Aalto University: Fresh ideas come together in Open Innovation House

Open Innovation House functions as a base and meeting venue for open innovation and collaborative creation. The purpose of the building is to promote the natural coming together of people and ideas and to create new collaborative and operating models. The building has plenty of spaces for public use and hosts shared activities between different groups. The facilities encourage active, mobile work and the use of space in the house is very effective. The building, which meets stricter than usual environmental requirements, has a total surface area of over 11 000 m2 and is located at the street address Otaniementie 19.

The property is owned by Aalto University Properties Ltd and houses the operations of Nokia Research Center; Wärtsilä Innovation Node; the HIIT research centre, which is a joint project of Aalto University and the University of Helsinki; the Aalto Science Institute; the AppCampus mobile application development programme, which combines the work of Nokia, Microsoft and Aalto University; and a number of start-up companies. The house is also home to the European Innovation and Technology Institute's EIT ICT Labs, whose main collaborative partners include Aalto University, Nokia and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

- Open Innovation House is the embodiment of the Aalto University ethos: it is a platform for collaborative creation, interaction and the sharing of ideas. I'm certain that this kind of open operating culture will bring Finland competitiveness and world-class expertise, says Aalto University President Tuula Teeri.

- Nokia is a driver of innovation in the mobile industry. As part of this push, the company engages in joint projects with leading universities and institutions such as Aalto University. Open Innovation House offers Nokia Research Center an excellent place to network and turn ideas of the present into innovations of the future, says the Head of Nokia Research Center, Hannu Kauppinen. 

- Research and development is a cornerstone of Wärtsilä's success. Wärtsilä is a global company with operations in 70 different countries. Genuine interaction is sometimes difficult when people are sat apart in isolation. By bringing Wärtsilä professionals, students and researchers together in the same space, we are making our innovation operations more effective and encouraging creative thought. We can hardly wait to start work on the next practical project in the new Wärtsilä Innovation Node, smiles Ilari Kallio, Wärtsilä's Director of Research and Innovation Management.