DIGITALISATION
ACCELERATING TRANSFORMATION OF
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT SECTOR Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and Singapore are considered to be two smartest cities in the world. ‘The Singapore Engineer’ obtains a glimpse of some of the work being done in Helsinki, Finland, and the possibilities for collaboration with Singapore, from Ms Irma Ylikangas, Senior Business Advisor, Helsinki Business Hub, and Mr Teemu Lehtinen, CEO, KIRAHub.
Facilitating strategic parnerships ‘The Singapore Engineer’: Could you provide an introductory description of Helsinki Business Hub? Irma Ylikangas: Established in 2006, Helsinki Business Hub (HBH) is the international trade and investment promotion agency for the capital region of Finland. As a non-profit organisation, its services are free-ofcharge. TSE: What is the role of HBH and what are some of its achievements? IY: HBH helps foreign companies to set up their business, grow and develop in Greater Helsinki which offers key business opportunities in (but not limited to) the following fields: • Information and communications technology. • Health: personalised health & med tech. • Smart & clean solutions, especially related to the built environment and sustainability, e.g. smart buildings, smart mobility, smart energy and the circular economy. • Hotel investments. HBH helps companies throughout their journey to Finland and the Greater Helsinki area - from the initial consideration to establishing and expanding their business. Its services include, for example, helping to find the best location for a business, matchmaking and finding co-operation opportunities with Finnish companies and research institutes, and finding deal flow from Finland or opportunities for expansion in Greater Helsinki. HBH can also help organisations looking for specific technological solutions or strategic partnerships including in R&D. In 2019, HBH helped foreign companies to create almost 370 jobs, invest about EUR 78 million and kick-start almost 17 business deals in the Greater Helsinki region. Out of these 17 deals, six were with Singaporean organisations operating in the built environment sector. Solutions around robotics, automation, intelligent data and IoT or data management to improve indoor air quality have been especially successful. 14
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER November 2020
Ms Irma Ylikangas, Senior Business Advisor, Helsinki Business Hub. Image: Petri Mast.
TSE: Could you provide more information on the cooperation between Finland and Singapore? IY: Helsinki has a long history of close co-operation with Singapore, and since 2017, there has been a special focus on the built environment and smart city topics. Sharing information about new and innovative digital tools to increase information flow and efficiency of the construction process, has been our goal. The digitalisation of the construction industry has been one area which the Finnish government has been supporting, to enable new innovations. HBH has organised several business delegations to Singapore to match innovative Finnish companies with Singaporean organisations. KIRAHub has been a partner in these delegations. HBH is cooperating with multiple leading organisations in Singapore, such as IPI Singapore, Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and Housing & Development Board (HDB). Recently, HBH also started to cooperate with the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab which is Southeast Asia’s first industry-led lab for smart cities solutions development. The Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab has been initiated by CapitaLand and is supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG). It is operated by AIRmaker. More information may be obtained from www.hbh.fi
