65°01‘N, 25°28’E
Location
• Hub of Northern Finland and the
gateway to the Arctic areas
• Capital of Northern Scandinavia
• Located midway between Asia and
North America
• Excellent global and local connections
The city
The city
Urban centre
• Oulu is the biggest urban centre in Northern Scandinavia
• 250,000 citizens in the Oulu region
• Moderate cost of living – 50% lower than Helsinki’s real
estate prices*
• Active and rapidly developing city centre with new
underground parking premises in 2015
*www.etuovi.com
Surrounded by nature
The city
The miracle
of Oulu ICT
• The ICT success story begun in the 1970s
• Nowadays OuluCard, UBI screens and OmaOulu
services facilitate the lives of local citizens
• The widespread panOULU network provides a free Wi-Fi
connection
The city
Easy access to Oulu
• Second busiest airport in Finland with one million
passengers per year*
• Helsinki and Stockholm within an hour by plane
• Main international roads and railways run via Oulu
• Excellent public transport network
• Congestion-free urban area
*Finavia, statistics, 2012
Cycling all year round
The city
Cycling all year round
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Nominated the world’s best winter cycling city in 2013*
The most active cycling city in Finland
600 km of cycle paths kept in top condition to enable winter cycling
20% of commuting done on bikes
*Navico Ltd
Oulu People
Young at heart
Oulu people
Young at heart
• Median age 34 years
• Versatile service structure for all demographics
• Warm-hearted and open-minded urban community
Oulu people
Charged with
brainpower
• Highly educated citizens – 33% with a university degree
• A city of 40,000 students*
• Intensive collaboration between companies, the public
sector and
further education institutes
• Efficient and scalable value chain in all business areas and
environments
*both secondary and higher level combined
Oulu people
Creativity makes Oulu
interesting
• Oulu is the home of air guitar and a versatile cultural life
- workshops, art, music and sports clubs
• International childrens’ theatre and film festival
• Creativity beyond art – multidisciplinary innovations
Full of Talent
Full of Talent
Experts with vision
• Oulu has the willpower and confidence for future growth
• Collaboration and networking is in Oulu’s DNA, from politicians
to professionals
• The sharing of new knowledge and experience between different
industries creates novel value-adding solutions
- e.g. connected health, cleantech and printed intelligence
Full of Talent
World class experience
• Oulu has many international success stories
- 2 billion people use mobile network technologies
developed in Oulu*
- Most intelligent city in Europe in 2012, ICF Top7 2013**
- Impressive ICT track record since the 1980s
• Leading-edge research in key industries
*60% of the global network technologies originate from Oulu
** Intelligent Community Forum, NY
Full of Talent
ICT track record
University of Oulu
Full of Talent
University of Oulu
• Exceptionally wide scientific base
• Internationally networked scientific university with six faculties
- Collaboration agreements with 60 foreign universities
- Erasmus Network: some 520 contracts and
around 350 partner universities
• Results throught multidisciplinary research in 70 fields of science
Full of Talent
Oulu University of
Applied Sciences
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More than 30 study programs
Theory and practice in balance
Active research both internationally and regionally
Close cooperation with regional business life
Full of Talent
Oulu Vocational
College OSAO
• One of the biggest vocational schools in Finland
• 11 units, seven industries
• Basic education for future experts and professionals
Business and
research networks
Business and research networks
Pioneer of public –
private partnership
• Oulu has shown the way in developing cooperation between
education and research institutes, companies and the public sector
• Oulu’s ICT success was built on this cooperation in the 1980s
• The first asymmetric public-private venture capital fund,
Northern Startup Fund, was founded in 2012*
*managed by Butterfly Ventures
Business and research networks
Oulu Innovation
Alliance (OIA)
• Strategic alliance between the City of Oulu, the University of Oulu,
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, VTT Technical Research
Centre of Finland and Technopolis
• A globally unique cooperation structure
• Partners committed to focusing on innovation areas, investing in
infrastructures and developing mechanisms for joint use
Research Centers
Business and research networks
National Excellence
Program
• BusinessOulu implements a national excellence programme in the
Oulu Region
• Supports innovation hubs that are internationally desirable partners
• Helps companies gain competitive edge
• Results: new companies, new business, growth companies, new
business models and new services
International recognition
International recognition
The smartest in Europe
in 2012
• Oulu – ranked in the top 7 in the Intelligent Community Awards in
2012 and 2013
• Oulu was the only European city in the ICF top 7
• Facts that make Oulu smart:
- public-private partnership
- panOulu free Wi-Fi
- extensive public services structure for all demographics
- citizen participation and creative culture life
International recognition
Global hotbed for
intelligence
• 7 Best New Cities For Startups, Fortune Magazine, 19.9.2012
• 15 Surprising Global Technology Cities, CNBC Tech Edge,
10.10.2012
• Local ICT companies rated on the "Fast 50" lists by Business Week,
Red Herring and Deloitte
Oulu in 2025
Oulu in 2025
International actor
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Creating New Tech – the new wave of ICT
Reconstructing sustainable and eco-efficient living
Leading the way in better health services
Major business fields over the next decade: mining, connected
health, energy and smart living
Oulu in 2025
Foresight for new
business areas
• New Tech from Oulu – the different applications of ICT
• Connected Health – the future hospital on the OuluHealth Campus
• Oulu Mining School – catering for the needs of a growth industry
Oulu in 2025
Spirit of the
New North
• Investments worth over €300 million are realised in
completed projects in the city centre
• By 2025 the estimated investments in Northern Finland are
€26 billion
• By the 2020s, €227 billion will be invested in the Nordic and
Barents Region as a whole*
*Lapland´s Chamber of Commerce
Capital of Northern
Scandinavia
Capital of Northern Scandinavia
The Oulu brand
• Largest population center in Northern Scandinavia
• An appealing and internationally recognized city
• The most important commercial, logistics and cultural centre in
Northern Scandinavia
Capital of Northern Scandinavia
100 Acts. From Oulu
• A good reputation stems from solid acts
• An act can be big or small, but it has to be concrete and from Oulu
• The 100 acts together develop the Oulu region into a better place to
live, work and study
• Learn more: 100tekoa.oulu.com/en
Thank you and
Welcome to Oulu