Part­ne­ring with Oulu region

Why part­ne­ring with Oulu region is the most impor­tant choice

Ambi­tious R&I invest­ments to boost the eco­no­my

Invest­ments in research and inno­va­tion advance know­led­ge, build capaci­ties and deve­lop and demon­stra­te inno­va­ti­ve solu­tions. Oulu is ran­ked first in terms of tech­no­lo­gy research and deve­lop­ment invest­ments in Fin­land. Oulu region success sto­ries rely on the region’s strong basis in educa­tion, research and tech­no­lo­gy. In addi­tion to the uni­ver­si­ty and two uni­ver­si­ties of applied sciences, the region hosts seve­ral voca­tio­nal ins­ti­tu­tes and regio­nal units of the natio­nal research cent­res. In 2017, ana­lysts from ban­king group Macqua­rie named Oulu as one of 13 “brain belts” in the world – areas that att­ract the smar­test people to work in cut­ting-edge industries.

Oulu has a long tra­di­tion in co-ope­ra­tion between educa­tion and research ins­ti­tu­tes, com­pa­nies and public sec­tor and Oulu’s high-tech ima­ge was built on this co-ope­ra­tion in 1980´s. This col­la­bo­ra­tion was was for­ma­li­sed in 2009 by for­ming Oulu Inno­va­tion Alliance which aims to keep Oulu as an inter­na­tio­nal­ly ack­now­led­ged cen­ter for inno­va­tion. Incu­ba­tion, prio­ri­sa­tion, and faci­li­ta­tion col­la­bo­ra­tion has led to strong research and busi­ness eco­sys­tem of more than 100 uni­ver­si­ty sites and well over 50 com­pa­nies.

The stra­te­gy for smart specia­li­sa­tion in Oulu region aims to pro­mo­te, at the regio­nal level, mea­su­res lea­ding to and uti­li­sing inno­va­tions that meet the chal­len­ges posed by cli­ma­te chan­ge, digi­ta­li­sa­tion and glo­ba­liza­tion. The stra­te­gy aims to acti­ve­ly dis­se­mi­na­te inno­va­tions and inno­va­tion acti­vi­ties throug­hout the pro­vince and to inc­rea­se the regio­nal eco­no­my and well-being. The stra­te­gy directs coo­pe­ra­tion across industries and bor­ders. Oulu Region is an inter­na­tio­nal, att­rac­ti­ve and networ­ked region, who­se com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness is based on high know-how, renewable industry, well-being and cli­ma­te wis­dom.

Fore­run­ner of Digi­tal Trans­for­ma­tion

Oulu region is known for its strong exper­ti­se in the ICT sec­tor and the com­pa­ny base in the sec­tor. The stron­gest industrial sec­tors are the metal and metal pro­ducts industry and the furt­her proces­sing of wood, inclu­ding both bio­re­fi­ning and mec­ha­nical proces­sing. New emer­ging industries inclu­de applica­tions and equip­ment rela­ted to health and well-being, as well as various applica­tions of prin­ted elect­ro­nics, for example. New inno­va­tions and industrial solu­tions are emer­ging at the inter­faces of industries, whe­re digi­ta­li­sa­tion is often crucial. The acti­vi­ties of the Digi­tal Inno­va­tion Hub sup­port the digi­ta­li­sa­tion of busi­ness life and the accu­mu­la­tion of digi­tal skills.

Oulu sets the sta­ge for com­pa­nies wan­ting to take a lea­ding role in tech­no­lo­gical deve­lop­ment: since the 1980s, a huge num­ber of wire­less tech­no­lo­gies have been foun­ded in Oulu. Whi­le the rest of the world is adap­ting to 5G, Oulu is alrea­dy wor­king on 6G.

Cont­ri­bu­ting to the Green Deal

Oulu region is aiming to reduce its emis­sions by 80% by 2050 thus cont­ri­bu­ting in line with the natio­nal and EU tar­gets. Research and inno­va­tion is a key dri­ver and enabler for com­ba­ting cli­ma­te chan­ge, imple­men­ting green industrial policy and achie­ving sus­tai­nable deve­lop­ment. Vision of a “car­bon neut­ral Nort­hern Ostro­both­nia” can only be achie­ved through coo­pe­ra­tion. The public sec­tor (munici­pa­li­ties, cities, public aut­ho­ri­ties), com­pa­nies, RDI orga­ni­sa­tions, non-pro­fit orga­ni­sa­tions and resi­dents are all part of the cli­ma­te action: pro­mo­ting, sup­por­ting and imple­men­ting.

Democ­racy, inclusion and invol­ve­ment through Cul­tu­ral cli­ma­te chan­ge

Oulu is Euro­pean Capi­tal of Cul­tu­re for 2026 — join us! The concept of the pro­gram­me “Cul­tu­ral Cli­ma­te Chan­ge” is about recon­nec­ting with the world around us and crea­ting a new sen­se of toget­her­ness. Oulu2026 wants to be a Euro­pean labo­ra­to­ry, to find solu­tions to the chan­ging cul­tu­ral cli­ma­te in which we find our­sel­ves. Our Cul­tu­ral Cli­ma­te Chan­ge is built around three the­mes of Wild City, Cool Cont­rasts and Bra­ve Hin­ter­land.

Oulu is the core city for the deve­lop­ment and deli­ve­ry of the Euro­pean Capi­tal of Cul­tu­re year, but also the wider “Oulu region” is inclu­ded. Thir­ty-two munici­pa­li­ties have made official deci­sions to be part of the Oulu2026 area. A sha­red his­to­ry and traf­fic network con­nect the cities in the region. This crea­tes a fasci­na­ting pro­ject area loca­ted between the bor­ders of Rus­sia and Swe­den.

Oulu is the fas­test-growing city in Arc­tic Euro­pe

Oulu com­bi­nes cool tem­pe­ra­tu­res with a red-hot busi­ness cli­ma­te. Being the big­gest com­mercial, logis­tic and cul­tu­ral hub in the region, Oulu is often refer­red to as the capi­tal of Nort­hern Scan­di­na­via. It’s an efficient gateway to the rest of the region and is set to under­go subs­tan­tial deve­lop­ment over the next 10 years.

Today, Oulu is ran­ked first in terms of tech­no­lo­gy research and deve­lop­ment invest­ments in Fin­land and is set to recei­ve a furt­her boost of €300–400m ($350–468m) to fund the 2025 Oulu Sta­tion Cent­re deve­lop­ment. Fin­land and Oulu’s com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness is main­ly based on tech­no­lo­gical exper­ti­se, which is uti­li­sed to sup­port new busi­nes­ses and pro­mo­te cor­po­ra­te growth, but the city welco­mes a broad spect­rum of industries.

#1 in Fin­land R&D expe­din­tu­re per capi­ta in 2018

Oulu 2839
Vaa­sa 2097
Hel­sin­ki 1993
Tam­pe­re 1700
Tur­ku 1350
Por­voo 1300
Jyväs­ky­lä 1150
Lap­peen­ran­ta 1100
Kuo­pio 1000
Joen­suu 800
Rova­nie­mi 550
Kajaa­ni 550
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500
1000
1500
2000
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Oulu has twice been selec­ted as the world’s smar­test city by the Intel­li­gent Com­mu­ni­ty Forum and was named the Euro­pean city with the best qua­li­ty of life in 2015.

In 2017, ana­lysts from ban­king group Macqua­rie named Oulu as one of 13 ‘brain belts’ in the world – areas that att­ract the smar­test people to work in cut­ting-edge industries. The city has two uni­ver­si­ties, the Oulu Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sciences and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, which pro­vi­de firms with a cons­tant stream of talen­ted gra­dua­tes.

One of 13

Lis­ted as being one of 13 “Brain Belts” around the world, Oulu has beco­me a hub that att­racts the world’s smar­test people

3 bil­lion

Eve­ry day, 3 bil­lion people use inno­va­tions that have been deve­lo­ped in Oulu, and 60% of glo­bal mobi­le pho­ne traf­fic uti­li­ses network tech­no­lo­gies deve­lo­ped in Oulu

The area’s long associa­tion with hi-tech busi­nes­ses means it is able to att­ract its fair sha­re of expe­rienced pro­fes­sio­nals. Oulu sets the sta­ge for com­pa­nies wan­ting to take a lea­ding role in tech­no­lo­gical deve­lop­ment: since the 1980s, a huge num­ber of wire­less tech­no­lo­gies have been foun­ded in Oulu. Whi­le the rest of the world is adap­ting to 5G, Oulu is alrea­dy loo­king forward to 6G.

In Fin­land, during the 1990s, elect­ro­nics com­pa­nies over­took tra­di­tio­nal industrial firms, with Fin­nish mobi­le pho­ne com­pa­ny Nokia taking the lead. The city has gone from strength to strength since then.

Networks for new tech­no­lo­gies are being con­ti­nuo­us­ly deve­lo­ped, whi­le Oulu Inno­va­tion Alliance brings toget­her the finest minds in prin­ted intel­li­gence, well­being tech­no­lo­gy, clean­tech and 3D inter­net from research ins­ti­tu­tions, busi­nes­ses and public sec­tor orga­ni­sa­tions.

Oulu’s success sto­ries rely on the city’s strong basis in enterpri­se and educa­tion. In addi­tion to its two uni­ver­si­ties, which have 25,000 stu­dents col­lec­ti­ve­ly, the Oulu Voca­tio­nal Col­le­ge – the big­gest voca­tio­nal col­le­ge in Fin­land – pro­vi­des thousands more educa­ted can­di­da­tes for the city’s busi­nes­ses.

Oulu also ser­ves as a trans­port hub for Arc­tic Euro­pe. Easi­ly acces­sible by road, rail, pla­ne and boat, tra­vel­lers will find that arri­ving in Oulu is huge­ly con­ve­nient, whet­her they are making the trip for busi­ness or plea­su­re.

3‑hour dri­ve to
the Arc­tic Circle

Sur­roun­ded by
pure natu­re

3‑hour flight to
Cent­ral Euro­pe

The fas­test rou­te
from Euro­pe to Asia

Oulu Met­ro­po­li­tan Area:
250 000 people, 120 natio­na­li­ties

37.6 is the ave­ra­ge age of the people in Oulu — that is one of the youn­gest in Euro­pe

Oulu, Fin­land

#1 in R&D invest­ments in Fin­land,
among the top in the EU

1 in 3 people with a
uni­ver­si­ty degree

50-minu­te flight from/to Hel­sin­ki

#2 in Fin­nish air­port traf­fic

300–400 mil­lion EUR city cent­re
deve­lop­ment pro­jects

710 M€ will be inves­ted in the infra­struc­tu­re
deve­lop­ment by the City of Oulu in the coming years