Ecosystems and scenes
Cooperation across borders
In North Savo, a wide range of higher education and research expertise is combined with an active business sector, creating interesting and developing ecosystems around priority industries.
The region emphasises a strong spirit of doing things together, which transcends industry and municipal boundaries and enables smart and sustainable business and the birth of new innovations.
Are you familiar with the priority industries and scenes in the region?
The scene that forms around an industry and its experts is made up not only of companies and jobs, but also of professional communities, various career paths and events related to the sector, among other things. The scene is all the buzz surrounding the sector and the communities. It is not just about work, but also includes the balance between work, leisure and life and the related communities.
North Savo has active business and innovation ecosystems that meet international standards and are constantly evolving. Activities are built together with businesses and regional actors, and measures are implemented across municipal, organisational and business boundaries.
Talent First brings people together by industry and is involved in developing measures and cooperation between companies, educational institutions, municipalities and other actors in order to attract talent to the region. Scene network cooperation itself aims to facilitate a smooth flow of information between different operators.
The network cooperation of Talent First focuses especially on four industries: 1. Wellbeing technology and health, 2. Tourism, 3. ICT, and 4. Technology industry.
You can learn more about the priority industries in North Savo on the Business Kuopio website and see the regional plan and regional strategic programme on the website of the North Savo Regional Council.
Explore the industries
-
In terms of the wellbeing and pharmaceutical industry and the health sector, Kuopio is home to significant research and development and business activities to address global health and wellbeing challenges.
At the heart of the health sector is the open innovation ecosystem Kuopio Health. There are over 5,000 jobs in the health sector in Kuopio and more than 1,000 health-related companies operating in the Kuopio region. The university campus is located near the city centre of Kuopio, on the shores of Lake Kallavesi in Savilahti. The campus is home to three levels of education (UEF, Savonia, Sakky), with approximately 18,000 degree and postgraduate students.
Due to its world-class research and expertise, Kuopio is one of the most globally significant hubs of excellence in the health sector in Finland. Cutting-edge international research is conducted in Kuopio in cardiovascular diseases, metabolic and neurological disorders and musculoskeletal diseases.
The University of Eastern Finland is the largest provider of medical and pharmaceutical education in Finland and coordinates Neurocenter Finland in Kuopio, which is a collaborative network for neuroscience research and development in Finland. VTT has also launched new research activities in the field of digital health as part of the growing wellbeing and health technology ecosystem. One of the aims is to facilitate global health technology business in Finland and the Kuopio region. Kuopio is home to a large group of leading companies in the wellbeing and health sector, including GE Healthcare, Charles River and FinVector.
-
An impressive amount of cutting-edge research and education focusing on technology and automation is concentrated in the North Savo region.
Digitalisation is a megatrend that cuts across industries, and the Kuopio region is riding this trend with a strong ICT ecosystem and the development of digital services. Businesses in this industry provide solutions for data analytics and knowledge-based management, in addition to cloud-based service solutions and programming expertise.
Due to the digitalisation of the industrial sector, the region provides a strong local customer base for ICT businesses.
-
The tourism and services sector in North Savo is quite broad – after all, our region has plenty to offer tourists. There are a number of larger service providers in the region, but also numerous small businesses and development projects for developing the sector.
Pohjois-Savon Matkailu Oy coordinates cooperation between tourism operators in the region, creates international markets and develops the industry, and represents the region’s tourism operators in relevant regional, national and international networks, such as Visit Finland and Lakeland. The company also produces market intelligence, in addition to monitoring the development of tourism and cooperating with tour operators.
Kuopio-Tahko Marketing Ltd also develops co-marketing in the region and has a large number of local companies as partners and members. In addition, Upper Savo has its own tourism network.
Local tourism and events operators exchange information and meet regularly, for example for morning coffee.
-
An impressive amount of cutting-edge research and education focusing on technology and automation is concentrated in the North Savo region. The region is home to numerous development projects that bring together public and private sector operators working on smart manufacturing and automation.
The commercialisation and development of technologies is carried out in close cooperation between companies and educational institutions in the region. The multi-campus model of the Savonia University of Applied Sciences and the University of Eastern Finland enables cross-institutional collaboration where RDI activities are developed to address the needs of the manufacturing industry in the region. This makes North Savo a prime location for companies specialising in technology, manufacturing and cleantech.
Upper Savo forms a particularly strong hub of technology, and the regional competence centre KesTech offers industrial companies a service for developing their expertise, enabling business growth and development in the region.
North Savo is home to several international industrial companies, such as Ponsse, Normet, Profile Vehicles, Genelec and Junttan. Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Savo Vocational College, the University of Eastern Finland and other regional partners support the industry ecosystem by educating skilled labour and providing a wide range of support services for businesses.
Scene article series
Read more about what the scenes contain. In the articles, experts and professionals working in each field of expertise share their thoughts.
Join a community of experts
In addition to the priority industries, you can find your place in a wide range of work-related communities where you can get help, support and inspiration for your career.
Kuopio Junior Chamber International
Ylä-Savo Junior Chamber International
Talent Hub Eastern Finland project