Demola has been awarded as the best cross-border and cross-sector innovator within sustainable growth and global development. Demola receives the Baltic Sea Region Innovation Award 2012. In total ten organisations, projects or networks from eight countries were nominated to the award The BSR Innovation Award is presented by BSR Stars and Baltic Development Forum, BDF.
Walter Deffaa, Director-General in DG Regional Policy, European Commission congratulates Demola and Ville Kairamo, the Head of Demola Network.
The aim of the award is to promote global competitiveness and innovative development in the Baltic Sea Region, through groundbreaking methods and smart solutions to common challenges.
The jury’s criteria for selecting Demola is that they as “a common open platform for where students and universities develop new products and services and thogether with companies create real solutions to existing problems and challenges. Demola has under the leadership of Ville Kairamo made outstanding, innovative achievements in facilitating Baltic Sea region cooperation in general and in contributing to the development of a creative open platform concept in Finland and the wider Baltic Sea region. Demola has in a proactive way taken advantage of international opportunities – early looked outwards and established cooperation with partners not at least in the Baltic Sea Region.”
- I am very surprised and happy for the award. It is great recognition and shows that we are on the right track. But this is just the start. We will speed up and cooperate closer with the countries around the Baltic Sea and we will also intensify the cooperation with the EU, says Ville Kairamo Head of Demola Network.
During the first three years over 200 services and prototypes have been developed by Demola in New Factory.
- Demola is a precursor through it’s open platform giving companies and students possibilities to meet over national borders and in that sense Demola is a truly cross-border innovator, says Pirjo Kutinlahti, Ministerial advisor and Finnish representative in the BSR Stars High Level Group.
The award goes to an organization, project or network that has made an outstanding contribution to an innovative development of the Baltic Sea Region and its countries, drawn on macro-regional cooperation in between business, research and policy-makers in the Baltic Sea Region and has supported the objectives to promote green, smart and/or inclusive growth, set out in the Europe 2020 growth strategy.
The Award of 5 000 Euros was presented for the second time at a ceremony in Copenhagen on 18 June.
Photo: Hasse Ferrold
Source: Vinnova