Quick actions are needed to limit global warming increasing to 1.5 degree Celsius. Finnish companies are helping the world accelerate towards a new era of sustainable mobility with smart, safe and efficient transport services and solutions.

The new eBook by ITS Finland, Intelligent Transportation Society of Finland, gathers information about the Finnish innovation and development culture, mobility companies and the mobility ecosystem around sustainable transportation as well as presents the possibilities that cities and multiple test beds have to offer for the foreign transportation actors interested in the Nordic markets.

In the eBook you learn

• how Finnish technology know-how enables development of innovative mobility services
• what makes the Finnish business culture so supportive of experimenting
• how the Finnish mobility ecosystems create a one-of-a-kind environment for new businesses
• what kind of test bed opportunities Finland has to offer
• how the Finnish cities support launching and developing new mobility services

Read the eBook here.

The New Space scene is forming rapidly in Finland covering small satellites, satellite subsystems and components, satellite data based services, software, security and connectivity as well as research and education. 

Business Finland has published a new eBook: New Space Economy in Finland. The New Space Economy landscape is a tool for international customers to take a quick overview on Finland’s expertise, and a handy way for Finnish players to get to know each other.

Read more about the eBook on Business Finland’s web page.

The Mixed Reality offering puts together the best Finnish Virtual and Augmented Reality know-how in various industries and research.

Mixed Reality changes every industry, e.g. automotive, education, training and maintenance. This offering is a tool for international customers to take a quick overview on Finland’s Mixed Reality expertize, and a handy way for Finnish players to get to know each other. The eBook covers:

• Simulation and surveillance
• Planning and Design
• Training
• Maintenance
• Gaming and Entertainment

In addition to companies, the offering presents Finnish Mixed Reality research and operators. The Mixed Reality solutions from Finland offering is prepared by Business Finland.

Download the eBook on Business Finland’s web page.

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, is increasing rapidly. The goal of the multidisciplinary FUAVE research consortium is to establish a new research, development, and innovation partnership network to support the development of Finnish knowledge base and business related to the unmanned aviation of the future and its applications.

‘Our vision is that controlled test areas form the basis of the sustainable development of unmanned aviation and its applications. These test areas should act as Living Lab environments in urban or rural areas, providing a one-stop-shop for unmanned aviation research, business and applications,’ says Research Professor Eija Honkavaara, director of the consortium, from the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) of the National Land Survey of Finland.

The Finnish UAV ecosystem, or the FUAVE consortium, is building a sustainable base for the development and use of test areas. These test areas can then be used as platforms for the development of safe and weatherproof UAVs and sensors. They also enable the development of scaled aviation solutions for urban and rural areas. As the number of drones and other UAVs is only going to increase, safe traffic solutions must be built for them.

‘The project’s ambitious goal is to develop operations by launching a test area network covering the whole of Finland. The network includes Linnanmaa in Oulu, Jätkäsaari in Helsinki, Helsinki-East Aerodrome in Pyhtää, OuluZone, Kemijärvi and the Sjökulla test field in Kirkkonummi,’ says Project Manager Kimmo Paajanen from Oulu University of Applied Sciences.

Paajanen is responsible for the development of test area operations in urban areas in the project.

Joint development between stakeholders

FUAVE is developing the ecosystem and operating models around the test areas. Concrete actions include networking and joint development between stakeholders, the development of operating principles for test areas in urban and sparsely populated areas, and demonstrations of top technology and commercial applications in the test areas.

‘More than 20 companies and organisations have given their commitment to the project, and the ecosystem already includes more than 100 partners through various networks. Together with our partners, our goal is to build and innovate new accomplishments for drone operations that have an impact on Finland as a whole,’ says Hannu Karvonen, Senior Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, who is responsible for stakeholder activities in the project.

Partners of the FUAVE consortium include, for example, 6G Flagship, FCAI and UNITE, scientific spearheads of the Academy of Finland.

The consortium strengthens the societal impact of research

FUAVE received funding of roughly EUR 1.7 million from the Academy of Finland. The project will be carried out between 2020 and 2022. Other members of the FGI-led research consortium are VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Oulu University, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, and South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences.

The project’s funding is part of the Academy of Finland’s special funding, which supports research-based partnership networks where universities and public research institutions build networks with businesses to strengthen the societal impact of high-quality research.

Read FUAVE’s publication here and find more information about test areas in Finland!

Data is the new fuel powering vehicles. As cars become more digitalized and connected, car manufacturers have to supercharge their vehicles with new technologies and fresh ideas. No wonder Finnish companies are already driving on this fast lane to the future.

Finland has introduced countless technologies and digital services to the world. In fact, Finns are renowned for creating user-driven solutions and sought-after technologies, in large part due to their holistic understanding of digitalization and the entire digital value chain.

Business Finland gathered the Finnish top tier mobility players into one eBook Smart Automotive and Mobility Solutions from Finland. Read the eBook here.

It’s the year 2030. Finland has the safest, smoothest and most environmentally friendly traffic in the world.

Fintraffic provides traffic information in Finland that helps companies to create new traffic and smart mobility solutions for people and goods. In the new video Fintraffic introduces their vision and how the Finnish transportation system will work seamlessly in the future.

Check out the new video:

In conjunction with the launch of Finland’s national battery strategy, Fortum announced in January 2021 the further expansion of its battery recycling operations. In February 2021, Fortum will open a new mechanical recycling processing plant located in Ikaalinen, Finland. The new plant, which is expected to employ up to 20 employees, will complement Fortum’s existing hydrometallurgical pilot facility in Harjavalta, Finland, which is already capable of operating on an industrial scale.

The world will increasingly need sustainable raw materials for EV batteries, as the electrification of cars is rapidly increasing the need for the valuable materials and chemical elements that batteries contain, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. In addition, a recent EU directive proposal will also require improved collection targets, higher recovery rates and the increased use of recycled raw materials in new batteries.

Fortum, a leading European energy company, is committed to engage its customers and societies to decarbonise and to help them in decreasing their environmental footprints. Moving forward, CO2-neutral societies will rely on battery technology. Fortum has been developing new and increasingly efficient ways to optimise the entire lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries for several years now and aims to further expand its battery operations in the coming years. Partnering with industrial and infrastructure customers is one of Fortum’s strategic priorities.

“Our new plant in Ikaalinen will enable us to leverage our existing recycling operations in Finland and will give us the annual capacity to recycle approximately 3,000 tonnes of used batteries, corresponding to about 10,000 EV batteries,” says Tero Holländer, Head of Business Line Batteries at Fortum. “We aim to steadily increase this capacity in the coming months and years in order to bridge the raw materials gap faced by the automotive industry with the electrification of transportation. Providing recycled and sustainable raw materials for batteries will bring significant value not only to our partners and customers but also to Finland’s battery industry, which is well poised to take the lead in the supply chain for EV batteries.”

The global lithium-ion battery recycling market was worth about EUR 1.3 billion in 2019, but it is expected to boom in the coming years to more than EUR 20 billion. According to a forecast by the International Energy Agency, the number of electric vehicles on the world’s roads will increase from three million to 125 million by 2030.

Many current operators that recycle battery metals often do so by smelting, which results in lower material recovery rates and higher emissions. In order to recycle used lithium-ion batteries efficiently, safely and with the lowest possible CO2 footprint, Fortum has taken an approach that includes using both mechanical and hydrometallurgical methods for the recycling process; this approach can reach a recovery rate of up to 95% of the metals included in the valuable active materials of a battery’s black mass.

Fortum’s unique mechanical recycling process has been optimised to complement the hydrometallurgical process and has been designed to minimise emissions and dust. During the process, used EV batteries are shredded and the metals are separated to create a black mass. This black mass is then delivered to Fortum’s processing facility in Harjavalta where a hydrometallurgical process is applied to create new recycled raw materials that can be used in new battery products.

Read Fortum’s press release here.

Telia partnered with Arthur D. Little to look into the digitalization of public transport in the Nordics and Baltics – the results of the study are published in a comprehensive report now available online.

How IoT and Data Insights Are Changing the Way We Move

Public transport is a in a period of intense challenges and remarkable possibilities. In this report, Telia and Arthur D. Little look at the goals, trends and pain points identified by public transport authorities and operators across the Nordics and Baltics – and how they can be addressed by the emerging possibilities of digitalization.

The new report covers following areas:

• Nordic & Baltic overview
• Impact of Covid-19
• Local trends
• Understanding crowds
• Pain Point 1: Attracting passengers
• Pain Point 2: Passenger satisfaction
• Pain Point 3: Modernization pressure
• Pain Point 4: Competetive advantage
• Digitalization in action
• What will 5G drive
• Cases from the real world
• The road ahead

Analysts from Arthur D. Little interviewed public transport decision makers from across the Nordics and Baltics to understand their pains. Combining these findings with other local and global reports, we looked at how the emerging possibilities of digitalization can help to address them.

Read the full report here.