Finland pledges to launch autonomous technology research cluster in 2020

Finland plans to launch next year a research cluster which the government hopes will put the country at the forefront of developments in autonomous technology. The RAAS (Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems) ‘innovation ecosystem’ is designed to bring together research organisations and other stakeholders to develop “new, cross-sector solutions”, with an emphasis on those containing a high level of automation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has put up grant money, with research or
February 4, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Finland plans to launch next year a research cluster which the government hopes will put the country at the forefront of developments in autonomous technology.


The RAAS (Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems) ‘innovation ecosystem’ is designed to bring together research organisations and other stakeholders to develop “new, cross-sector solutions”, with an emphasis on those containing a high level of automation.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has put up grant money, with research organisations also funding “a portion of the operation’s costs”.

The RAAS launch partners are 814 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland along with half a dozen academic institutions, including the University of Helsinki and Turku University of Applied Sciences. Five other universities are expected to join after launch. VTT says the cluster element is significant because “up to 96% of innovations are created in ecosystems”.

“There are technical, operational issues and business challenges to overcome in the development of autonomous systems, but we also need to resolve a number of questions related to legislation, regulations and social acceptance,” says RAAS coordinator Hannu Karvonen. “An innovation ecosystem like RAAS will let us tackle broad, systemic challenges.”

VTT co-creation manager Ismo Vessonen says: “The initiative for RAAS came from the industry. The availability of a one-stop-shop innovation ecosystem will help companies find solutions to concrete challenges more efficiently. It also gives companies a great opportunity to influence the direction of research in the field.”

Networking & Communication Systems

Related Content

  • September 29, 2023
    6G tech & autonomous cars combine in Finland
    6G Visible has been set up by the University of Oulu and Finnish Meteorological Institute
    Read More
  • October 3, 2018
    Copenhagen: everything's gone green
    As the ITS World Congress arrives in Copenhagen, Adam Hill finds out how Dynniq has been helping traffic flow – and CO2 reduction - in the Danish capital. Most of the time, ‘breathing easier’ is just an expression which indicates a metaphorical sigh of relief that something has worked out alright. But it can be literally true, too. Respiratory and other potential health problems which stem from pollution in the world’s increasingly urbanised environments have been well publicised and governments are
    Read More
  • July 24, 2018
    ‘Only 20% of people’ would put their child inside an AV, says Fujitsu
    Only 20% of people would be prepared to put their child inside an autonomous vehicle (AV), according to research from Fujitsu. People are more anxious about adopting digital services in travel than they are in other areas of their lives, according to Russell Goodenough, the company’s managing director of business and transport. Just 40% of people would put their trust in an AV - and the transport sector is falling behind in the race to digitisation, the company says. Speaking at a media forum in Lo
    Read More
  • February 26, 2024
    New AI traffic project developed in Hungary, Turkey and Japan
    Medianets Lab's Tralico will be tested on streets of Istanbul in bid to reduce congestion
    Read More

Highlighted Content