Fri, 03 Apr, 2015 12:01:51 AM FTimes Report by Mohamud Hasan, April 3 ![]() BusinessOulu Executive Director Juha Ala-Mursula. Press Image The year 2014 saw the City of Oulu maintaining its status as a global ICT investment hub. In autumn alone 11 globally influential companies decided to set up offices in this Northern Ostrobothnian city, reveals Janne Mustonen, key account director for ICT and Nano Industries at BusinessOulu, a regional business developing unit.
These moves, in Mustonen’s words, saw the creation of 500 jobs, with the figure expected to triple in a little more than a year.
“The main thing is that these companies are very heterogenic, from automotive electronics manufacturing to wearable IT. One of the strengths of Oulu is the heterogenic ICT business pool,” remarked Mustonen.
Oulu is home to over 400 ICT companies that employ more than 12,500 people. Boasting a quality talent pool and with an estimated 25,000 students enrolled at the University of Oulu and the Oulu University of Applied Sciences, the city is not short of expertise.
This kind of conducive environment combined with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovative start-up culture has made international companies take notice.
Flexibility, iterative testing and user feedback are significant requisites in ICT product development, pointed out BusinessOulu Executive Director Juha Ala-Mursula. “We’re looking at a place where you can have all stages of ICT product development from concept to a ready device, all within a radius you can easily travel by a bicycle.”
Outreach, as Mustonen clarified, entails more than just face-to-face communication. “We’re capable of combining the tech and the opportunities the internet is offering with client requirements into fully-functioning solutions, services or products,” he said.
According to Mustonen, work on the 5G is currently under way and the first successful larger scale results in the Internet of Things are starting to be seen. Similarly, heavy investments in big data and printed electronics are going on.
The key, as Ala-Mursula pointed out, is to encourage all sorts of investments, whether regional or foreign-based. “All new activities and jobs are equally important, whether it is a company setting office here, or a company being founded here. Either way, good business is good business, and we know that the quality of the work is top notch here, regardless of the employer,” he said.
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