Developing markets: Co-creation platform for Finnish-Indian R&D (COFIRD)
Finland has a longstanding history of technological innovation, and many Finnish companies are at the forefront of offering innovative solutions. However, many of these innovations are not as successful as anticipated when implemented in new markets in developing regions. The factors attributed to this shortcoming are the lack of understanding of the new market and inadequate training of the local collaboration partners.
The project Developing Markets: Co-creation Platform for Finnish Indian R&D (COFIRD) addresses these shortcomings and aims to establish an international research and business consortium that utilizes the local co-creation test-bed environment, networks, and Finnish expertise, especially in technology, health, and education. The testbed includes all the key elements to carry out different activities in India, such as the concept of Testing-as-a-Service.
COFRID is a collaboration between Tampere University, Tampere University Hospital, and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), India. The project consortium initiates a broad array of new international business activities and smart solutions utilizing, as an example, AI/XR in the following areas of industry applications, component manufacturing, virtual- and telerehabilitation, personalized medicine, education, and remote operation training and simulation. According to Professor Markku Turunen, head of the Tampere Accessible Unit (TACCU) and the PI of the project, “such an approach will open opportunities for Finnish companies and lead to the smooth transition of technological innovations and create an infrastructure suitable for the local context in the developing market”.
The expected outcomes of COFIRD are to strengthen the expertise of the research organizations involved in the consortium, accelerate the utilization of industrial research data and know-how in the companies' R&D activities, and develop novel export products and services. In addition, the joint project will reinforce both domestic and international networks and create new openings for networking and business growth for Finnish companies.
As part of the activities of the consortium, Professor Turunen participated in a workshop titled India EU Workshop on Inclusive Design and Standardization in Bangalore on November 28-29, 2022. The Indo-EU workshop shed light on the recent development in assistive technology, standardization, and rehabilitation. The panelists discussed the sustainability of proposed solutions and prospective Indo-EU collaboration for development and standardization of new assistive technology. During the event, Professor Turunen presented his research on Accessible Information Visualization and expressed the importance of collaboration between the Global North and the Global South and explained that “the majority of the people who need accessible solutions live in the Global South, and the solutions designed for the Global North are hardly applicable”.
More information about the workshop is available here.
Developing Markets: Co-creation Platform for Finnish-Indian R&D (COFIRD) is seed-funded as part of the India Pilot initiative from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Aalto is coordinating the India Pilot Network FICORE (Finnish Indian Consortia for Research and Education) which involves 38 higher education institutions from Finland and India.