Riihimäki wants to produce added value for the security and economic growth of all of Finland – also in the next government term

Ehompi is a blog where Mayor Jouni Eho talks about his everyday life, work, and Riihimäki.

The city of Riihimäki made a strategic choice when it launched the Define ecosystem (Defence Innovation Network Finland) three years ago. The idea behind it was simple: the growth of cities is built on existing strengths. As a city, we are putting our cards in the bag so that the current operations of the Riihimäki garrison and the new NATO unit provide the best ingredients for Finland's growth in the form of new innovation activities, new companies and jobs. So I send my greetings to the writers of the government program next spring: in the upcoming government program, the Define operation must be secured a national financial position and a special task as an international innovation center and testing platform for dual-use technology.

The success story of Finnish innovations can be repeated in the security and defense sector

In the early 2000s, Finland created the world's most competitive research, development and innovation model, based on close cooperation between companies, universities and research institutes. The competitive advantage came from the ability of Nordic culture to remove barriers between companies and public actors. Now it is time to repeat Finland's innovation success story in the security and defence sector.

In the old world, the military sector was the engine of innovation development, whose inventions were transferred to the benefit of civilian society. The world's most advanced technologies and solutions are now created in the joint development and innovation activities of companies, military organizations and research institutes. This guiding principle guides the development of the Define ecosystem initiated by Riihimäki. A report commissioned by the Ministry of Defense from spring 2023 also came to the same conclusion. “Radical technologies and national security: Is Finland ready for the challenge?”.

Strong cooperation with NATO already in Riihimäki

Having a new NATO unit in our city is a wonderful continuation of the projects that started in Riihimäki at the beginning of 2026. For the core functions of the Defence Forces Artificial Intelligence Centre and the Innovation UnitIn December 2025, we will host Riihimäki for the first time NATO Innovation Range Technology Demonstration event, where 17 growth companies from the alliance region and Ukraine tested their own technologies on NATO command systems. Within the framework of Define, we are also involved in future Innovation Range events, the next of which will be in Latvia in May 2026.

In a week, the fourth Define business acceleration program will be launched at Riihimäki Veturitalle. In the program, we also work closely with With the NATO Diana accelerator managed by VTT. By the end of 2025, we have successfully accelerated a total of 36 startups. Of these companies, more than ten have received capital investment, three have made a successful exit, and several have signed commercial agreements with more established (prime) companies in the defense industry or the Finnish Defense Forces. These companies have generated more than a hundred new jobs.

Finnish Independence Day Fund In January, Sitra decided to fund the nationalization of the Define network with two years of co-financing.Our network includes all the most significant defense innovation players nationally, from Espoo to Joensuu, from Oulu to Tampere. Internationally, we have cooperation agreements with innovation ecosystems in the Nordic countries, the Baltics, and the state of North Carolina in the United States.

The Management Systems Unit concretizes Define's vision

The high-tech communications unit, employing sixty people, strengthens the position of the city of Riihimäki as a traditional garrison town for communications. Above all, it concretizes Define's vision. Already three years ago, in April 2023 I dared to say out loud that we are building a world-class defense network and also aiming for NATO structures related to command systems in our city.In addition to our vision, our determined and systematic work is based on a clear operational idea, or mission: to create dual-use technologies that serve military organizations and civilian society, improve the defense capabilities of Finland and NATO, strengthen Europe's strategic self-sufficiency, and accelerate the growth of our companies.

When in mid-February The Minister of Defense described the arrival of a NATO unit in Finland to YLE as good news., as mayor, I can state that yesterday's location decision feels like a victory for the entire Kanta-Häme region. I would like to congratulate the Finnish government on achieving the NATO goals and at the same time warmly thank the Minister of Defence and the entire Defence Administration for their trust in the city of Riihimäki and the entire Kanta-Häme region. Special thanks also go to our constituency MP and member of the Defence Committee, Timo Heinonen, for our cooperation in the process.

Getting a management system unit in Riihimäki is a historic, turning point in the development of a city with just under thirty thousand inhabitants.

Jouni Eho

Additional information

Define Finland website (definefinland.fi)

NATO Command and Control Unit in Riihimäki: brings 60 new jobs (riihimaki.fi)

Mayor's blog post 12.4.2023: Riihimäki is building a new kind of defense cooperation – NATO opens up new opportunities (riihimaki.fi)

Defense innovations bring growth and jobs to Finland – Define expands nationwide (sitra.fi)