University Of Helsinki Establishes New Innovation Advisory Board To Foster Leadership In Innovation Through Collaborative Sparring

To boost its innovation activities, the University of Helsinki has established the Inno Advisory Board, a new body composed of specialists in business life, entrepreneurship and commercialisation. It will propel the University in, for example, making strategic choices, developing services and establishing partnerships. The leadership of the University of Helsinki has set the bar high: The goal is to become one of the leading innovation universities in Europe.

“The new Inno Advisory Board supports us in this effort. Its members have a strong background in business life and entrepreneurship. They will bring to the University valuable insight into how to successfully develop the academic innovation environment,” says Jouni Hirvonen, Vice-Rector for innovation.

Senior Research Manager Kari Aaltonen of Nokia Bell Labs, Executive Vice-President (Sustainable products and materials) Tua Huomo of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Senior Vice-President (Group R&D) Katariina Kemppainen of Metsä Group, Head of Digital Innovation Juha-Matti Kuusinen of KONE and Reetta Rajala, an entrepreneur specialising in change management, have been appointed as members of the Inno Advisory Board.
(...)


Kari Aaltonen, Senior Research Manager, Nokia Bell Labs

Kari Aaltonen, MSc, works as Senior Research Manager at Nokia Bell Labs, where he oversees research on cognitive information networks. Aaltonen began his career at Nokia in 1987. Among other things, he has led a laboratory focused on mobile networks, developed telecommunications software and worked in a number of research leadership positions. Aaltonen wishes to support the University of Helsinki particularly in boosting its international competitiveness and research.

“The diversity of faculties is a particular strength for the University of Helsinki. Exploring the metaverse, one of the currently important fields of research, can at the University of Helsinki be linked with, for example, atmospheric and behavioural sciences. The University can put current technology to the test with altogether new innovations.”
(...)

Reetta Rajala, entrepreneur specialising in change management and investor

Reetta Rajala, MSc (Econ), is known as the founder of CCEA, a company focused on change consultation. Under her leadership, CCEA grew from a one-person business to an organisation that employs 50 people and supports a number of significant Finnish companies from Kesko to Nokia. Rajala is also a member of the boards of Juuri Partners and Ivalo Creative Agency, as well as serving on several advisory boards. She will make available to the University of Helsinki her extensive experience of entrepreneurship and business development.

“While sales and marketing have not traditionally been considered strengths typical of Finns, new generations have brought more courage to these areas as well. Finding the right customers is the cornerstone of every business’s success. Entrepreneurship is about perseverance, which requires a certain kind of attitude.”

Source