The objective is to promote the development of new methods and processes and the innovative use of information and communication technologies. Tekes also wants to boost the international business potential of Finnish organisations and to help the Finnish education system and learning environments to reinvent themselves through the cooperation of businesses, educational institutions and the scientific community. The new programme is hoped to improve learning environments not just in schools but also in the working sector.  The programme encourages the development of new methods and concepts for lifelong learning in schools, workplaces and other learning environments.

The programme is hoped to accelerate change and promote the rapid growth and internationalisation of the learning and education business through the development of related products and services. The programme provides a new way of putting the learning and education know-how of Finnish scientists into practice.

“Finland has a reputation of being a pioneer in education know-how. We have high demand for developing new methods and sharing best practices on a national level. This gives us an excellent opportunity to use our success to also boost the learning and education business,” says Director Eero Silvennoinen from Tekes.

Important partners during the planning stage include the Finnish National Board of Education, the Finnish Ministry of Education and the Ubiquitous Information Society Advisory Board of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications and its group on Utilising the benefits of ICT in teching and studying. Close cooperation is hoped to help the key contributors to agree on common goals and to secure sufficient resources for driving the change across the country.

Planning is scheduled to continue until the autumn of 2010, after which Tekes can begin to make decisions about launching the programme.

Learning, know-how and business

The objective of the planning stage is to foresee, identify and select the future areas of expertise and applications that the programme is hoped to promote. Planning focuses on examining the national and international education market and business opportunities for Finnish enterprises.

Other aspects to investigate include the development of the education sector in other countries, their key players, and potential for cooperation. A further goal is to investigate how Tekes and the new programme can best serve the purposes of national and international cooperation.

One of the objectives is to bring educational organisations together to form sufficiently extensive joint ventures of the private sector and the public sector. This is a way of ensuring from the very beginning that the results of the development work are put into use and that the potential for new business can be unleashed.

Tekes programmes provide enterprises, universities and research organisations funding for research, development and innovation projects in this area and help to develop international business and networks.

For more information, please contact:

Riku Mäkelä, Development Manager, riku.makela(at)tekes.fi, +358 (0)50 531 9301

Eero Silvennoinen, Director, eero.silvennoinen(at)tekes.fi, +358 (0)50 557 7813