A Four-Year Journey of Innovation with 200 Partners
In 2020, KONE launched the “Flow of Urban Life” Veturi ecosystem program, addressing urbanization and sustainability challenges. Supported by EUR 20 million from Business Finland, the program brought together 200 companies, resulting in over a hundred patent applications.
“The Veturi program helped us find high-tech partners to co-create solutions for the physical and digital world. Business Finland and other leading companies, such as Nokia, Wärtsilä and Meyer Turku, have been important players. We have also collaborated with top universities and researchers who are experts in studying smart and sustainable cities,” says Tomio Pihkala, Chief Technology Officer at KONE.
Key Achievements and Innovations
- Increased R&D Investments: KONE’s Veturi program has generated new knowledge and innovations in several key technology areas, promoting the development of Finnish expertise and companies in the field of smart and sustainable cities. KONE’s R&D investments in Finland grew by 7% annually, especially in AI, digital twins, and data analytics.
- KONE SiteFlow: This construction management application was tested in industry projects, winning the Council of Tall Buildings Innovation Award in 2024.
- Digital Twin Concept: Enhances urban commuting by simulating people flow in transport hubs.
Ongoing Innovation
“Research collaboration provided us with a vision of the future, an idea of where the world is going – a vision to create smart construction and sustainable urban environments for the future, for example. Now we have a better understanding of customer needs and emerging technologies. We received a lot of support from external partners that helped us develop the technologies used in our future products,” says Janne Öfversten, digital innovation lead at KONE.