Riihimäki is building an innovation network connecting soldiers and civilians - internationally high-level activity

DEFINE (Defence Innovation Network Finland) is a project led by the city of Riihimäki, the purpose of which is to build an internationally high-level defense and security industry network. The goal is to bring together the best experts from the military and civilian side to create new innovations that serve both military needs and society as a whole at the same time.

The security and defense sector is experiencing strong growth amid world turmoil. Thanks to NATO membership, Finland has excellent opportunities to accelerate the growth of the industry and diversify our country's exports. The city of Riihimäki has been building a unique innovation network connecting soldiers and civilians since the beginning of 2023.

"The world's most advanced inventions have been born in the joint development and innovation activities of companies, military organizations and research institutes. Positioning, radar technology and, for example, the microwave oven in every home are examples of things whose innovation development has been driven by military technology," says Riihimäki Mayor Jouni Eho.

Eho believes that the defense industry has huge international growth potential.

"The Finnish strength lies in the ability to build a low hierarchy between the private and public sectors. We are now utilizing this strength when we are building a safety and defense innovation network in Finland. The goal is to speed up the work of various actors and the business of companies, and ultimately to also strengthen Finland's national defense capability and the overall safety of citizens."

The safety expertise of the Riihimäki region is further strengthened

DEFINE, or Defense Innovation Network Finland, started in the spring of 2023, when interested parties in the field were gathered together. Riihimäki hired Lieutenant General Ilkka Korkiamäki as the project's coordinator and assembled a steering group for the network, which guides its development.

In the spring of 2023, a round table discussion event was organized in Riihimäki that supported the start of the operation, and at the end of the year a seminar focused on innovations in the defense industry. One of DEFINE's goals is to build a business accelerator focused on military-civilian dual-use technologies in Riihimäki, which would also be part of NATO's Diana network in Finland.

Riihimäki is a natural place for the network, as the competence center for cybersecurity and digitalization of the Defense Forces and the management system already operates in the city, and there are numerous defense and security companies in the economic area. ​The area also trains new experts in the field, and Hämeen University of Applied Sciences plans to double the education offer in technical fields in the next few years.

"Riihimäki has a unique robotics education path: already in early childhood you can get to know robotics and study the field at all levels of education up to a doctor's degree," says Eho.

DEFINE will be visible to citizens at the National Defense Arena event next summer

Next June, the innovation network will organize the National Defense Arena in connection with the Riihimäki International Desert Fair. The goal is to develop the event into one of Finland's most significant annual events in the defense and security industry, which focuses on accelerating technological development and innovation in the field.

DEFINE (Defence Innovation Network Finland) is a project led by the city of Riihimäki, the purpose of which is to build an internationally high-level defense and security industry network. The goal is to bring together the best experts from the military and civilian side to create new innovations that serve both military needs and society as a whole at the same time. DEFINE is a project co-financed by the Häme Union, which receives support from the ERDF program.

More information on the topic

News 19.9.2023: National Defense Arena at the International Wilderness Fair.

Better than before blog text 12.4.2023 April XNUMX: Riihimäki is building a new kind of cooperation in the defense industry - NATO opens up new opportunities