Tenth TechTurku Week Goes Virtual 5.-12.3.2021

The TechTurku Week is organised for the tenth time this year
The event will be now entirely virtual
This time the Week looks at new technologies with a wider perspective than previously

The TechTurku Week (known as Turku ICT Week until 2019) was organised for the first time as a three-day event in May 2012. The event has been, since its inception, a joint effort between various organisations that promote the use of new technologies. The aim of the week’s sessions is to encourage companies and employees to seize the new opportunities technology provides. The regional development company of the Turku region, Turku Science Park Ltd., has been in charge of coordinating the event since the beginning.

One of the TechTurku Week 2020 events took place in Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki.

New technology surrounds us everywhere

The tenth birthday will be spent working and connecting remotely. Due to the pandemic, the TechTurku Week gets to utilise the same new technologies many other events have spent the last year studying, as well as other entirely new platforms.

– Nowadays, new technologies are present in all facets of life. COVID-19 has showed each of us that much. TechTurku Week’s programme incorporates the diversity of technology by adopting an ever-expanding point of view, says Michael “Micce” Lindholm, event coordinator at Turku Science Park Ltd.

This year the event gets a head start on the preceding Friday, March 5^th. That is when the Futuristic Interactive Technology Competence Center (FIT Turku) hub takes the stage in an online event. Around half a million euros’ worth of augmented and virtual reality (XR) laboratory facilities have been installed at the Turku University of Applied Science. During they day, we get to know both national and international XR solutions.

Five days with varying themes

The actual event week consists of five themed days. On Monday, the contents are centered around security, on Tuesday it’s about industry and manufacturing, on Wednesday about smart cities and, on Thursday, it is time for the TEEMA seminar organised by the Turku Chamber of Commerce, and the ICT Showroom, which showcases around 50 projects by student groups. Ending the week on Friday, is a look at bio and circular economy, as well as sustainability through technology.

– Before noon, the focus is more on technology. At noon, we discuss apps related to the theme, and the afternoon concludes with an international point of view on the themes presented. Part of the programme is in Finnish, part in English, but all sessions are free of charge and open to anyone interested, Lindholm says.

Of the considerable number of speakers presenting during the week, Lindholm shines a particular light on Pekka Sihvonen from Business Finland, who speaks on Monday, March 8, about global views concerning technology, and Thomas Kallstenius on Wednesday, March 10. He is the CEO of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology and tells us how Luxembourg’s project of creating a perfect digital twin is progressing. The goal is to have all of the infrastructural data in the country (from transportation to energy) available digitally.

B2B and recruitment matchmaking on digital platforms

This year, the programme includes content that promotes encounters between companies as well as companies looking for talents and the talents themselves. Turku Science Park Ltd.’s Enterprise Europe service, which supports internationalisation, facilitates matchmaking meetings every day of the week on a B2Match platform. The platform also features the Recruitment Room produced by the Talent Turku team, in which international talents can get to companies in the Turku region and find out about their open positions.

Due to the pandemic, the tenth TechTurku Week takes place entirely digitally as all sessions are conducted online. Encounters between people and ideas has not been forgotten, however, as they have all been brought online instead.

– Using the B2Match platform, the participants can meet with others and move on to visit the event sites at the Turku Science Park area through a VR solution based on 360-degree images. The VR platform also acts as a gateway into the Thursday ICT Showroom session’s student presentations. CTRL Reality, a spin-off company that got its start at the University of Turku, is in charge of the VR platform, Michael Lindholm says.

The TechTurku Week is organised in conjunction by the Turku University of Applied Sciences, the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Machine Technology Center Turku Ltd., the Association of Entrepreneurs in Turku, the Turku Chamber of Commerce, TechCampus Turku, and Turku Science Park Ltd., which is in charge of coordinating the week.

All of the week’s events are open for everyone and free of charge. More information about the programme can be found at https://techturkuweek.businessturku.fi.