Network of mobile work machines: “We build long-term cooperation instead of competition”

Large mobile work machines are high-tech products that account for a large proportion of Finland’s export revenues. Companies in the sector have also become aware that an industry that does not have its own industry classification needs advocacy and the use of all national expertise for the development of the industry.

In May, the SIX Mobile Work Machines business cluster organised a major event, Future Mobile Work Machine 2024, related to the electrification and sustainability development of the industry. The international seminar held at Tampere Hall attracted 350 participants from 11 different countries. The sold-out event was held for the third time and was larger than before. The second event organiser was FIMA – Forum for Intelligent Machines Ry.

Wallander runs the InnoCities’ project for the dual transition of mobile work machines) (SIX-PoE). These are an important resource for coordinating cooperation and building networks between industry and research, for example.

“We organised our own discussion event for the international network of researchers in mobile work machines before the Tampere Hall event. There are many pioneering companies in Finland, and researchers are attracted by the sharing of expertise and joint EU projects,” Wallander says.

The SIX business cluster has drawn up a roadmap for the development of the industry. Four new universities with their own areas of expertise have now been included in the planning. All five universities working with the cluster have appointed their own Academic Fellows.

The Academic Fellows group is responsible for gathering competence in its own university into a roadmap. The group consists of leading professors from LUT University, Aalto University, the University of Tampere and the Universities of Oulu and Turku.

“This is an exceptional way of doing things when you do long-term work instead of individual projects. In this way, impact can be boosted in a completely different way,” Wallander says praisingly.

Read the whole article: Network of mobile work machines: “We build long-term cooperation instead of competition”  - Innokaupungit