MEREBE

1: Statement of competence needs

A company-specific survey on competence needs will be conducted in collaboration between the partner institutions – Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Educational Consortium OSAO, and BusinessOulu. This survey will assess and forecast future competence needs, thereby enhancing the alignment between education and industry requirements.

2: Creating an interactive learning environment

Develop training programs based on competence survey, addressing skills shortages in microelectronics and semiconductor industries. This environment will support continuous learning through:

• Joint meetings with experts to review training needs, existing materials and the progress of training from secondary education onwards.
• Short, modular courses that facilitate progression without interruption, available for independent completion at flexible times and locations.
• Free access for project participants. The work package also includes a survey of copyrights..

3: Employment/skills mismatch

Create opportunities for final-stage students and employees of the field to gain relevant experience through:

• Work-integrated learning environments.
• Thesis projects aligned with industry needs.   
• Comprehensive training paths that prepare international students for employment in local companies.

Facilitate collaboration between industries and educational institutions (University of Oulu, OSAO, Oulu University of Applied Sciences) through seminars and workshops, channeling talent and expertise to meet company needs and involve students to develop the industry through real-world projects defined by companies.

4: Microelectronics ecosystem

Establish high-level collaborative goals among the local network of operators, even among competitors, to foster the development of expertise in Oulu. In addition to describing the cooperation between a bigger group of operators, the model includes measures to develop and strengthen expertise in the Oulu region. BusinessOulu will coordinate skills development activities with the participating educational institutions, along with related data collection and surveys for ecosystem development.  Operations will also be aligned with national convening activities, such as the planned national priorities of the Technology Industry Semiconductor Working Group. 

5: Coordination and communications

Collaborative communications enhance the visibility and awareness of the field across various channels, disseminate information about the results, and provide details on available trainings through multiple platforms. Communications will be carried out in cooperation between all project partners, using BusinessOulu’s ictoulu.fi portal and other communication channels of the City of Oulu. 

BusinessOulu/City of Oulu: BusinessOulu acts as a general business interface with microelectronics operators, supporting the project’s educational partners connections with microelectronics and semiconductor companies in the region. BusinessOulu also develops the regional business ecosystem for the project, as well as synchronises and coordinates the project’s development activities. BusinessOulu develops a continuous interaction model as part of the industrial business ecosystem development to enable operations of the skills development ecosystem in the long term.

Project liaison:
Jaana Tähtinen, tel. 040 738 0360
jaana.tahtinen@businessoulu.com

University of Oulu: The University of Oulu is the main project implementer, responsible together with other educational organisations for the implementation of the interactive educational environment, for addressing matchmaking problems, and for marketing and communications. In addition, the University of Oulu will be an active player in the Oulu microelectronics ecosystem and will be involved in planning the initial survey.

Project liaison:
Aimo Vainio, tel. 050 524 6577
aimo.vainio@oulu.fi

Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk): ): Oamk contributes to the project network with the design expertise aspect of developing hardware-related software, among other things. Oamk’s role in the project includes identifying the needs of educational offering in the target group, as well as further developing and targeting education based on the results of the survey to meet the skills requirements of employees working or being employed in the sector. Oamk also participates in measures of the microelectronics ecosystem work package (TP4) as well as communications and coordination.

Project liaison:
Ronja Valasma, tel. 050 408 6382
ronja.valasma@oamk.fi

Education Consortium OSAO: OSAO’s role in the project is to carry out a skills needs assessment survey with companies in the sector, with the aim of establishing an understanding of the skills needs of working life and, based on the results at operator level, to find training and course packages to meet the identified needs. Together with the other partners, OSAO will be responsible for implementing an interactive training environment, addressing the problems of matchmaking, and marketing and communications. OSAO will also be an active player in the Oulu microelectronics ecosystem.

Project liaison:
Niina Nissinen, tel. 044 703 7914
niina.nissinen@osao.fi

Jussi Leponiemi

Key Account Director, ICT 
jussi.leponiemi@businessoulu.com

Niina Heikkinen

Coordinator, ICT 
niina.m.heikkinen@businessoulu.com

Jaana Tähtinen

Coordinator, MEREBE 
jaana.tahtinen@businessoulu.com