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Extending ICT Alliance digitalization cooperation to South-East Asia
Dec 14 2016Extending ICT Alliance digitalization cooperation to South-East Asia cooperation seminar, hosted by MDEC in Malaysia including Magic organized Entrepreneurship conference.
Developing industry – University cooperation in China: Demola and DIMECC meeting at Fudan Nordic Center
Nov 30 2016November 2016, Shanghai
Developing industry – University cooperation in China: Demola and DIMECC meeting at Fudan Nordic Center
ICT Alliance facilitates activities at state, province and city level RDI cooperation
Jul 09 2016The state level cooperation frameworks and meetings, such as the China-Finland S&T Joint Committee meetings, are important to be involved in for long term planning and for defining joint focus areas. For the medium to short term cooperation and actual implementations the role of province and city level cooperation is growing as the pilot projects often take place at the province and city or district level.
The Tekes-MOST joint call during spring 2016, involving Zhejiang and Jiangsu specific calls, is an example of active province level collaboration. The ICT Alliance together with active university partners, University of Oulu and Aalto, facilitated the creation of “Smart IoT Consortium” including collection of proposals for local demonstrators at the China side. This was followed by a workshop in Shanghai in April to develop and finalize proposals.
ICT Alliance participated city focused cooperation events such as visit of the delegation of Vice Mayor Biao Chen, Shenzhen Municipal Government Office, in June at TEM where
topics involved bioeconomy, cleantech and digitalization (BCD) as well as industrial design where the cooperation is already ongoing.
The city level cooperation of Espoo and Shanghai has continued and is again on the ICT Alliance activities agenda also for 2016 as several events are being planned in Shanghai (e.g. SLUSH China and Nordic Design and Innovation Week 2016).
Developing Industry – Academia consortia for pilots and testbeds in China and in Finland
Smart IoT, 5 G and testbeds consortium: To respond to the Tekes- MOST call and other forthcoming opportunities a Consortium on Global Business in Smart IoT was initiated during spring 2016 facilitated by the ICT Alliance cooperation, with University of Oulu leading with Hilla Program as the affiliated activity for accelerating industry cooperation. This consortia collected six potential proposals from China that were further developed for the Expression of Interest call at the end of 2017:
- Smart City
- Smart Home Air
- Smart Water
- Cloud-based Intelligent Water Treating and Dispatching System
- Smart City Design
- Smart Education
The discussion on developing Smart City (e.g. MaaS) and 5 G & IoT pilots in Finland for Chinese companies, leveraging the testbeds in Oulu and possibly Tampere, has become active during spring 2016. The 5th Gear program and Hilla will be a focal point in the China-Finland RDI collaboration leveraging testbeds and piloting in real-life environments.
The main topics in the April 2016 visit to China and the ICT Alliance workshop include Smart IoT / Smart City, learning solutions, including the initial planning of EduCloud and Smart Learning Services pilots, intelligent senior services, health and rehabilitation solutions, built around the DigiRehab consortium.
The April visit was extended to Hong Kong and Singapore to cover the market opportunities in these areas in addition to China as this broader scope was clearly indicated to be in the companies business interests.
Learning solutions EduCloud and School-as-a-Service:
One of the focus areas in ICT Alliance since 2013 has been new digital learning solutions. The work has been done in cooperation with the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden framework initiated by Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland, and Ministry of Education, China.
In 2015 Digile initiated the Learning Evolution Agenda (LEA) to help creation of comprehensive solutions from Finland for joint Sino-Finnish offerings to the global markets with major Chinese ICT companies.
In April 2016 it was suggested to focus ICT Alliance on currently active Tekes programs and have education transferred to a company driven mode. Consequently, in the April – June period we have worked actively towards this aim with EduCloud Alliance (ECA) and LifeLearn company established to internationally leverage ECA results by creating a scalable delivery channel and with the Finnish education accelerator and xEdu. Preparations for a Sino-Finnish EduCloud project for piloting, testing and adapting the Finnish solutions in China have been started involving the above partners and the key education universities in China and Finland. Cooperation is proceeding in developing and piloting School-as-a-Service (SaaS) that combines digital learning solutions with configurable physical environments in a new way with Aalto University and City of Espoo and Tongji University and City of Shanghai as the key partners involved. The SaaS approach would involve a variety of companies ranging from digital learning to access solutions being an example for new services and service operators in a smart city.
Digital rehabilitation and health games: International consortia of research institutes and companies are being developed in senior services and health and wellbeing. Currently active area in cooperation development is digitalization in rehabilitation, including health and rehabilitation games. The solutions are of high demand in China as rehabilitation has been largely underserved area in health. Same applies elsewhere in Asia and the active partners are coming from Singapore, Japan and Korea. This matches well the FinlandCare growth program of Finpro.
Design and digitalization: Both Finnish and Chinese companies are increasingly looking to cooperate in combining design and digitalization in Asia – but also in Finland with Chinese companies providing many of the technologies to be embedded. During spring 2016 discussions with companies have been initiated in ICT Alliance context with target areas including smart home, smart city (e.g. vehicles), digital health and wellbeing. In the ICT Alliance, the next step is to investigate the possibility to organize a consortium involving both Finnish and Chinese partners. To identify concrete business cases a group of design companies have confirmed their interest in joining the events in China during October – November 2016 and one-on-on meetings for them are also to be facilitated.
Service packages for companies: Supporting the development of “service packages” for Chinese companies interested in European markets ICT Alliance has also been involved in the discussion for developing Finland as “International IPR Hub” for which a proposal is being prepared by EK and IPR University Center. The opportunity is timely as the European common patent system is now renewed giving Finland a better position to act as a hub for Asian companies interested in entering European markets. In the preparation Chinese companies have been identified as the first prospective group of customers. For the Finnish companies in China one of the services of high demand continues to be Cloud services in China pilots. This is to be concretely piloted starting with education companies (planned for end of 2016-beginning of 2017) and based on the experiences extended to other areas.
Shenzhen Vice Mayor Biao Chen, Shenzhen Municipal Government Office, and High Tech Fair Delegation visit at TEM
Jun 30 2016Shenzhen Vice Mayor Biao Chen, Shenzhen Municipal Government Office, and High Tech Fair Delegation visit at TEM on June 30.
The topics involved bioeconomy, cleantech and digitalization (BCD) as well as industrial design where the cooperation is already ongoing. Finpro and presented cleantech and bioeconmy, Tekes presented new business ecosystems in smart grids, Mobility as a Service MaaS, and personal health data management (e.g. My Data). ICT Alliance represented the digitalization area, facilitating joint research aiming to address the needs in China but also together in the 3rd markets. The future focus areas of cooperation involve those represented by Tekes and Finpro. For ICT Alliance cooperation Shenzhen has also strong interest in combing digitalization and design that can leverage the complementary Finnish and Chinese strengths (e.g. smart homes, smart spaces even smart furniture where business cooperation is emerging).
Health Meetings at the Upgraded Life Festival & Nordic Health Investment Day
Jun 01 2016Health Meetings at the Upgraded Life Festival & Nordic Health Investment Day May 31 – June 1, Helsinki (at Biomedicum & Cablefactory).
Meetings with companies and research institutes already active or interested in Asian cooperation in the consortia being facilitated by ICT Alliance. In addition to senior wellbeing and rehabilitation and health games the prospective areas include integrated care and personalized health and wellbeing that match Tekes and Finpro programs in the area.
Terveyttä Suomesta maailmalle! Seminar in Helsinki, May 20
May 20 2016Health is one of the focus areas in 2016-2017 for ICT Alliance. The Finnish companies and institutes are interested in China together with other East and South-East Asian markets. Some in ICT Alliance focus areas, like HUR in rehabilitation, have already been successful with their business in the region and looking to extend their offering. Next steps were discussed with HUR, Metropolia and STM representatives, among other, and some of the companies (e.g Medanta, Orion Diagnostica) have already been involved in ICT Alliance facilitated events in China. In addition, the personalized medicine and digital hospital solutions are very potential area for Finland and ICT Alliance is looking opportunities to establish cooperation in the “big data” based solutions in China and Singapore during 2016 to support these activities.
Team Finland China Day on May 18
May 18 2016What’s up China? Team Finland China Day at Scandic Park, Helsinki
Meeting with companies and institutions involved in ICT Alliance facilitated cooperation, including environment (indoor air), smart spaces, health, rehabilitation, and education.
Sino-Finnish Education Innovation Center launch a new workshop on May 16
May 16 2016Sino-Finnish Education Innovation Center launch workshop hosted by OKM as part of the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden cooperation. University of Helsinki and Beijing Normal University (BNU) signed the agreement to establish The Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute that will consist of five thematic centers, one of which is company cooperation between Chinese and Finnish companies in EduTech.
ICT Alliance is involved developing cooperation with BNU and Central China Normal University (CCNU) at Wuhan. With CCNU as a central actor for China’s e-learning and education cloud activities the proposal on Sino-Finnish EduCloud is being prepared. Finnish company partners involve LifeLearn, xEdu and several affiliated companies.
Nordic Design and Innovation Week 2015 in Shanghai
Nov 03 2015
FinCEAL Plus in cooperation with China-Finland Strategic ICT Alliance organize this high-level seminar in the context of the Nordic Design and Innovation Week, NDIW2015. The seminar is aligned with the CleanConnect Congress in Shanghai for Chinese and global cleantech companies and institutes to meet potential investors and customers. This seminar and affiliated meetings are targeted to universities, research institutes, companies, public sector experts and decisions makers at cities and government agencies working on cleantech, environment and related urban design issues. The aim is to provide opportunities for researchers and business and public sector representatives to get into detailed discussions on further cooperation.
Seminar program can be downloaded from here:
Seminar speaker biography can be downloaded from here:
China – Finland Strategic ICT Alliance International Workshop Week 21 – 24 April 2015 will be held in Shanghai
Mar 31 201521/04/2015 – 24/04/2015
China – Finland Strategic ICT Alliance International Workshop Week 21 – 24 April 2015, Shanghai
The China – Finland Strategic ICT Alliance International Workshop Week 21 – 24 April has been organized by the China-Finland Strategic ICT Alliance.
The objective of the Workshop week is to review the current joint projects and to plan new cooperation initiatives and project proposals in areas of joint interest. Suggested topics to be covered throughout the week relate to ongoing or new research programs and areas identified for potential cooperation. New themes may be proposed by prospective theme leads.
- Future Networks (5G)
- Intelligent Sensing & Services
- Navigation, Positioning and Geospatial Services, Intelligent Traffic and Urban Mobility, Urban Sensing
- Sustainable Urban Development
- Health, Wellbeing & Senior Services, Smart Home – Smart Life
- Trust, Security and Privacy
- Cloud Services – setting up services for pre-commercial pilots
- Industrial Internet
For more information please contact the organizers:
DIGILE – the Finnish Strategic Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation in Internet Economy, and WiCO – The Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications, who are the coordinators at Finland and China side as appointed by Tekes and MOST.
ISeeLife! Lab –Intelligent Services Embedded in Everyday Life – is a new open platform launched at the end of 2014 at the Sino-Finnish Centre, Tongji, for collaborative research, education and innovation activities. Planned areas for 2015 include health, wellbeing and senior services, smart spaces (personal space – home –school – workspace), and “life centric” design of services and spaces in urban environments.
(*More details for workshop time, location, traffic information, please refer to the programme overview in the attachments below.)
Attachment
“China-Finland Co-Creating the Future” Week – Solutions for the Era of Internet Economy
Aug 31 20141/9/2014 – 5/9/2014
“China-Finland Co-Creating the Future” Week – Solutions for the Era of Internet Economy
September 1 – 5, 2014 Espoo and Helsinki, Finland
This week of the 7th International China-Finland ICT Alliance Workshop and related Forums has been organized by the China-Finland Strategic ICT Alliance: DIGILE – The Finnish Strategic Center for Science, Technology and Innovation in Internet Economy, and WiCo – The Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications, as appointed coordinators by Tekes and MOST, in cooperation with the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Academy of Finland, and participating universities and companies. The topics cover many of the current focus areas of the ICT Alliance facilitated R&D&I cooperation on digital technologies and Internet based services and business. In these areas a number of joint projects, pilots and other forms of cooperation are already ongoing while new initiatives are also being prepared. The aim is to share experiences and results of the ongoing projects as well as jointly plan new activities with the invited experts from academia, industry and public sector.
Attachments
More information:
Matti Hämäläinen, matti.hamalainen@digile.fi
Jani Kaarlejärvi, jani.kaarlejarvi@digile.fi
Activities Overview in Sino-Finnish Senior Services and Smart Home cooperation in the April-June 2014 Period
Jul 07 2014During the April – June 2014 period several events and meetings related to Senior Services and Smart Home areas, involving technology development, piloting and education & training services, have been organised or joined by the ICT Alliance and DIGILE.
Elderly care is an important area for innovative solutions and business creation. ICT Alliance was invited to discuss cooperation in elderly care services and concrete pilot opportunities with the representatives of Beijing Fengtai Economic and Information Technology Commission and the district management. Fengtai district has invested in information technology and created a roadmap towards “a wisdom district” but its population is aging fast. By the end of 2013, the elderly population accounted for as much as 24 percent of the whole registered district population. The large population base, the continuous growth and the large amount of elderly population are three main features of this aging district. Possible solutions are studied in elderly care pilots combining big data and mobile health solutions. It was agreed to continue discussions on how to implement ICT cooperation between Finland and China by providing best solutions on integrating ICT facilities into smart and innovative senior housing and management, as well as integrating worldwide most advanced technologies and experiences into the on-going projects in senior care services. This will provide opportunities for new business development via ICT Alliance cooperation. Examples include the already launched Business Ecosystems, like Elderly Care and Active Life, ECAL, as well as new ones focusing e.g. on Smart Home or on home based diagnostics.
– On 8-9 April and 14-17 April meetings were held in Shanghai, including meetings with BesTV/SMG, Tekes, Tongji University and Aalto University and VTT experts and the Sino-Finnish Center team.
– On 16 April it was announced that Mr. Matti Hämäläinen, DIGILE / ICT Alliance and Aalto, has been appointed as a National High-end Foreign Expert (under the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs Program) at Tongji University to act as the Director of a new Joint Lab on Intelligent Services Embedded in Everyday Life for the Wellbeing of Elderly (ISEEL).
– On 4-7 May Minister of Social Affairs and Health Paula Risikko visited China with more than 40 Finnish health care companies
– On 15 May the kick-off meeting of the first “Home-as-a-Service Platfrom” project was held at Urban Mill, Aalto, in Espoo.
– On 10 June China-Finland ICT Alliance, BlueAngel HongYe Investment (Group), Tekes, Finpro and China’s National Industry Alliance of Smart City Technology Innovation organised a workshop on smart agriculture, smart city and smart living services in Beijing. A meeting with China Aging Development Foundation, CADF, Chairman Mr. Li Baoku, was organised for planning of cooperation activities in ageing society services
– On 12 and 14 June a meeting with ICT Alliance and Shenzen Medical Education Center (SMEC) had a meeting on establishing a long term collaboration between China and Finland in senior care and integrated care training and services, and in particular the administration of senior care services that is about to emerge as an industry in China.
Activities Overview in Sino-Finnish EduTech cooperation in the April-June 2014 period
Jun 26 2014During the April-June 2014 period several events involving the SFLG and EduTech Ecosystem and related research have been organised. In addition to closely working with the MoEC in the development of the SFLG, DIGILE and the ICT Alliance have intensified cooperation with active entities in this area, in particular with the Learning Solutions Programme of Tekes, with the Chinese Education Research and Exchange Centre (CEREC) based at the University of Tampere, and with Future Learning Finland, to ensure synchronised actions towards China.
– On 10 April EduTech meetings were organised in Beijing for planning the SFLG development with MoEC, and with Beijing Normal University (BNU), the leading education university, and with BNU Publishing Group, correspondingly a leading educational publisher in China
– On 24 April 2014 the Board of Directors of DIGILE approved EduTech as a new Business Ecosystem Programme and the first company groups for the business pilots have been formed
– On 25 April the Finn-Sino Education Forum was organised by the University of Tampere/ CEREC andthe City of Tampereto identify opportunities and challenges in education cooperation between Finland and China
– On 21 May the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden planning meeting was organised at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Helsinki, involving EduTech Ecosystem and China-Finland ICT Alliance represented by DIGILE. As the main outcome a number of Pilot projects will be suggested to SFLG
– On 22 May a meeting with the companies representing the first set of EduTech pilots was held at DIGILE: ”Professional education” (transport / airport personnel training) is led by Airport College, with partners involving Context Learning Finland and Neoxen Systems. The ”Kindergarten & pre-school” pilot is led by DibiSchool involving eOasis and Solutions Space as partners
– On 22 May a reception was held in Helsinki for Mr. Eddie Ng, Hong Kong Secretary for Education, during his visit to Finland. In his speech the prime position that education has in the development of Hong Kong’s future was highlighted. Hong Kong’s progressive approach and prominent role as “education society” was highlighted and some of the opportunities for Finnish actors were identified, including the Finnish learning approach and the supporting solutions. The EduTech Ecosystem aims at establishing active cooperation also for HK markets, under the SFLG framework
– On 9 June China-Finland ICT Alliance and Beijing Normal University organised Sino-Finnish Learning Garden and EduTech Workshop in Beijing to push forward pilots in education technology and learning services as well as to focus on technologies and services research
– On 15 June a meeting was held at the East China Normal University, hosted by Prof. Zhu Zhiting, Dean of the School of Open Learning and Education, Director of Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Digital Equipment and China e-Learning Technology Standardization Committee and member of several key committees. In the meeting Prof- Zhu expressed interest in cooperating in the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden, the EduTech Ecosystem and the EduTech Research Forum. He has already been involved in cooperation discussions on Next Generation of eTextBook project of DIGILE’s Digital Services Programme (University of Jyväskylä). It was agreed that cooperation regarding the development of e-Textbooks and e-Schoolbag would be examined.
Sino-Finnish Learning Garden and EduTech Beijing Workshop: Continue joint efforts on education technology and learning service
Jun 12 2014Based on the good results from April Beijing Sino-Finnish Learning Garden meeting, China-Finland ICT Alliance and Beijing Normal University organised Sino-Finnish Learning Garden and EduTech Workshop in Beijing on 9 June.
The objective is to push forward pilots in education technology and learning services as well as to focus on technologies and services research, such as mobile and ubiquitous technologies in education, learning analytics, e-book standards and gaming
Prof. Yu Shengquan, Dean of School of Education Technology and Director, Joint Laboratory for Mobile Learning: Ministry of Education of China described experiences from a model for ubiquitous learning resources. The laboratory has been built under the national guideline of “Education Information Development Plan (2011-2020)” and “MOE and CMCC Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement”, supported by “Ministry of Education – China Mobile Research Fund”. Cooperation presentations were also given, for example, by Prof. Shu Hua, National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning; Prof. Teng Jun, Vice Dean, Institute of International and Comparative Education; Ms. Xie Xi, International Department, Beijing Normal University Publishing Group; Dr. Wang Jun, Deputy Director, Office of International Exchange & Cooperation; Mr. Mika Tirronen, Counsellor (Science & Education), Embassy of Finland in Beijing; Mr. John Zhuang, Director of Learning, China, Rovio; Prof. Yuzhuo Cai, Higher Education Group (HEG), School of Management, Chinese Education Research & Exchange Centre (CEREC), University of Tampere; Mr. Matti Hämäläinen, China-Finland ICT Alliance, DIGILE.
A co-creative research forum on education will be launched in autumn 2014 involving active China-Finland research units for education technology and learning services cooperation with first joint pilot projects.
“Home-as-a-Service Platform” Kick off in Espoo
May 20 2014On 15 May the kick-off meeting of the first “Home-as-a-Service Platfrom” project was held at Urban Mill, Aalto, in Espoo. It developes a demonstration environment for digitally enabled and Internet based services for the elderly to be demonstrated at the Housing Fair in Jyväskylä 2014. It is already involving a large number of company partners, cities, and researchers, coordinated by Active Life Village, such as Addoz Oy, Anvia Oyj, Beddit Oy, Bonwal Oy, Digikonkarit/Ilolla Oy, Electrix Oy, F-Secure Oyj, Helmivisio Oy, Mohinet Oy, Oppimaa Oy, Pienipiiri Oy, PlayGround Finland Oy, UrbanMill, City of Espoo, Municipality of Pyhtää, Ministry of Transport and Communications, and University of Eastern-Finland, with DIGILE as the facilitator for the overall Home-as-a-Platform” concept. Similar solutions are planed to replicated and adapted to China by the Sino-Finnish cooperation activities.
In the ICT Alliance there has been an interest among a group of universities and companies to develop cooperation that would more actively link the areas of elderly services, personal health and wellbeing and smart home together.
The ”Home-as-a-Service Platform” concept will be adopted and demonstrated in the new Joint Lab on Intelligent Services Embedded in Everyday Life (ISEEL) in Shanghai at Sino-Finnish Centre, Tongji University, to be set up in 2014.
“Home-as-a-Service Platform” concept has been introduced by DIGILE as a potential framework to bring together related activities in these complimentary areas. With such a comprehensive initiatives that bring together companies, universities and key public sector actors – working closely together with the Chinese development and channel partners and with the key stakeholders – we can together create more relevant propositions for the Chinese market – and in the next phase, with Chinese partners, to bring very competitive and advanced solutions to the growing international markets.
Minister Risikko Delegation Visit in China
May 12 2014On 4-5 May the Third China International Senior Services Expo (CISSE 2014) and related Forum, Beijing. A Finnish booth was organised together with Active Life Village, Finnish and Chinese companies and BJAST. About 400+ customers visited and several b-2-b meetings were organized. The Finnish business delegation, led by Mr. Jaakko Rissanen, CEO, Orion Diagnostica, and the official delegation of Minister Paula Risikko’s with Vice President of China Association of Social Welfare, Ms. Xiaoli Feng, visited the booth and studied the solutions and established cooperation.
The main target for participation was to raise awareness of Finland, Finnish companies and their solutions in the field of care, and this goal was reached. The Expo reflected the broad based interest in this area in China, including real estate developers, care home providers, care and medical equipment and other wellbeing products, such as food. According to Mr. Juha Lipiäinen, CEO, ALV, “The best takeaway from CISSE was to get a complete view of the elderly industry in China and how China approaches it ‘end to end’ from building construction to health foods and everything in between. Chinese have a good grasp of the elderly person’s needs and how to meet those. Combined with advanced Finnish wellbeing technology, this could be a winning combination.”
On 5 May the Senior Service Science and Innovation Workshop was organised at Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, BJAST, Beijing. Matti Hämäläinen gave an invited talk and joined the planning of future activities with BJAST and the 2012 co-initiated International Research Center for Senior Service Innovation (IRCSSI) involving BJAST, Fraunhofer IAO and Aalto with DIGILE and ALV. BJAST is one of the key partners in China for research in Senior Services Innovation.
On 6 May the International Seminar on Intelligent Community and Home-Based Senior Care Service Innovation was organised at Yulong International Hotel, Beijing. On behalf of the Finnish parties Mr. Matti Hämäläinen gave a presentation on Senior Care Service Innovation in Finland. In the afternoon a visit to the Yangfangdian Elderly Care Community and to Cuncaochunhui Care Home was organised for the business delegation of Minister Risikko and the Sino-Finnish cooperation and experiences were presented by Dr. Jianbing Liu, Director of BRCUSE/BJAST, and other experts. Both events received visibility in the Chinese print media and TV.
On 7 May a workshop for the business delegation of Minister Paula Risikko was co-organised with ICT Alliance, Finpro and Zhongguancun Life Science Park (LSP), Beijing, to discuss cooperation opportunities in health and wellbeing with particular focus on the wellbeing of elderly and the development of services for senior communities. A very large community of over 1000 people is planned at Zhongguancun LSP, including also a Peking University hospital. The event was opened by Mr. Tom Zhu, Finland Representative Office, Zhongguancun Software Park, followed by several companies based at LSP, including Beijing CSCEC-Zhongguancun Bio-pharmaceutical Investment Co.ltd, PKU HealthCare Industry Group, CapitalBio Corporation, Mindray Corporation, Taikang HealthCare Research Center, and Lawke Health Laboratory Center for Clinical Laboratory Development.
New Business Ecosystem Programme Formed, EduTech Gathers Partners from China and Finland
Apr 29 2014On 24 April 2014 the Board of Directors of DIGILE approved EduTech as a new Business Ecosystem Programme and the first company groups for the business pilots have been formed. In the meeting education solutions were also highlighted as a focus area of ICT Alliance for year 2014. So far the EduTech Ecosystem has attracted around 20 companies at the Finnish side and there is growing interest in China and in joining EduTech, so we expect the number to reach 30 by end of 2014. The business pilots help to form relevant “clusters” around particular customer cases e.g. kindergartens, primary schools, high schools, universities, and vocational and professional education, where specific areas include transportation, senior care, and environmental issues.
The partners who have indicated interest in being involved in EduTech business pilots either as facilitators, customer or development partners in China include Beijing Normal University, East China Normal University, Wuhan AllKids Co., Ltd, CNIT – China Information Technology, Inc., BesTV and Shanghai Guofuguangqi Cloud Computing in China.
The first wave business pilot involves two pilot projects. DibiSchool is a pilot leader in the first EduTech Ecosystem launched in April 2014 and coordinated by DIGILE. DibiSchool partners with eOasis and Solution Space to serve the first pilot customer of TBD in China. As described by the company: “DibiSchool develops educational games for children for learning English with the lovable characters of the Dibidogs. The Dibidogs is an animation series with over 50 million viewers all around the world. In China, there are 14 channels showing the animation. Together with the pilot partners’ eOasis and Solutions Space, DibiSchool is creating new innovative services for Chinese kindergartens.”
The other pilot is in professional education in the transport area, more specifically for training airport personnel. This is a prime example of the training needs in a rapidly growing industry in China, where Finland has a good reputation. “Airport College International is dedicated to achieving optimum results for their clients operating in airline, airport handling and freight forwarding business. It provides a complete on-line training service for aviation and logistics industries. It takes part in pilot with partner of Context Learning and Neoxen.” The full range of web-based training programmes in safety, security and service topics comply with the regulations of international and national legislations and those established by governing bodies, such as the ICAO and IATA.
To complement the EduTech ecosystem that involves companies as partners, ICT Alliance has been preparing to launch an international EduTech Research Forum for involving universities and other relevant research actors, who are in charge of curriculum development, and guidelines. There are also discussions for setting up (joint) Cloud service in China ongoing to support joint R&D&I and pilots. In Finland the FORGE Service Lab is also now open as a relevant option for helping the development of “Education-as-a-Service” offerings.
Preparation for Setting Up ISEEL Joint Lab on Senior Service and Smart Home in Shanghai
Apr 22 2014On 8-9 April and 14-17 April meetings were held in Shanghai, including meetings with BesTV/SMG, Tekes, Tongji University and Aalto University and VTT experts and the Sino-Finnish Center team. The meetings with BesTV involved Mr. Liu Yong, Deputy General Manager of International BD Department, and Mr. Zheng Jie, VP Exec Vice Dean of BesTV Research Institute, and other colleagues. Joint interests were identified in the area of smart home services and specifically such that will be relevant to the elderly at home. It was suggested that during 2014 a joint roadmap for Sino-Finnish cooperation in this area would be outlined. For providing appropriate working platforms and for involving experts the local institutions and development environments are planned to be involved, in particular the new ISEEL Joint Lab to be set up at the Sino-Finnish Centre of Tongji University (see below).
On 16 April it was announced that Mr. Matti Hämäläinen, DIGILE / ICT Alliance and Aalto, has been appointed as a National High-end Foreign Expert (under the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs Program) at Tongji University to act as the Director of a new Joint Lab on Intelligent Services Embedded in Everyday Life for the Wellbeing of Elderly (ISEEL). The aim, in accordance to the co-creative approach of the ICT Alliance, is to create an open platform based at Tongji University, at the Sino-Finnish Centre (SFC), for research, education and innovation. It would bring together academic experts, students, companies, public entities, NGOs and other relevant actors from China, Finland and internationally for the co-creation and study of solutions for “smart home” and “smart life” with a special focus on the wellbeing of elderly.
At Tongji the meetings with experts were organized, including Prof. Lou Yongqi, Dean, College of Design & Innovation, Prof. Liu Fuqiang, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Prof. Dong Hua, Dean of College of Arts and Media, and Dr. Su Yunsheng, Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute and co-founder of “Urban China” Magazine, and the Aalto SFC key people, Prof. Matti Nojonen and Mr. Matti M. Hämäläinen. The topics included the preparation of the ISEEL Lab activities as well as on-going ICT Alliance projects, the related Aalto – Tongji cooperation, and education related initiatives in the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden and the EduTech Ecosystem. One potential pilot in the professional education area is specifically senior care services training.
Sino-Finnish Learning Garden Meeting in Beijing: New learning solutions and technologies are needed for Chinese basic and vocational education
Apr 15 2014On 10 April EduTech meetings were organised in Beijing for planning the SFLG development with MoEC, and with Beijing Normal University (BNU), the leading education university, and with BNU Publishing Group, a leading educational publisher in China.
In the meetings with Mr. Mika Tirronen, Counsellor (Science & Education), Embassy of Finland, the key cooperation areas were discussed, including both basic education and vocational education areas that are currently in focus in China and considered for renewal based on learning from best practices and solutions in other countries. Finland is a recognised partner in these areas.
The role of local authorities is of prime importance. Cooperation with Beijing Municipal Education Committee (BMEC) and Shanghai Municipal Education Committee (SMEC) has been initiated. There is interest in linking schools directly to the SFLG activities in these cities and with the corresponding cities in Finland. The sister city relationship of City of Espoo and City of Shanghai and the relationship of the City of Helsinki and City of Beijing will help to facilitate the linking of corresponding education authorities and schools. There is already ongoing cooperation among the schools, including headmasters and teachers, as well as visit programmes.
When considering the role EduTech Ecosystem and Research Forum, we see the technology based solutions helping to boost the collaboration and learning of new practices and solutions both ways, and bring the physical space and the ritual online space together. To support the cooperation, the concepts of “Joint Learning Labs” and “Finland Classrooms” have been discussed with the involved universities and companies in Finland and in China.
Meeting with CEREC representatives, Mr. Yuzhou Cai, and a delegation from the University of Tampere, was organised at BNU to jointly plan the cooperation with CEREC in the SFLG EduTech area and in the China-Finland ICT Alliance. CEREC and the corresponding center at BNU, the Finnish Education Research Centre (FERC), have already established cooperation and can support in several areas including learning administration, quality assurance, teacher training, and guidelines development.
At BNU, Ms. Jun Wang, Deputy Director, Office of International Exchange & Cooperation, hosted a meeting with Mika Tirronen, Matti Hämäläinen and Jani Kaarlejärvi from the Finnish side and Prof. Shengquan Yu, Director, the Joint Laboratory for Mobile Learning, Ministry of Education – China Mobile Communication Corporation, and Ms. Xi Xie, Beijing Normal University Publishing Group (BNUPG) to discuss the research and business pilots cooperation planned to be launched during 2014.
BNU is in a position to become a key hub for EduTech research and as well as facilitate EduTech Ecosystem business pilots in selected test schools to help understanding the requirements of the local schools as well as those set by the national and local curriculum. When relevant content and digital solutions have been identified, BNUPG will consider involvement in their focal areas respectively. BNUPG has been recognised as a higher education publisher and they also indicated interest in Kindergarten area solutions and content. It was agreed that follow-up meetings all be organised in June and joint workshops to be planned for the October-November time frame when high-level land expert delegations will visit China (possibly to be organised to coincide with the PURE Finland events).
In addition to introducing the solutions form Finland, a key area in the EduTech cooperation will be joint development and testing of new learning solutions and learning environments. This can involve mobile learning, ubiquitous access, wearable technologies, augmented reality and related technologies that help bridge the physical and virtual world. This may take place in the Joint Lab that BNU has set up with China Mobile (CMCC). The next step is to start planning of concrete the cooperation in development, testing and piloting of education technology solutions and services as well as joint research, including e.g. learning analytics, sensing technologies, and others.
For EduTech the next step will be identifying the potential pilots for BNU and BNUPG to discus with the selected Finnish companies. BNU has already a good experience in working with Finnish approach in the GraphoGame case, developed by the University of Jyväskylä (Prof. Heikki Lyytinen and his team). The potential solutions to be piloted include educational games for maths, languages, and other skills, including music. Also, new learning service platforms and technologies (e.g. ultra low energy e-paper, NFC and other physical world /digital world interaction) are potential candidates.
New CHOICE project on Strengthening Chinese Collaboration on ICT R&D with Europe
Apr 11 2014A new EU-China cooperation project has been launched last January 2014 aiming to provide continuity and progress in supporting and strengthening China Collaboration on ICT research with Europe.
The CHOICE project is funded by the European Commission DG CONNECT through its 7th Framework Programme and comprises Chinese and European partners, involved in previous and on-going EU-China collaboration projects, that will ensure all the valuable outputs of previous projects will be fully exploited and that synergies with relevant projects will be developed.
During its two-year duration, the CHOICE project emphasis will be put on:
· Identifying obstacles to reciprocity and encouraging a more balanced relationship with China based on reciprocity, especially supporting European nationals, companies and organisations willing to access Chinese research programmes;
· Highlighting and showcasing both EU and Chinese excellence in ICT R&D;
· Strengthening EU-China industrial ICT R&D cooperation, also with the view of preparing the ground for new upcoming rules governing EU-China ICT R&D cooperation under Horizon 2020 (H2020).
Thanks to this approach, the CHOICE project will create a bridge towards H2020 and capitalize on the timely conjunction of H2020 shift away from technology driven towards innovation driven ICT R&D based on societal needs and consumer aspirations, with the Chinese Government’s firm commitment to growing domestic demand, thus emphasizing opportunities in China for the exploitation of H2020 and in particular its potential for contributing to increasing Chinese domestic demand.
For more information, visit: http://www.euchina-ict.eu, follow the project on Twitter: @EUChinaICT and the discussions on LinkedIn: EU-China Cooperation on ICT research !
ICT Alliance Workshop meeting for Finnish partners on 11 Feb 2014 at DIGILE (Otaniemi)
Jan 15 2014Dear ICT Alliance partners,
Thank you for active work in 2013 and Happy New Year 2014 to you all!
We would like to inform that next Workshop for the Finnish ICT Alliance partners is suggested to be held on 11 February 2014 at DIGILE in Otaniemi.
There we aim at reviewing the progress since Shanghai kick-off event and spending substantial part of the time in discussing the ways of developing the ICT Alliance activities further so that they could better serve the needs of current and future partners – and also enable parties to actively contribute.
Please let us know by Friday 24.1 the expected participants from your projects.
Also, please advise us who will be the main contact points in your project .
These may be different than the original contacts in the Tekes application (as we already learned when preparing the September 2013 Shanghai Workshop).
Also, let us know if some people should be added to the list for your projects.
China-Finland ICT Alliance Finnish partners Workshop
Time: Tuesday 11 February 2014, 9:00 − 15:00
Location: DIGILE, Showroom,
Vaisalantie 6, 02130 Espoo (Falcon Business Park in Otaniemi), see: http://www.digile.fi/contact
When at reception call Matti (+358 40 758 0150) or Jani for picking up (+358 40 540 7896)
Participation: Representative(s) of the Phase II projects and Invited experts in New Initiatives.
Tentative Agenda:
1. Update on the China-Finland ICT Alliance
2. Projects update (max 10 min each)
by the project leads/representatives, summaries will be requested beforehand
3. Discussion on modes of cooperation, including Research Projects, Business Ecosystems and Research Forums, and other planned for 2014
4. Planning the events in 2014
Timing and content of Workshops and other events
5. Other issues
—
Year 2013 in retrospect:
Year 2013 was the beginning of a new phase (Phase II) of the China-Finland ICT Alliance.
Building on research cooperation in information and communication technology the ICT Alliance has continued to extend its activities in digital services in areas of joint interest. Aging society, urban mobility and traffic, and education – among other – are application areas that have become focal in cooperation and the activities are expected to expand during this year in addition to the future energy efficient networks, sensing and other technology topics.
The second half of 2013 reflects the evolution of the ICT Alliance, following the digitalization of almost all aspects of society, industries and our everyday life. In addition to the official kick-off of Phase II projects in September Workshop in Shanghai, quite a few events took place in the September – December time frame to promote ICT Alliance cooperation in business oriented R&D&I in ICT and digital services. Examples include joining the Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai (the key innovation event in China organized by MOST with Finland as the Country of Honor in 2013) as well as joining the visits of Minister Risikko, Viitanen and Kiuru to highlight the ongoing cooperation and new opportunities in ICT and digital services in their respective areas (Health and Wellbeing, Communication and Housing, and Education). The invited participation of ICT Alliance as a Showcase in the OpenChina-ICT Final Conference on Strengthening Cooperation in ICT Research between Europe and China is an example of recognition that may help in positioning Finland as a potential “gateway” for China-EU R&D&I cooperation. In 2014 the work continues in the development of the ICT Alliance as an open “platform” for international cooperation.
Please, find attached the summary of the second half of 2013 ICT Alliance activities: “China -Finland ICT Alliance August – December 2013 Update” (you may distribute it freely to parties you expect to be interested in ICT Alliance and China-Finland cooperation). This newsletter format has proven to be useful in conveying information about the activities and we plan on publishing it on a monthly basis on the Website. We would also be happy to include sections that provide information about the events and progress in the projects more often than what is possible in the Workshops.
Preparing for year 2014
We may expect that 2014 will be an active year in the China-Finland cooperation. At the beginning of the year it is good time to review the progress that has taken place since our last joint Workshop in Shanghai, share information about future plans, prepare for the future events and discuss new opportunities. These may be, for example, involve new cooperation modes such as Business Ecosystems and Research Forums (an update on these will be given in the Workshop), as well as in extending the bilateral work to multilateral and wider international contexts, such as China-EU projects.
While there are several areas where the Chinese entities, including universities, research centers and companies, have indicated their interest in cooperating with Finland and Finnish partners, financing the R&D&I cooperation remains a challenge. This is particularly true when considering public funding for the university research but similar challenges appear also when companies are looking to get financing for initiating cooperation in new areas. In this situation it becomes even more important to be able to link complementary activities and resources as well as different modes of operation (e.g. cooperation in research projects, education and in business pilots).
The project based work may be considered as the “backbone” of the ICT Alliance and it is worthwhile to consider how the next projects can be built on current cooperation and results – and how new parties already working with China or interested in joining may be brought into play in the ares of joint interest. The difference in scale between China and Finland, including size of markets and the resources available, requires both focusing and pooling of resources that may come from other actors and projects in Finland as well as elsewhere (i.e. act as “gateway” or “hub”).
Feedback and ideas for events and activities:
We are working on a list of events that will be organized or co-organized by the ICT Alliance during 2014 both in Finland and in China and will share that in the coming weeks before the February workshop.
We would be happy to get your ideas and input on such initiatives and events in which China-Finland R&D&I cooperation in ICT and digital services could have role. This would allow us well in advance to contact the relevant Finnish and Chinese experts and entities who may contribute our activities – and also benefit from participation. Also, this would allow us to synchronize the Alliance with other Finland-China events.
We look forward to you your ideas and views for developing both the ICT Alliance, the ways of working and the work in the substance areas that you see relevant for the cooperation.
Looking forward to meeting you in Otaniemi, at DIGILE, on 11 February 2014.
Z-Park Enterprise Forum with ICT Alliance: Faster from R&D&I to Business
Nov 11 2013Zhongguancun Science Park is one of the most intensive R&D&I foundations in China. To boost cooperation with Finnish companies, it invited 30 most innovative companies from its community to join the forum on Finland-China business and R&D&I cooperation on 30 October 2013 in Beijing. The key objective was to identify and discuss partnership between Finnish companies and Zhongguancun Science Park in the field of ICT and digital solutions and applications. The forum was chaired by Mr. Zeng Xiaotao, Managing Director, International Operations, Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Science Park, and hosted by Mr. Yang Nan, Vice General Manager, Beijing Zhongguancun Software Park Development Co., Ltd. Mr. Jani Kaarlejärvi and Mr. Matti Hämäläinen presented current and future business activities and joint business initiatives of DIGILE and China-Finland ICT Alliance with the special focus on how joint R&D&I projects create business value for SMEs and which way it is possible to fasten processes from R&D to market entry for new solutions, products and services.
Following joint R&D&I interest areas were identified:
- e-banking and e-commerce;
- gaming;
- data analytics;
- 5G technology;
- cloud security ; and
- future media technologies and platforms.
Companies that participated in the Enterprise Forum included, for example:
- Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE: QIHU) is a leading Chinese supplier of Internet products and services and mobile safety;
- iSoftStone (NYSE: ISS) is a leading China-based IT services provider, serving both Greater China and Global clients.
- UFIDA Software Co Ltd is the largest local management software provider in China and the Asia-Pacific region;
- Beyondsoft Corporation offers end-to-end development and testing cloud computing solution and in 2013 was awarded “TOP 50 Service Outsourcing Players in China”;
- Senscape Technologies is China’s first mobile augmented reality platform dedicated to developing high-tech company, augmented reality technology is the intelligence and wisdom of the city’s major tourist supporting technology;
- Beijing GEO Technologies develops big data technologies to apply in the advertising industry, and its patent DataQuateTM technology platform processes 4TB real time internet audience profile data/day, coming from operator broadband and internet, and has managed advertising resources for blue chip clients including Citi-Bank, Pepsi, Peugeot, Johnson and Johnson, Suning.com etc.;
- Anplat Co., Ltd. Is an industry-focused BI (Business Intelligence) standardized software solutions company;
- Kingsoft Corporation Limited, as one of best-known software companies, is a leading software developer and Internet service provider in China, and on October 9th, 2007, Kingsoft was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange;
- ChinaCache (NASDAQ: CCIH) is one of the world’s leading providers of content delivery network and cloud services; and
- Beijing Venus Information Security Technology Co., Ltd, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has a perfect professional security product line. In the government and the army it has 80% market share of the world’s five hundred 60% of Chinese enterprises to provide safe products and services; in the financial sector, it has on policy banks, state-owned commercial banks, national joint-stock commercial banks to achieve 90% coverage. In the field of telecommunications, it offer the three operators, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, security products, security services and solutions.
For more information, please see our October 2013 Update www.ictalliance.org.
Minister of Communications Ms. Pia Viitanen visits China
Nov 10 2013Minister of Communications Ms. Pia Viitanen visits China
Minister of Communications Ms. Pia Viitanen visits China on 10-17 November 2013 with a business delegation in which Mr. Reijo Paajanen, CEO, DIGILE Ltd., also participates.
The themes of the visit cover areas that are of joint interest for both Finland and China. These include, among others, smart cities and sustainable urban design as well as telecommunication, digital broadcast, digital services and business as enabled by the Internet and new technologies.
Working together with Team Finland, and Finpro in particular, China-Finland ICT Alliance coordinated by DIGILE (Dr. Matti Hämäläinen) and Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications WiCo (Dr. Yang Yang) has planned a Business Networking Event titled “Co-creating Future Digital Business: Communication and Media Focus” for the delegation in Shanghai on 13 November.
The aim is to share few concise “snapshots” on recent business and R&D&I developments in Finland and China highlighting some key areas represented by the delegation members. Following Minister Viitanen’s opening remarks, Ms. Sirpa Ojala, CEO, Digita Networks Ltd., Head of the Business Delegation, and Mr. Reijo Paajanen will present the views from Finland. Mr. Andy Huang, VP, BesTV of SMG and a long term partner Mr. Simon Wang, VP, NERC-DTV will present updated views from China, before moving to a networking session where both business opportunities as well as joint research opportunities in the China-Finland ICT Alliance framework will be discussed.
The one week visit to China will also include several meetings on ICT, R&D&I cooperation and SME engagement that are expected to have a positive impact on the development of China-Finland ICT and digital services cooperation and also to open up new international cooperation opportunities.
China-Finland ICT Alliance Workshop Week in China
Oct 15 2013
China-Finland ICT Alliance Official Phase II Kick-off Forum, Shanghai
The China-Finland ICT Alliance Week gathered Finnish and Chinese partners representing recently completed, new projects and selected future initiatives. It also acted as a forum for several different business meetings and workshop sessions including cooperation in areas such as cloud services, big data applications, traffic services, geoservices and navigation, environmental monitoring technologies and solutions,elderly care and assisted living.
China-Finland ICT Alliance had its official Phase II kick-off forum in Shanghai on 24-26 September 2013. The main objective of the forum was to further develop new ways of international R&D&I cooperation, in particular between China and Finland. One of the key objectives was also to prepare new Finland-China initiatives in the jointly defined areas,such as digital services, aging care, urbanisation, smart traffic, environmental sensing and monitoring, and education, and other areas.
In the opening words the two official ICT Alliance coordinators, Prof. Honglin Hu of WICO and Prof. Matti Hämäläinen of DIGILE, highlighted the results of the completed work in future networking, future wireless, and future services that exceeded the initial expectations and built a good basis for moving forward in the launched Phase II projects. The work now continues in areas of joint interest, including energy efficient networking, development of future digital services based on cloud computing, big data, in particular when linked with sensing and novel IoT solutions, and applications in intelligent cities, environment, ageing society among other. The China-Finland ICT Alliance has now been developed to a potential model for creating an open international R&D&I cooperation platform for all.
Dr. Xing Jijun, Deputy Director General of China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the ICT Alliance set a new target to develop the Alliance actively towards international cooperation. R&D&I cooperation would benefit from even broader international partnerships. The Alliance platform has been played an important role in strengthening relationships between China and Finland, and this has become a very good showcase of a bilateral, win-win cooperation.
Ms. Marja Aspelund, Consul General of Finland in Shanghai, highlighted that China-Finland ICT Alliance has very well met its objectives in stimulating cooperation between China and Finland. This kind of cooperation is exactly what is needed. Through the launch of phase II projects the initial scope has extended and expectations are even higher. There is still a substantial unleashed potential in this cooperation, and students and university campuses represent a unique environment for creating and testing new solutions. This aspect is included the ICT Alliance’s next phase activities. Together China and Finland are well positioned for co-creating new innovative solutions and global breakthroughs, and Finland can also act as a “gateway” linking the EU and other international partners and markets together.
Mr. Jarmo E. Heinonen, Consul of Science and Technology & Head of TEKES Shanghai, reminded that TEKES has been active in funding China-focused R&D&I projects since the 1980s, and China will continue to be one of the key focus areas for TEKES. Through R&D&I cooperation it is possible to open up new business opportunities for both partners. TEKES played an important role in setting up the China-Finland ICT Alliance in 2009, and now in 2013 TEKES funded new joint ICT Alliance projects with more than M2€. Expectations on the industrial and academic impact of the Phase II projects are high.
Dr. Fusheng Zhu, Chief Engineer of ZTE Corporation, pointed out in his industrial keynote speech that 5G is one of the key topics when discussing R&D in future networks. China has taken a very active position towards developing and testing 5G. Development of 5G is such a potential area that it should be also put on the China-Finland-EU agenda.
Prof. Sasu Tarkoma, Academic Coordinator of DIGILE’s Internet of Things programme & University of Helsinki, presented DIGILE’s IoT programme and how it promotes the creation and growth of ecosystems that involve companies, universities, and individual contributors. It develops IoT platform technology, an IoT hub, for the concrete and rapid realisation of IoT deployments and ecosystems. An IoT hub is a backend system developed for certain type of IoT devices. The hub controls the devices and stores the data that they produce solving the problem of device and data ownership. Anyone can setup an IoT hub and thus their size can vary from small to very large deployments. The programme also develops an open API for IoT hubs so that data and access to sensors can be provided to third-party applications and other hub instances.
ICT Alliance New Initiatives and Partner Meetings Day was arranged to provide an opportunity to openly discuss, present and plan new initiatives in areas of joint interests and to meet with interested researchers and teams as well as companies.The day also provided an opportunity to become familiar with the Sino-Finnish Centre (SFC) in Shanghai, established for joint research, design, innovation, education and industry – university collaboration. It can also act as one local “platform” and forum for ICT Alliance activities in China.Many new initiatives were identified to be taken forward under the China-Finland ICT Alliance:
- 5G and new opportunities in Future Networks
- IoT Hubs connecting IoT deployments across space and time for opportunities in experimental research, innovation and business
- New open mobile and embedded platforms – open sw, open hw and open design
- Intelligent spaces (e.g. smart home, smart living, assisted living and solutions for elderly)
- Intelligent traffic and mobility of people in urban environments
- Geoservices and navigation
- Big Data and Cloud Services in China-Finland/EU cooperation
- Green Campus – monitoring of energy use, environment (e.g. air quality) and user behaviour.
As a result of the New Initiatives meeting in Shanghai, followed by meetings in Beijing at the end of the ICT Alliance Workshop Week, active thematic groups of Chinese and Finnish partners were formed to work on the development of joint R&D&I activities in the above topics.
These range from linking the now funded Phase II projects to new pilots in China and Finland (e.g. in traffic and services for mobility in urban areas, monitoring on energy and environment), to extend current and new Business Ecosystem programmes to involve Chinese pilots and R&D partners, and to prepare for large scale Finland/Nordic/EU – China proposals in cooperation with MOST and in cooperation with NSFC as well as working with MIIT in large scale new digital services area.
The Business Ecosystem programmes being currently prepared in the China-Finland ICT Alliance context include Elderly Care and Active Life (ECAL) and Open Mobile and Embedded Ecosystem (OMECO) coordinated by DIGILE in Finland. The large scale initiatives are planned to involve key EU partners and Finland as “a hub” and some to be established with China-Nordic cooperation as a starting point.
In the discussion it was also noted that for example Sweden and Germany and others have China-focused funding instruments set up and they have been successful in boosting cooperation. It was proposed that also Finland should have a foundation, “Finland-China Foundation”, that would focus especially on supporting and further developing Finland-China R&D cooperation.New initiatives and ecosystem programs DIGILE as the China-Finland ICT Alliance coordinator from the Finnish side, together with industrial and academic partners in China and in Finland, has jointly identified a number of areas as a basis for development of new initiatives, new research projects as well as the launch of business oriented ecosystem programmes to drive the creation of new breakthrough areas together.As an example, services for ageing society, including elderly care wellbeing and health, has been set as one of the priority areas for coming years. Population aging hits many Western and international societies and new health and aging related initiatives are currently being planned. DIGILE’s “Elderly Care and Active Life Ecosystem” (ECAL) will be the first Finnish international cross-SHOK ecosystem. It focuses on boosting business development between Finnish and Chinese companies, and it involves about ten actors at the initial stage – more to follow later. The fundamental objective is to take social innovations to market through co-creation and co-development.In the field of elderly care and wellbeing, it was recognised that following topics would require more actions. These same elements will also be highly relevant in other key areas of cooperation, such as urbanisation and environmental solutions:
- understanding Chinese culture, traditions, and expectations;
- involving training, regulation development and new business approaches and models leveraging the vast business opportunities;
- linking public, private and consumer perspectives, linking bottom-up and top-down activities;
- cities as key actors and decision-makers;
- stronger business cooperation; and
- bilateral funding instruments, aiming at developing solutions to jointly addressing the global markets
Other new initiatives include preparation of Open Mobile and Embedded Ecosystem in Finland-China cooperation. A workshop was organised at BUPT in Beijing on Open SW, Open HW and Open Innovation Platforms. Closely related to this “open innovation platforms” work is the development of new educational approaches involving university-industry cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship and the development of scalable “Challenge” based approaches for that. A Letter on Collaboration was signed between China-Finland ICT Alliance / DIGILE and BUPT to promote cooperation in open SW and open SW and open design and to initiate discussions for inviting university and industry partners to join the OMECO Ecosystem as a key research and piloting partners in China.
A number of other areas are also actively developed as new joint initiatives and business-oriented R&D&I and business pilots. The Company Meeting involved discussions on cloud and big data service cooperation development in China and in Finland with companies such as Cloud Valley, Shanghai Guofuguangqi Cloud Computing as well as on geoservices with Wuhan based Geostar (WudaGeo).
More Information on China-Finland ICT Alliance and DIGILE
For more information, please visit the China-Finland ICT Alliance official website www.ictalliance.org, DIGILE website www.digile.fi or contact Dr. Matti Hämäläinen and Dr. Jani Kaarlejärvi (firstname.lastname@digile.fi).
Final OpenChina-ICT Conference – unique opportunity!
Sep 22 2013The OpenChina Final Conference will take place on November 5, 2013 in Vilnius at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, i.e. the day before the launch of the European Commission’s ICT 2013 Event.
The objectives of this Final Conference are to:
- Bring together policy and research stakeholders from Europe and China,
- Present the project final results,
- Promote EU-China ICT research cooperation and
- Provide recommendations for future cooperation programmes.
The tentative agenda is already available on the project website at http://openchina-ict.eu/project-events/final-conference/ featuring the participation of DG CONNECT, Chinese Ministries (MOST & MIIT), EU-China Expert groups, international EU-China projects and key ICT researchers.
Do not miss this unique opportunity on the occasion of the ICT 2013 event, and join us in Vilnius on 5 November to participate in this major event devoted to EU-China ICT research collaboration!
Register now (free of charge): http://store.sigma-orionis.com/login?conferenceid=73.
The OpenChina-ICT project, supported by the European Commission (DG Connect) through its FP7 research-funding programme, aims at significantly contributing to the facilitation of ICT related research cooperation between Europe and China. For further information, visit our website: www.openchina-ict.eu or contact us: info@openchina-ict.eu
6th ICT Alliance workshop in Shanghai
Sep 03 2013Venues:
24-25 September 2013 – Workshop Day1 & Day 2: Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (SIMIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 865 Changning Road, 200050 Shanghai (http://english.sim.cas.cn/au/).
26 September 2013 – New Initiatives and Partner Meetings Day: Sino-Finnish Centre, Tongji University, 100 Zhangwu Rd , 200092 Yangpu District, Shanghai (http://sinofinnishcentre.org).
Organized by the China-Finland ICT Alliance Coordinators:
WiCO – Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications (host), and
DIGILE – The Finnish Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation in Digital Business
(note: TIVIT has expanded and been renamed to DIGILE in August 2013, see, www.digile.fi)
Accommodation:
Pentahotel Shanghai.
Address: 1525 dingxi road changning district of Shanghai.
Telephone: 021-3126, 6838
Website: http://www.lovegowu.com/skin_index_10201104_1_en
Map: maps_ICT_Alliance_Workshop_sites_092013
Contact info:
In case you need to reach us, for example when coming directly from the airport to the meeting, you may call/txt:
Matti: +358 40 758 0150
Jani: +358 40 540 7896
Tina Junying Zhong: +86 189 80000 119
Program of the Workshop
24 September 2013: Kick-Off Day
Location: SIMIT
9:00 Opening of the Workshop by ICT Alliance coordinators
Chairmen: Prof. Honglin Hu, WiCO, and Prof. Matti Hämäläinen, DIGILE
9:05 – 9:40 Role of China–Finland ICT Alliance as a concrete platform for international cooperation
Mr. Xing Jijun, Deputy Director General of CSTEC, MoST
Mr. Jarmo E. Heinonen, Consul (Science and Technology), Head of Tekes Shanghai
Mr. Honglin Hu, Vice Director of Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications
Ms. Marja Aspelund, Consul General of Finland in Shanghai
9:40 – 10:00 Review of ICT Alliance: achievements, new projects and new Initiatives in planning
Prof. Honglin Hu, WiCO and Prof. Matti Hämäläinen, DIGILE
Summary of Results of Phase I projects
Moving Forward: Overview of Phase II new projects and activities for developing new initiatives
10:00 – 10:20 Phase II projects Kick-off and Photo
10:20 – 10:35 Tea & coffee break
10:35 – 12:00 Keynote speeches
5G Activities in China, Dr. Fusheng Zhu, Chief Engineer of ZTE Corporation
Internet Of Things and Future Networks, Prof. Sasu Tarkoma, University of Helsinki
12:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 Phase I projects Wrap-up: Key achievements by project representative of Chinese and Finnish side
Future Wireless (15 min+ 15 min)
Jing Xu, WiCO
Chen Tao, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland & Olav Tirkkonen, Aalto University
Future Networking (15 min+ 15 min)
Qimei Cui, BUPT
Mikko Valkama, Tampere University of Technology and Riku Jäntti, Aalto University
Future Services (15 min+ 15 min)
Honglin Hu, WiCO
Matti Hämäläinen, Aalto University
15:30 Closing of Plenary session
15:30 – 15:45 Tea & coffee break
15:45 – 18:30 Team meetings of Phase II projects
25 September 2013: Phase II New Projects Day
Location: SIMIT
9:00 – 9:15 Introduction to Phase II Finnish projects funded by Tekes “Finland-China Research Call”, Mr. Teemu Varonen, Senior Adviser, Finland-China collaboration in ICT, Tekes
9:15 Presentation of the 6 projects from Finland (presented by project lead, 20 min + 10 min Q&A each)
– Everyday Sensing (cloud, IoT, data analysis, and social media), Jukka Riekki, University of Oulu
– Sensing City Traffic, Timo Nyberg, Aalto University
– Energy-Efficient Wireless Networks and Connectivity of Devices – Densification, Antti Tölli, University of Oulu
– Energy-Efficient Wireless Networks and Connectivity of Devices – Systems, Riku Jäntti,
11:15 – 11:30 Tea/Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30
– Finland’s Enhanced Navigation using COMPASS/Beidou Signals, Laura Ruotsalainen, Finnish Geodetic Institute
– Finnish-Chinese Green ICT R&D&I Living Lab for Energy Efficient, Clean and Safe Environments, Heikki Pentikäinen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 13:45 Introduction to Phase II Chinese projects funded by MOST
13:45 – 15:15
Presentation of the 3 projects from China (presented by project lead, 20 min + 10 min Q&A each)
– IoT (applied to traffic information)
– Green wireless access technologies,
– Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication,
15:15 Closing of the Plenary session
15:30 – 19:00 Reserved for partner and company meetings and presentations (3 rooms available at SIMIT)
26 September 2013: China-Finland ICT Alliance New Initiatives and Partner Meetings Day
Location: Sino-Finnish Centre, Aalto-Tongji Design Factory, 100 Zhangwu Rd , 200092, Shanghai
ICT Alliance New Initiatives and Partner Meetings Day is arranged to provide an opportunity to present and plan new initiatives in areas of joint interests and to meet with interested researchers/teams as well as companies. We welcome both those who are involved in the current projects as well as those interested in joining the future activities. The day also provides an opportunity to become familiar with the Sino-Finnish Centre (SFC) in Shanghai, established for joint research, design, innovation, education and industry – university collaboration. It can act as one “platform” and forum for ICT Alliance activities.
10:00 – 10:30 Welcome. Sino-Finnish Centre: an Environment for Collaboration in research, development, design, innovation & education, Matti M. Hämäläinen, Operative Director, Sino-Finnish Centre
10:30 – 12:00 Towards the future: extending current work and preparing new joint initiatives Chaired by Matti Hämäläinen, DIGILE & Aalto
Suggested topics for working groups are listed below. In addition to joint research activities the initiatives are suggested to include the following when fit for the topic:
– joint pilots in Finland and in China
– related joint education and innovation activities
– plan for scaling to international activities in EU and other international cooperation.
Introduction to suggested topics (5 min pitch each to introduce the topic before moving to working groups):
– New opportunities in Future Networks (5G, IoT networking, low energy, and other)
– IoT Hubs – connecting IoT deployments across space and time for opportunities in experimental research, innovation and business
– New open mobile and embedded platforms – open sw, open hw and open design
– Intelligent spaces: smart home, smart living, assisted living (e.g. solutions for elderly)
– Intelligent traffic and mobility of people in urban environments
– Geoservices and navigation
– Big Data and Cloud Services in Sino-Finnish/EU cooperation
– Green Campus – monitoring of energy use, environment (e.g. air quality) and user behavior
You are welcome to bring a poster to help introduce your position and for discussion in working groups. You may also choose to propose new potential theme for collaboration.
12:00 – 12:30 Pitches of the participating companies: introduction and interests in collaboration
12:30 – 13:30 Buffet Lunch
13:30 – 16:00 Parallel working sessions and company meetings
16:00 Closing of the day
Updated program can be downloaded from here:
ICT_Alliance_workshop_24-26092013_Shanghai_program_v_23092013-2
ICT Alliance at UrbanTech China Conference in Beijing
Jun 11 2013UrbanTech China Conference in Beijing (http://www.urbantecchina.com/) is the country’s only integrated trading platform featuring key industry sectors for the sustainable development of cities.
On 28-30 May, it focused this year on the utilisation of information technology on urban development, sustainability, smart city and intelligent transportation.
In the conference Jani Kaarlejärvi gave a speech on “an ecosystem approach for international R&D&I cooperation in digital services in the industry and public sectors – Case: China-Finland ICT Alliance” in a session with company representatives e.g. from Z-Park, Samsung, LG, France Telecom and NEC.
This year the conference had exhibitors of 62 companies, 43 exhibitors or 71% of which are from overseas, doubling the number last year. In addition, the two-day conference received more than 800 delegates from 300 organisations or companies, representing more than 60 cities domestic and international cities.
TIVIT visits Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing
Apr 20 2013TIVIT’s China representatives will visit Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing on 20 – 28 April, 2013, to meet with WiCo, the China side coordinator of the ICT Alliance, and with representatives from universities, companies and government entities to discuss the next steps in ICT Alliance development. The aim is to prepare for new joint activities and this work will be done in close cooperation with Tekes and other key public R&D actors. The aim is also to involve both industry driven as well as public sector driven initiatives, and, for example, in areas such as aging society services, demand responsive solutions, energy monitoring and environmental monitoring, cities play the key role.
The next ICT Alliance Workshop will also be planned during the trip. The meeting will be held in China. The tentative time frame is 10-15 June 2013 and the event is suggested to take place in Beijing with meetings organized also in Shanghai to follow the official Workshop. The workshop will present the results of the first phase of projects and act as a kick-off for the new joint projects that are funded by the recent Tekes China cooperation call . The aim is also to present the new jointly identified areas of interest where joint R&D&I activities will be prepared.
FinChi opens a new office in Beijing
Apr 09 2013A new FinChi office in Beijing was opened on 8th of April 2013 in Beijing.
As the facilitator of the R&D&I cooperation in ICT and digital services area, the China-Finland ICT Alliance recognizes the potential of the new center. By actively working with the key organizations involved, like Finpro and Golden Bridge, it aims at helping Finnish companies looking to enter the Chinese market as well as Chinese companies looking to set up their operation in Finland to join business oriented research activities in their respective areas. By establishing a good working relationship in jointly developing and testing new technologies and solutions with Chinese and Finnish partners the understanding of market needs, the environment and the partnership opportunities will be improved.
source:
http://yle.fi/uutiset/finnish_innovation_centre_opens_in_beijing/6569665
News 8.4.2013 14:25 | updated 8.4.2013 14:28
Finnish innovation centre opens in Beijing
Finland has opened a new innovation centre in the Chinese capital Beijing. The centre, christened ‘Finchi’, will help small and medium-sized Finnish companies enter the Chinese market.
The centre is located in the Zhongguancun district, and has service points in Shanghai and Shenzhen. It is a collaboration between the Ministry for Employment and the Economy, Finpro and Tekes.
The Minister for Foreign trade, Alexander Stubb, was present for the centre’s opening.
Jani Kaarlejärvi has been appointed a Visiting Professor at BUPT
Jan 10 2013Jani Kaarlejärvi has been appointed a Visiting Professor at BUPT, Beijing
Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications has appointed Jani Kaarlejärvi a Visiting Professor in ICT Innovation and Economy for a 5-year period. The main objective of the professorship is to further develop China-Finland-EU cooperation the field of strategic R&D&I projects.
ICT Alliance is invited to the OpenChina-ICT Dialogue Conference
Nov 08 2012Event Date:
Thu, 2012-11-15 (All day) – Fri, 2012-11-16 (All day)
Venue:
Wenjin Hotel – Beijing, P.R. China
Registration form | Speaker form | Event flyer | Participants tips
Matchmaking session form | Matchmaking session brochure
For complementary information, please contact the event organisers
The OpenChina-ICT 2-days Dialogue Conference will be held at Wenjin Hotel on November 15-16, 2012 in Beijing, P.R. China, with the support of the European Commission.
The event (free of charge) aims at developing concrete recommendations for actions for international cooperation in ICT between Europe and China. It will comprise one day dedicated to discussions on ways of improving support to current EU-China cooperation and on enhancing direct dialogues among policy‐makers and ICT research communities of China and Europe. The second day will include one-on-one matchmaking session on ICT research among European and potential Chinese partners and a study visit for European visitors to have a better view of the overall infrastructure and environment of R&D in China.
TIVIT has been invited to the event, and the ICT Alliance’s next strategic steps will be presented in the second conference session. TIVIT also moderates a session and participates as a European representative in a panel.
*Sources cited from OpenChina-ict.eu
Radical Design Week 2012 Workshop
Oct 28 2012Workshop for discussing the potential of advanced technologies in improving the quality of life of the ageing population. China – Finland joint opportunities and platforms, including Active Aging initiative, to be discussed. The workshop brings together experts from universities, research institutions, companies, public sector entities, and NGOs to share their experiences and ideas on joint research and development.
Event Date:
Thu, 2012-11-01 (All day)
Venue:
Sino-Finnish Centre (Aalto-Tongji Design Factory), Shanghai
Participation:
Due to limited space and interactive nature of the sessions, the participation is by invitation only. If interested, please send email to:
matti.hamalainen (at) tivit.fi and junying.zhong (at) aalto.fi with your contact details and description of your interest in a few lines.
Co-organized by TIVIT / China – Finland ICT Alliance and Aalto University.
2012 Sino-European Research Forum on IS
Oct 27 20122012 Sino-European Research Forum on IS and Information Society was hold during Monday, August 20, 2012 – 09:00 to Tuesday, August 21, 2012 – 12:45 in Espoo, Finland. Participants will be invited in advance.