economists

and engineers, who all are primarily interested in the end user.

feelings Open the WalletProfessionals think that Finns still have things to do in coming to terms with a service attitude. However, companies are waking up to the need for a customer focus, which might very well turn out to be profitable. Laura Franck gives us some figures to prove this:

– According to a study in England, companies that invest in design recoup their investment 20 times over. This figure includes both the traditional product and service design.

According to Franck, more than half of the customer experience originates in feelings. This is why the same element is visible in service design and the development of shopping centers and trendy café concepts: the customer experience.

According to Tuomo Ketola, Finns could follow their western neighbor in this respect as well.

– Here, the service idea is often good, but the implementation is often unfinished. I feel that this is often more successful in Sweden, and that also opens the wallet, he smiles.

service developer’s Checklist•Inordertosucceed,aserviceprojectneedsthe

support of the management. when the management is committed, the project can produce a lot more.

•Experimentshavestrength.Ifthefirstround of tests is not convincing, the idea should not be completely abandoned right away. Other versions can often be developed on top of the underlying idea.

•Whodareswins.Onlypersistenttestingwilltellifthe direction is right. Creativity will be rewarded!

•Theworldischanging,soyoumustchange,too. sticking to the old is the surest way to be trampled over by competitors. The world is the customer’s in the future.

Source: customer account manager Laura Franck, Diagonal Mental Structure Oy

9Technopolis NEWS

1.specify the objectives. First, think carefully what kind of a service should be provided and why. what is

the aim of the project?

2.Get to know the customers.

everything starts with empathy, i.e. listening to the customer. what is the environment in which services are created? who and how different from

each other are the customers? what are their needs?

3.Test with pilots.

Possible service provider partners, for example, are

involved in fast and lightweight testing. How do the customers react to the pilots? Measure

the results and customer experience continuously!

Theme

What is to be solved? Who does it matter to? How should it be solved?

From Plan to refinementSuccessful service design follows a logical process.

The Time of Staff Canteens Is OverA couple of years ago, Technopolis thought about how to develop its restaurant service into a first-class experience.

10 Technopolis NEWS

4.Implement.

The first adoption can be implemented at a single site

or location, for example. Does the pilot work in real life

as well? Do the customers embrace the service?

5.develop further. A service is never

complete, it is created in use. Continuously

refine the concept to be better on the basis of customer feedback.

Source: Service Designer Tuomo Ketola, Palmu Inc. Finland Oy

How should it be implemented? does the solution work? If not, what should be developed?

The time of staff canteens is ending, and underutili-zation of space is causing concern for many compa-nies. After deliberation, Technopolis came up with

the idea of shaping the restaurants into multi-purpose facilities. The service design company Palmu was chosen as a partner.

Following workshops and site visits, the restaurant managed by Sodexo at Technopolis Espoo was chosen as the pilot site.

– We thought about what kind of restaurant would be appropriate for customers who are usually taken to the center of Helsinki for lunch, service designer tuomo ketola says.

Another key question was how the premises would be suitable for various kinds of encounters outside lunch hours as well.

The look and feel of the restaurant is importantDiverse experiments, from a bistro-style menu and after-noon business hours to table service, digital lunch menus, and meeting catering carts were carried out at the pilot site. Part of the restaurant was marked off as a test area, and its interior decorations were updated to be more comfortable

and versatile. Customer feedback was actively collected.The project resulted in a Technopolis restaurant concept

that is part of the firm’s more extensive concept manual.– The most important outcome was the look of the

restaurants, their functionality, and customer satisfaction. In other words, what the restaurants look and feel like, says olli rasia, Service Director at Technopolis.

The new Technopolis campus in Ruoholahti follows the same concept. Decorated with green sofas and designer lighting fixtures, the restaurant does not bring a workplace lunch to mind.

Part of the restaurant area features booths that allow undisturbed conversation. Part is open space; there are stools to sit and admire the sea view. Next to the restau-rant, there is a separate cafeteria serving pastries and special coffees.

– In addition to breakfast and lunch, the concept restau-rants offer an afternoon bistro. The menu also includes popular barbecue foods, prepared by the cook to order, Rasia says.

Technopolis has more than 30 restaurants that will adopt the shared concept as new ones are built or old ones renovated. The reform will proceed at a rate of several restaurants a year.

11Technopolis NEWS

we want to grow and expand our

operations further, in countries such as sweden, Denmark and Latvia, says IR

and Communications Manager Pasi

Hiedanpää.

In time

12 Technopolis NEWS

available space m2 rent €/m2

Hma * 1 051 000 see table 2

Tampere 80 700 14–18

Oulu 62 500 12–15

Jyväskylä 34 600 13–20

2008 2014

35

30

25

20

15

While some premises remain empty in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, good spots are selling like hot cakes.

available Office space

Wide range of Price level in Hma *

Helsinki, downtown

Keilaniemi

ruoholahti

aviapolis

Source: Catella* Helsinki Metropolitan Area

Source: Catella

Average rent levels in prime locations in Q2.

What sells Right Now?

The amount of empty premises in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area decreased slightly last spring. More than 12 per cent of premises are empty, which translates to over one million

square meters. However, the demand for good spots remains high, and their rents are still on the way up.

Those renting premises place more emphasis on efficiency and quality. This means less square meters per staff member.

– Despite the modest macroeconomic figures and outlook, the demand for Technopolis premises remains at a good level. Services and flexibility in renting premises are our trump cards. We can provide our customers with office space where they want it from a few square meters up to tens of thousands, says Investor Relations and Communications Manager Pasi hiedanpää.

In Oulu, there are empty spaces vacated by the electronics industry. However, Hiedanpää says that the region enjoys a high level of entrepreneurial spirit and expertise, which has increased the demand for premises even more than expected.

In Tampere, the demand for new rental premises is excellent. Technopolis started to expand the Yliopistonrinne campus in September 2014, adding 11,900 square meters of new office space in a central location between the university and the railway station.

Property Investors spring to actionProperty investors seem to have recovered from their recessionary stupor. The volume of premise sales is expected to reach close to EUR 4 million in Finland, twice the level seen in recent years. About half of the investors are foreign.

– At the moment, many buildings are re-purposed, turning office into hotels, nursing homes or apartments. At the same time, the expected ROI of office premises in Helsinki has fallen slightly, Hiedanpää says.

text JouKo lampila • Photo Timo heiKKalaTechnopolis has been active, too. The company invested and

exceptional sum of almost EUR 390 million in 2013 due to the expansion to Vilnius and Oslo as well as the Innopoli 3 acquisi-tion in Otaniemi in Espoo. In the past decade, Technopolis has invested in excess of EUR 100 million into buildings.

– Our objective is clear: we want to grow and expand our operations further, in particular in the Baltic region. Our growth strategy until 2017 lists countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Latvia as possible areas for expansion.

renting premises place more emphasis on efficiency and quality.”

13Technopolis NEWS

Pinja kuosmanen Danske Bank The staff and the cozy atmosphere. The coffee shop at the campus is lovely – that’s why we come here! The atmosphere is great, the coffee shop has a fresh look, the staff is nice and the coffee tasty. It’s my kind of place.

In time

Q&A – What makes a good service?

sini Pitkäniemi sodexo Genuine attitude, unrushed customer service, ability to listen and positive atmosphere. It’s always nice to be surprised by a radiant smile or a few kind words during the service encounter.

hannu alakangas Punos mobile That you can also drive there, as long as the parking facilities are good. At the campus, the notice board in the lobby is great. You can quickly see where to go even if there’s a queue at the reception.

matti kannaste jave trading Great attitude, punctuality and clear suggestions for solutions when needed. My latest example of good service relates to the installation of kitchen cupboards. The installer did a great job and kept to the agreed schedule.

maarit saarto euroloan group I like the meeting rooms at the campus, and the big slices of choco-late cake at the coffee shop. It’s great that the meeting rooms come in all shapes and sizes; there’s a suitable room for every occasion, from large gatherings to one-on-ones.

Technopolis Ruoholahti customers and visitors were randomly interviewed about service design.

14 Technopolis NEWS

The meeting rooms of Finnish companies are unoccupiedSource: Rapal Ltd report of capital region companies, September 2014

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0Ministry35 m2

Public sector 28 m2

Privatesector 19 m2

Source: YIT future office work and space management, April 2014

Lots of Square Meters in finnish Offices

• German average 18 m2

• European average 14 m2

• British average 10 m2

In Finland companies lease a lot more square meters for their employees than rest of europe, especially in the public sector.

m2 / employee

In time

not one to hold back, Technopolis CEO Keith silverang is known for his sharp opinions. finland and finnish government has had its share of Keith’s bold and frank statements.

•WehaveenoughofficialsinFinlandtorunacountrythat has 25 million people. But there’s only 5 million of us! we need to focus more on those providing basic services and get rid of unnecessary administrators.

•Technopoliscampusesarelikeafringebenefitformunicipalities. where we are located, municipalities succeed.

•InFinland,retainingbenefitsseemstobeofutmostimportance. And not just for politicians, but for everyone. Those who ask for trouble, get trouble.

•Whosetinstonethattaxationhastobethesamefor everything? How about cutting start-ups some slack? They are the ones proving jobs and paying the bills in the future.

•Insometerms,itseemsthatFinlandisstuckinanengineer-like thinking of the 1980’s. we have yet to migrate from a technology-driven economy to a commercially driven one. we must focus on sales and marketing, and not half-heartedly!

5 sharp Truths from the CEO

Office Rents Sky-high in london

of the time61 %

London and Hong Kong are in a league of their own in the worldwide comparison of rents for prime office space. Helsinki also featured among the most expensive cities in the DTZ Global Occupancy Costs – Offices 2014 (GOCO).

On workstation basis, the occupancy cost in London west end was on avera-ge more than eUR 20,000 and in London City eUR 14,000 per annum. Costs in stockholm are at similar level to London City.

Helsinki ranked 15th on the list of most expensive cities. In Helsinki, the occu-pancy cost was slightly over eUR 10,000 per annum, only marginally less than in Tokyo, Frankfurt or Paris. Unlike in many other european cities, costs in Helsinki kept increasing in 2013.

Overall, europe dominates the list of most expensive markets. Cities such as Munich, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Milan rank high in the list of most expensive markets. On the other hand, in cities such as warsaw, Vienna, Prague or Madrid, the cost is half of that in Helsinki, or even less in Tallinn and Lisbon. The least expensive cities are located in India and China.

This was the 17th edition of GOCO published by DTZ, comparing costs in 138 cities in 60 countries worldwide.

16 Technopolis NEWS

Source: Rapal Ltd report of capital region companies, September 2014

– When I sit in café-restaurant Birgitta, I feel that I am surrounded by nature and by the sea. My soul is that of a ruralized city-dweller. I come here at least once a week for lunch or meetings.

The cafeteria is located in Helsinki’s Herne-saari, close to mika mäkeläinen’s office, home to Taivas ja Helvetti (Heaven and Hell), among others. Under that name, Mäkeläinen has already published two books with stories of Finnish entrepreneurship.

– My aim is to promote an entrepreneurial culture. I want to inspire faith and hope among young people in building the future. If we cannot leave future generations an economically more prosperous and spiritually richer society, we have failed in the only task given to adults.

The book is associated with a promise: for every copy sold, Mäkeläinen donates a copy to a graduating young person. Young people are also met face-to-face in school visits. This year, there have already been 35,000 sales and encounters – meaning that half the entire age group has already been reached by the book.

– Not everyone needs to become an entre-preneur, as having an entrepreneurial attitude to life is a valuable asset. New and valuable things emerge when you do not live your life with pre-determined expectations. I expose myself to random encounters whenever possible. All successes mainly depend on them. When you spend time in an environment with lots of people, things happen that cannot be predicted. You must just trust that the people you meet along the way will support you and take you forward, and that you will find a way to generate added value which customers are willing to pay for.

Expose Yourself to random Encounters

In this column the interviewee chooses personally inspiring place and explains more about it.

Inspiring place

WHO?Mika Mäkeläinen, 38, is an active social actor and serial entrepreneur who was involved in establishing the First north-listed company siili solutions Plc. In 2012, he was ranked among the 40 most promising young european leaders, and in 2011 he was named Young entrepreneur of the Year in Finland. Mäkeläinen is the publisher and co-author of the Taivas ja Helvetti books on entrepreneurship, and he tours schools talking about entrepreneurship, among other things.

17Technopolis NEWS

What’s new

18 Technopolis NEWS

Not yet inspired by smartwatches or clothes? In five to ten years, we may be wearing technology as naturally as we are currently checking the news on our phones.

Dress smart

text hanna rusila • Photos manufacTurers

19Technopolis NEWS

Wearables Industry might Be the next Big Thing.

Wearables – wearable technology – may feel like something that concerns tech-savvy men. How

many of us will really rush to the shop to buy the new Apple Watch when it is launched? Would we be happy out and about wearing Google Glass?

Yet, around the world there are high expectations of the field. There is a buzz around it in Finland as well, and no wonder.

Nokia developed wellness applications as well as cellphones, and now a number of its former employees are taking the field forward in startups. One of them is the Espoo-based company with an office in Technopolis space, PulseOn, which has developed an optical heart rate monitor worn on the wrist.

– We believe that people increasingly want to measure themselves to get infor-mation about their wellbeing. The growth

prospects for the entire wearables industry are high, even though it is still in its infancy, says CEO tero mennander.

PulseOn describes its product as “the world’s easiest heart rate monitor,” as its wearer no longer has to bother with heart rate monitor belts and sensors. The smartphone app connected to the device gives feedback on the effects of physical exercise on your condition and guidance in reaching your objectives.

lightning Growth ahead?Another company in Espoo, Omegawave, is also utilizing Nokia’s legacy. Its pilot product is a combined EEG and ECG sys-tem for training top athletes. The device reports the athlete’s readiness for each kind of stress at any given time. It can also help to prevent injuries.

– The value of the global wearables mar-

ket is currently in the region of EUR 3–5 billion. Some predict that it will increase to EUR 15 billion in five years, while others suggest up to EUR 50 billion, says gerard Bruen, CEO of Omegawave.

– Nobody knows yet where the devel-opment will take us. And that’s exactly what makes it so exciting!

Continuing the legacy of heart rate mon-itors, body measurement devices are only one of the applications in the field. Intelli-gence has found its way to clothes as well, and a future jackpot could be lurking there.

Kuopio-based Myontec is one of the global pioneers in the field of sports cloth-ing. The company’s smart shorts measure the functioning of and load on muscles during exercise. The company has won awards at leading trade fairs in the field, and has attracted publicity, even in the New York Times.

What’s new

Heart rate data directly from the WristWhat? Optical heart rate monitor worn on the wrist

from whom? PulseOn, Espoo

for whom? Fitness enthusiasts and people interested in their wellbeing

Price? EUR 199

What kind of technology? Blood flow is measured optically on the basis of light wavelengths and intensity fluctuations. The device calculates the accurate heart rate from the results. The data can be analyzed using a smartphone app.

for what purpose? For continuous measurement of bodily functions, especially in connection with sports. The device can also tell you the right steps for recovery.

What next? The same technology makes it possible to measure sleep quality and stress, for example. The aim is to expand into healthcare solutions at a later time.

20 Technopolis NEWS

finland Has a lot of Potential to Be on the leading Edge.

– Sports is the first area in which intel-ligence hidden in clothes is used. The big-gest future opportunities lie in healthcare and rehabilitation, Myontec’s CEO Pekka tolvanen predicts.

leisure and BenefitSo far, wearable intelligence mainly attracts buyers as a pastime. Applications for top athletes do, however, hint at the direction where it is headed.

Ten years from now, the underwear of an elderly person living at home might measure their blood pressure or heart rate, or prompt their wearer to take that forgotten pill. A person recuper-ating from injury, on the other hand, could adjust their movement load with a device that also warns them about incorrect posture.

Occupational safety is one possible application. Someday, technology that warns users about danger may be hidden in the clothing of smoke divers or arctic fishermen clothing.

Pioneers in the field believe in both benefit and leisure.

– Which one of these two will be emphasized more in the future depends on the product group. Smartwatches might be more about leisure, but biometric sen-sors already now strongly involve encour-agement. Seeing your development gives fitness enthusiasts motivation to continue following healthy habits, PulseOn’s Men-nander explains.

– Supervision of work ergonomics and prevention of problems may also become a really big segment, Myontec’s Tolvanen predicts.

finns on the lookout for market shareAccording to Omegawave’s Bruen, there is a lot of potential in Finland to continue to pursue a leading place in the wearables field after the initial phase. Bruen is a for-mer Nokia employee, but the company he is now leading originated in the United States and uses technology from Russia. Omegawave became Finnish a couple of years ago.

– There is an enormous amount of expertise in the field here. You should be proud of it, and there is reason to grasp opportunities, he believes.

– The most important task for a small company is to find the right partners so that they can compete at the same level as world-class giants. In five or ten years from now, the competition will probably

maximizing PerformanceWhat? Physiological performance measurement system

from whom? Omegawave, Espoo

for whom? Separate applications for top athletes and coaches, gyms and fitness enthusiasts.

Price? Depends on the application; consumer product approx. EUR 100 + monthly or annual cloud service fee

What kind of technology? Sensors that measure electrographs monitor three body systems: heart, metabolism, and central nervous system. Measurement data collected at rest is sent to a smartphone and from there to the cloud for analysis.

for what purpose? Optimizing sports exercise. A training load customized according to physiological readiness maximizes results and prevents injuries.

What next? A sports application that defines suitable exercise programs in the same way as a personal trainer. Later, possibly consumer applications that monitor lifestyles and help to prevent health problems.

21Technopolis NEWS

What’s new

be extremely hard, and there will be thou-sands of actors in the market.

PulseOn’s Mennander believes the same.He lists the requirements: – Succeeding

in business needs a strong competitive edge. You must protect your own innova-tions with patents so that your competitors cannot copy them. You should also seek international financing immediately.

PulseOn says that its heart rate mea-surement technology is more accurate than that of any of the competition, such as Philips, one of the giants. Omegawave can take pride in the company currently having the only product in the world that mea-sures and analyzes three bodily functions at the same time: heart rate, metabolism, and central nervous system.

Myontec is a pioneer in muscle mea-surement, but at least two North American competitors are pursuing the same market.

– It may be that small players will have

to combine their strengths in some wear-ables product areas in the future, CEO Tolvanen predicts.

Health Technology Breaks ThroughWhich smart products become success stories and which ones do not can only be guessed. Myontec’s Tolvanen believes that smartwatches will leave activity trackers, which are now going through a golden era, behind in a few years. Smart glasses will be able to replace hands-free devices in cars, for example, within the next five years.

Smart clothes becoming more common-place, on the other hand, requires better integration of electronics into textiles.

– In professional sports circles, certain items of smart clothing will be adopted within 1–3 years, in rehabilitation within 2–5 years. The public will accept the first smart clothes within 5–10 years, Tolvanen estimates.

Mennander is not ready to bet on smart-watches breaking through, but he predicts that measuring vital functions will be a long-term trend. Bruen reminds us that two or three decades ago, the development of IT was at the same phase as wearables are now.

– Who could have guessed then all of the things for which we now use computers? And who would have guessed that we want to carry thousands of songs in our pockets, for example? It just happened, he says.

The three agree on health technology being the thing of the future. The popu-lation is getting older in the West, and people are living at home longer. In poor countries, self-measurement may replace expensive hospital equipment. Mennander predicts that the self-quantifying trend may even become the social norm:

– Insurance companies, for example, may require consumers to monitor their health in the future.

Health Industry Is the future.

Pioneer in muscle measurementWhat? Smart shorts that measure the functioning of the thigh muscles.

from whom? Myontec, Kuopio

for whom? Athletes and fitness enthusiasts

Price? Around EUR 800; more affordable consumer models are in the pipeline

What kind of technology? Sensors integrated into the fabric measure the electrograph of the thigh muscles. The data is transmitted to a smartphone and cloud service. The data can be refined and shared in an interactive online community.

for what purpose? For improving muscle function, performance, and endurance in sports and physical exercise. Can also reveal latent problems and help to prevent injuries.

What next? The focus will initially be on applications for athletes; later there will be opportunities in rehabilitation in particular. Smart sensors will soon be able to give their user training instructions in the same way as car navigation systems do.

22 Technopolis NEWS

Why matchmaking Is so Important to us?•Customersneedpartners,customers&services•Helpsustoknowcustomersbetter•Uniquedifferentiation•Everyonewantstobepartofacommunity•Raisescustomersatisfactionandloyalty

Matchmaking in Technopolis dnaWe create and develop our communities – we are a community. We seize every opportunity to bring people and organizations together. From events to workplace design, we want to create more growth&prosperityforall.Our customer encounters are coincidentally planned.

All our events can be found at www.technopolisevents.fi

networking for early Birds

Meet Your neighbors

where stories are born

event with a Purpose

matchmaking

– We arrange about 100 events a year. According to our survey in November 2013, 71 % of our customers had found a customer or a partner from our event, says Event Manager riikka torpo.

23Technopolis NEWS

Investigated

Office space in Helsinki is the 15th most expensive in the world, yet workplaces are markedly loosely spaced in Finland. On the other hand, desks in Finnish companies are vacant up to

49 % of the time. For meeting rooms, the figure is even higher: 61 %.

How Has It Come to This?– Working methods have experienced a revolution. A major part of work is already done at home, travelling or in cafés, explains suvi nenonen, a researcher at Aalto University.

Mobility has increased individual freedom of choice. Many people can influence where they do their work. This correlates directly with job satisfaction – and productivity.

– In today’s turmoil, it is important to be able to pull out and collect one’s thoughts. The mind must be able to concentrate on one thing once in a while, Nenonen believes.

Collective IndividualismAfter cubicle and open-plan office trends, the tide has turned towards multi-functional offices. They combine the best of both worlds: privacy and communality.

– A multi-functional office features space for diverse purposes and tasks. In addition to the physical environment, working in a virtual environment is taken into account, says Nenonen.

Nenonen explains: The working environment is customized

according to the needs at hand. The design starts with user pro-files. What kind of work is done here? What are meetings and other encounters like?

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health published a guide called Multi-Functional Office – Instructions for Use and Design in 2012. According to Nenonen, it makes a good foundation for making changes.

Coworking and remote WorkingVirtuality and coworking are two obvious modern trends. The latter refers to third spaces, where freelancers, for example, meet other professionals. There are already places remote Helsinki maintained by the city and private parties where mobile workers can find a temporary base, or for a longer time.

– They are a good source of inspiration for the design of the working environment. The open space thinking that brings staff closer to customers can be seen in coworking facilities, for exam-ple, Nenonen says.

Remote working sets its own challenges for the working environ-ment. Videoconferencing, which burdens our brains in a different way than conventional meetings, can take up the entire working day.

– Elements that create a good mood are needed to counteract the stress. They should also be placed right next to the videocon-ferencing facilities, Nenonen hints.

text hanna rusila • Photo Timo heiKKala

Nowadays, neither. As the nature of work changes, expensive offices remain half-empty, and obsolete space solutions gnaw at work efficiency. A multi-functional office offers a better solution.

Noisy Open Office or Lonely Cubicle?

24 Technopolis NEWS

Of the working hours of Americans, meetings take up

all middle management

senior management

69 % read their e-mails

49 % take care of things that are not part of their work

in teleconferences 57 %of participants also do other things alongside following the meeting, in videoconferences, it’s only 4 %

Towards Efficient meetings

Source: virtual solution developer company fuze.com

Places for Encounters

37 mrd $ a year is wasted in the United States on unproductive meetings

15 % 35 % 50 %

92 %admit to also doing other

things during meetings

Technopolis closely monitors the results of working environment-related research from Finland and abroad. The

coworking trend, for example, has resulted in the business lounge service.

– Lounges are third places for working. You can rent a work area for a moment, or for the entire year, says Satu Hurme-Tikkanen, Service Manager at Technopolis Group.

Multi-functional space thinking is the starting point of Technopolis’operations. The space is customized to meet the needs of customer companies and their employees. Joint facilities, such as restaurants and the lobby, are turned into meeting places where people are comfortable.

– Many people could do almost all of their work somewhere other than the workplace. Yet we go to the office, above all because of people, Hurme-Tikkanen reminds us.

When thinking about the strain of remote working, Hurme-Tikkanen emphasizes the significance of individualism.

– Staring at a brightly colored screen for hours can trigger a migraine, for example. Some people need color and liveliness to refresh, others to sink into a soft sofa.

She sums it up: – Fixture solutions and interior decoration really do matter.

25Technopolis NEWS

Visiting the Birthplace of SailfishPhone calls and emails from all corners of the world, fans and bloggers, testing and prototypes. All of this and more takes place during a day at the Jolla office in Tampere. We joined Jolla Community Chief Carol Chen at her workplace and learned about the Sailfish OS for smartphones.

reportage

text hanna rusila • Photos ari iJäs

26 Technopolis NEWS

8:50 am

9:00 am

8:50 amCommunity Chief Carol Chen arrives to her office at theJollaR&DunitinTechnopolisTampere.

“I live in the city center, so I walk to work. The office is located by the railway and bus stations, which is great for visitors as well.”

9:00 amStaff in the open office consists mostly of testers and software engineers. This morning, present are jonni rainisto, Pekka vuorela (on the right) and jari-Pekka Waldén (in the middle).

“My day started by showing the office to our community visitors, Simo Ruoho and Joshua Strobl. Office Assistant Karoliina Poiksalo joins us. There are empty chairs at times, because we work flexibly. Telecommuting is OK here.”

27Technopolis NEWS

10:00 am

11:30 am

1:00 pm

reportage

10:00 amJolla develops its products with a community-oriented approach: in open collaboration with fans, bloggers and other interested parties. Community members kimmo lindholm and Dirk van leersum have provided a proto-type that Carol shows to Simo (in the middle) and Joshua (on the right).

“Our community developers also work in many areas. Jolla blogger Simo and an active com-munity developer Joshua were excited about the prototype.”

11:30 amJolla’s core values are respect, love, passion and transpar-ency, which are highlighted in the posters on the office walls. Joshua takes a photo of a poster displaying a heart.

“The values are more of an internal thing than a market-ing strategy. They were new to Joshua, an avid fan who has relocated from the United States to Finland.”

1:00 pmDuring the lunch and coffee break, we discuss the latest updates of Jolla Sailfish and other operating systems. Based on an open-source Linux OS, Sailfish is

developed continuously.“We talk about anything and

everything during the breaks. It is always interesting to hear what the visitors think should be introduced next.”

“Our lounge and kitchen are cozy and well equipped. It is also sound proof, so we can talk in peace. Why the ’Honorary Texan’ coffee mug? I lived in Dallas for 11 years, working for Nokia. I come from Taiwan, but most of my schooling took place in Sin-gapore. From there, my studies took me first to Texas and then to Finland.”

2:00 pmHailing from Turkey, Software Test Engineer Yiğit uçak spends his day going through feedback from the global Jolla community. Fans send opinions, questions and feature requests to Jolla, and Yiğit is responding to these.

“Most of us are in contact with Jolla fans and the community. We have active community members all over Europe, in most parts of Asia and also in countries like Australia where Jolla’s projects aren’t even available yet.”

2:30 pmAutomation engineer matti kosola works as a System Tester at Jolla.

28 Technopolis NEWS

2:00 pm

2:30 pm

3:00 pm

4:00 pm

“Our hardware team is located on the right side of the open office. The software team also sits together.”

3:00 pmCarol and Karoliina are discussing what kind of social media updates Jolla will be publishing during the course of the week. They also discuss marketing.

”We don’t believe in strict job descrip-tions or roles at Jolla. Karoliina’s title is Office Assistant, but she is also involved in marketing and communication. Apart from community relations, my responsi-bilities include event planning, localiza-tion and testing.”

4:00 pmSeveral phone calls take place daily betweentheTampereR&DunitandtheJolla headquarters in Helsinki. At the end of the day, Carol discusses a press release with Head of Communications juhani lassila.

“Jolla’s sales, marketing, logistics, com-munications and legal experts work in Hel-sinki. We work closely together every day.”

developed by usersJolla Oy emerged from a start-up program for ex-nokia employees. established in the autumn of 2011, the company launched the first Jolla smartphone in the spring of 2013.

Jolla’s main product is sailfish, an open-source based operating system that has a gesture-based user interface. It draws from the MeeGo operating system discontinued by nokia. sailfish can also be used in other manufacturers’ Android phones.

Jolla headquarters are located in Ruoho-lahti in Helsinki, while the R&D takes place in Tampere. The company’s first global premises were recently opened in Hong Kong. In late autumn 2014, Jolla employed 125 people, 35 of them in Tampere.

At the moment, Jolla phones are available in europe, India and Hong Kong. The new Angry Birds launcher is available through web shops in China.

Jolla’s product development takes place in collaboration with fans. Openness and adaptability are at the core of the company’s agenda, distinguishing them from their large competitors. while Jolla does not reveal sales figures, it is satisfied with its business development in 2014.

Jolla has operated in the premises in Tampere since the spring of 2013. Growing staff numbers make flexibility of premises very important.

29Technopolis NEWS

matchmaking

Three Stories about networkingCampuses are a good place for finding new partners and building networks. Customers, partners and investors can also be found at various events – or online.

linkedIn Group for startupsmikko kaarela, who worked in the Technopolis Ventures busi-ness incubator, decided to establish the Finnish Hi-tech Start-up Community LinkedIn group in summer 2008 on a whim. Even though he only sent a hundred invitations initially, the group hit the one-thousand member mark in just a couple of months. Now, the group has more than 10,000 members.

– Apparently the network does have some benefits, as there are a large number of active users. The discussions are informative and a good way for active participants to demonstrate their expertise.

– The group is also a natural way of making new contacts, like: ‘You wrote that. What do I think about this?’ It is also easy to check who knows who, says Kaarela, who now works for technology consulting firm Spinverse.

The group is also an active recruitment platform for locating both talent and work. Kaarela says, though, that the job advertise-ment seeking a hundred CEOs recently published in the group was a “laugh” that made it to the news, associated with the Innovation Mill project launched by Technopolis and currently operated by Spinverse.

The idea was to find startups to build new business from parts that larger companies want to abandon when focusing on their core business.

– The 100 CEOs initiative is looking for who want to become entrepreneurs and who have business and marketing skills. Some-thing that is too small for a large corporation can be perfectly sufficient for many small companies, Kaarela explains.

Help in InternationalizationKuopio-based company Fennogate Finland Oy utilizes the Enter-prise Europe Network (EEN) to find partners. Fennogate devel-ops products for pharmacies and healthcare professionals, and recently signed a delivery agreement for a toothpaste belonging to its Apteq product range.

– We mainly develop new products and then find the best possible manufacturers for them in Finland and around the world. We have used EEN for locating manufacturers, says antti Pylk-känen, Managing Director of Fennogate.

EEN is a network established by the European Commission, operating in all EU countries and over 50 countries outside the EU. Its aim is to accelerate growth and promote the creation of new jobs within the EU. In Finland, the network is coordinated by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Technopolis Plc provides expert help and network services to SMEs in the network. In practice, the EEN services include things like the Business Contact Database.

– This kind of network is one channel for finding new man-ufacturers. It saves us time and money compared to looking for manufacturers online or at trade fairs, Pylkkänen says.

Several companies in the Business Contact Databases expressed their willingness to manufacture toothpaste for Fennogate. Before any agreement was signed, there was a review of the supplier’s quality management system, samples, and a consumer survey.

– In our ideology, quality comes first. After that, we check if something can be implemented at a price that allows us to make a product out of it, Pylkkänen says.

30 Technopolis NEWS

DK

DE PL

LT

LV

EE

RU

FI

SENO

BY

Oulu

KuopioJyväskylä

TampereLappeenranta

St. Petersburg

VantaaOslo area

Vilnius

Helsinki

Tallinn

Espoo

The 12 locations of Technopolis

Technopolis organizes around a hundred events every year. The calendar is available at www.technopolisevents.fi!

Change in Purchasing Gives rise to discussions– The world works through networking nowadays, says leena kähkönen, Marketing and Communications Manager at Mercuri International.

Mercuri International is a sales training and consulting firm based at Innopoli 3 in Espoo, and its experts have also visited Technopolis’ Business Breakfast events to talk about changes in sales and purchasing behavior.

– We aim to gather a good crowd and a suitable number of the right people considering the theme of these breakfast events. We want to raise awareness of functional sales and, of course, to identify opportunities for selling our training. Every event has resulted in at least a few meetings, Kähkönen says.

According to Kähkönen, the change in purchasing behavior concerns both consumers and B2B sales.

– Purchasers study the products carefully online, ask their networks for information, and follow social media messages. Salespersons and entire sales organizations must take this into

account in order just to make it onto the customer’s list of poten-tial suppliers.

Kähkönen considers the Technopolis events sensible from the point of view of sharing information as well as networking. Keynote speeches by experts often give rise to a lively discus-sion, with the outcome that participants get to know each other, exchange contact information, and network. Taking part in these events can, in fact, connect directly to a company’s success, as these discussions almost always also lead to new activity after the event as well.

31Technopolis NEWS

www.technopolis.fi/blue

Is This Blue Enough?