Tag Archives: Urban Mill

Product Design Gala 2015, 22.5.2015 at Design Factory & Urban Mill

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Are business, design, engineering or innovations close to your heart?

If yes, or even if this is not the case (yet), you are more than welcome to join the annual Product Design Gala and fall in love with the results of our interdisciplinary Product Development Project -teams!

The teams have been working hard for the whole year to complete their design challenges given by industrial companies and other collaborating parties. In the public exhibition, you’ll have the possibility to get familiar with the teams as well as with their amazing prototypes. So save the date and see you in May!

This year the teams were sponsored by the following companies: ABB, Airbus, Audi, City of Espoo, Comnet/Ericsson, Fortum, GE Healthcare, Innovamo, KONE, Konecranes, Lindström, Norpe, Stalatube, Unicef, Valmet and Wärtsilä.

In addition, we have three student teams working on their own ideas and pursuing their dreams: All Terrain Skateboard, Yonder and Duckter.

Schedule:
09.00 Doors open – the exhibition starts!
13.00 Couple of chosen presentations @Stage
17.00 The exhibition ends.

More details concerning the Gala and this year’s projects, you’ll find from the PdP website – http://pdp.fi/

Welcome!

All you need is Love, Design, Business and Engineering!

Kim C Korn, Create Advantage Inc. (USA) and Urban Mill at EIT ICT Labs 24.4.2015: Human Centric Management – Regenerative Managing for a digitalizing world

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The digitalizing world requires constant focus on creative destruction and exploration – in other words, enterprise regeneration. The newly created Regenerative Managing framework enables organizations to seize this opportunity. Kim C. Korn’s take on regenerative managing takes a very humane view:

”Management needs to adhere human values, something it traditionally doesn’t do. An enterprise is about people and activities (external and internal to the enterprise) working together. People and enterprise should have their abilities, intention and goals aligned. A meaningful purpose is the key for sense of direction.”

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Create Advantage Inc. (USA) and Urban Mill (Finland) offered 21.4.2015 an experimental workshop for pioneering organizations interested in learning about becoming regenerative and self-sustaining themselves. We had a group of 20+ multi-talented pioneers co-creating the managing and workshop concept further with Kim.

Later on the week we visited some of our stakeholders and started managament development dialogue with them, including EIT ICT Labs Lunch Speech on Fri 24.4.

Next autumn we’ll open up outcomes of this week to a wider audience. Stay tuned!

Kim Korn & Urban Mill: Regenerative Managing arrives to Finland!

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Interesting week ahead!

Kim Korn arrived on Sat to Urban Mill and we will arrange several events together around the theme of Regenerative Managing during this week.

The digitalizing world requires constant focus on creative destruction and exploration – in other words, enterprise regeneration. The newly created Regenerative Managing framework enables organizations to seize this opportunity.

A one-day semi-open workshop will be held tomorrow, on April 21st. Create Advantage Inc. (USA) and Urban Mill offer an experimental workshop for pioneering organizations interested in learning about becoming regenerative and self-sustaining themselves. We have a group of 20+ multi-talented pioneers co-creating the managing and workshop concept further with Kim.

Later this week we’ll visit some of our stakeholders and start managament development dialogue with them, including EIT ICT Labs Lunch on Fri 24.4. 12-13.

Next autumn we’ll open up outcomes of this week to a wider audience. Stay tuned! We’ll tell more during the week.

And why are we doing this?

WHY Conventional Management Does Not Work

Business leaders using conventional management, leadership, and governance find themselves fighting a war on two fronts—one outside their company to be competitive against the ongoing creative destruction, the other inside their company to counteract the pernicious tendency of their company to become mediocre.

Conventional management—known by its hallmark of command & control—could effectively direct large, far-flung enterprises in times of stability. But it has always failed to tap the innovation and self-transformation power inherent in organizations that preserve and perpetuate them.

No matter how much we augment, tweak, and alter conventional management, its core principles will hold both management and employees in its restrictive grip and fail time and time again.

Why Regenerative Managing Does Work

Regenerative managing—a way of managing that continually regenerates your company—serves as the antidote for conventional management, leadership, and governance.

Unlike the structure and rigidity command and control brings an organization, this new way of managing brings flexibility and emergence. Regenerative Managing brings inspiration and fosters collaboration to meet employees’ innate needs, which enable them to thrive, and therefore their organization. With the new hallmarks of meaning & orchestration as its foundational underpinnings, this new way of management produces both operationally effective and self-rejuvenating companies and organizations.

Change2020 RIS3 WORKBOOK (A) FOR LEARNING-DRIVEN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT – now in SlideShare!

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”Maximize the coincidence. Prototype rapidly and experiment. Harness the bottom-up activity and nurture the first followers – don’t restrict too much. Pull up your sleeves and act as much as you can. Keep learning.”, were Change2020 program’s workbook writers’ concluding messages for all regional developers. Urban Mill as a globally active thematic open innovation platform, and as a co-working space, an innovation community, as well as a change orchestration tool and service for urban developers is one of the RIS3 Workbook cases. Urban Mill’s innovation accelerator process – which re-defines the way how to support people accomplishing joint innovation work, and aiming to make societal impact in a global urban context –  was bechmarked within the program and reflections shared with its participants.

. This presentation is one outcome of the Change2020 development program. It was written and put together by Toni Pienonen and Mikko Markkanen from Business Arena Oy, a Finnish company specializing in university-business- cooperation, high-impact projects and learning networks, and a collaborative partner of Urban Mill. Change2020 development program was part of the operations carried out by INNOFOKUS project which was funded by European Social Fund, Ministry of Education. INNOFOKUS project was managed by Aalto University School of Business Small Business Center (SBC). www.innofokus.fi

Suvi Suikkanen: Digitaaliset tunnisteet & käyttäjälähtöisyys Espoo-päivän (2014) mobiilipalvelussa

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Urban Mill toteutti kesällä 2014 yhteisprojektin Otaniemi Marketing Ltd:n kanssa.  Projektissa kokeiltiin yhdessä Bonwal Oy:n kanssa QR/NFC-koodien käyttöä rakennetussa ympäristössä:  eri käyttötarkoituksissa sisätiloissa, yksittäisen rakennuksen piirissä sekä laajemmalla maantieteellisellä alueella.

Hanke pilotoi QR/NFC-koodi-infran rakentamista ja testasi sen käyttöä. Se rakensi linkkejä fyysisten, digitaalisten ja sosiaalisten ympäristöjen välille ja välitti linkkien kautta teemoitettua paikkaan ja aikaan sidottua informaatiota. Kokeilujen tavoitteena oli tarjota kaupunkilaisille  ja kaupungissa vieraileville helppo tapa löytää ja käyttää heille itselleen merkityksellistä paikkatietoa.

Kokeilukohteita oli neljä: Urban Mill rakennus ympäristöineen, Active Life Villagen Asuntomessu -ständi, Avoin Suomi -tapahtuma ja Espoon Innovation Garden ympäristö Espoo-päivän aikana.

Suvi Suikkanen teki lopputyönsä HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoululle Espoo-päivän kokeilusta. Lopputyön voit ladata  tästä.

Tiivistelmä:

Opinnäytetyö oli toiminnallinen tutkimustyö, jonka tarkoituksena oli kehittää Bonwalin (toimeksiantaja) toimintaa. Tavoitteena oli luoda Espoon alueelle uusia digitaalisia palveluita ja dokumentoida niiden toteutus. Opinnäytetyö kokoaa Espoo-päivä -tapahtumaan luodun mobiilipalvelun suunnittelun, toteutuksen ja arvioi sen onnistumista. Tämän lisäksi tein toimeksiantajalle case-esimerkin markkinointi- ja myyntityössä hyödynnettäväksi. Dokumentoinnin avulla havainnollistettiin konkreettisesti, miten digitaalisia tunnisteita voidaan hyödyntää käyttäjälähtöisen palvelun luomisessa.

Teoriaosuus käsittelee Bonwalin toiminnassa hyödynnettäviä digitaalisia tunnisteita, eli QR-koodeja ja NFC-tunnisteita. Näihin perehtyminen tuo lisäarvoa toimeksiantajalle. Tarkoituksena on havainnollistaa tunnisteiden käyttömahdollisuuksia ja lisätä niiden tunnettavuutta. Teorian toinen osa käsittelee käyttäjälähtöisyyttä ja asiakkaan osallistumisen korostamista palveluiden luontiin (yhteiskehittely). Tämä aihe on ajankohtainen ja keskeinen Espoo Innovation Garden hankkeessa, jonka puitteissa palvelu luotiin.

Toiminnallisen tutkimuksen myötä pyrittiin kehittämään toimeksiantajan osaamista ja edesauttamaan sidosryhmien kehitystyötä. Keskeisimpiä tutkimusmenetelmiä olivat suoran havainnoinnin lisäksi muun muassa projektiin osallistuvien osapuolten konsultaatiohaastattelut. Tutkimuksessa kokosin omien havaintojeni perusteella kehitysehdotuksia tulevaisuutta varten.Espoo-päivä -tapahtumassa seurattiin digitaalisten tunnisteiden käyttöä ja huomattiin, että vaikka harva tunsi QR-koodeja entuudestaan, ne koettiin helppokäyttöisiksi. Mobiilipalvelun avulla mahdollistettiin ihmisille tilaisuus saada äänensä kuuluviin ja kehittää tapahtumaa käyttäjälähtöisemmäksi. Tämän lisäksi ihmisille tarjottiin palvelun kautta mahdollisuus osallistua tulevaisuudessa järjestettävään kehitystyöpajaan.

Opinnäytetyön raportoima kokeilu koettiin onnistuneeksi ja asetetut tavoitteet saavutettiin. Kehitysehdotuksien pohjalta palvelua pystyttiin kehittämään entisestään ja tulevaisuudessa mahdollisesti jopa tuotteistamaan.

TEKin uusi uravaliokunta etsi Urban Millissä tuoreita keinoja tukea tekkiläisen urapolkua sen kaikissa vaiheissa

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TEKin Uravaliokunta aloitti työnsä tammikuussa Otaniemen Urban Millissä työpajakokouksella. Etualalla Teemu Vihinen, hänen vieressään istuu Tomi Saranka ja seisomassa Jaakko Moisio.
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”Tekniikan alan ylempi korkeakoulututkinto ei enää automaattisesti takaa sujuvaa pääsyä työelämään saati vakaata uraputkea. TEKin on siis mietittävä ja toteutettava toimenpiteitä, jotka tukevat jäsenistöä heidän urallaan muuttuvassa maailmassa. Näin toteaa valiokunnan puheenjohtaja Kristiina Hartikainen uuden valiokunnan roolista.

Yhteiskunnassa tapahtuvat rakennemuutokset luovat uuden monimuotoisen urakäsityksen.

– Palkkatyötä, yrittäjyyttä ja opiskelua – kaikkea jopa samanaikaisesti. Ja monelle tällainen tilkkutäkkiura on jo todellisuutta. Lisäksi globaalit megatrendit, erityisesti digitalisoituminen, muuttavat työtä tavoilla, joita emme osaa vielä edes kuvitella. Samalla osaamistarpeet muuttuvat, joten on mietittävä uusiksi myös työn ja uran käsitteet, Hartikainen sanoo.”

Lue koko artikeli TEK-lehdestä: http://lehti.tek.fi/tyoelama/urapalveluita-jasenten-tarpeisiin#sthash.WryhROuE.dpuf

Urban Mill approach supported: Collaboration and community promotion spaces make urban innovation ecosystems tick!

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From http://blogs.worldbank.org:  BY VICTOR MULAS ON MON, 11/17/2014

”Categorizing the collaboration and community promotion spaces that make urban innovation ecosystems tick

A variety of collaboration spaces are spreading across urban innovation ecosystems. This makes sense intuitively, because collaboration spaces create and — in some cases — manage and sustain the communities that make the ecosystem exist and grow.

I believe that collaboration spaces are, in fact, one of the key elements to create and grow urban innovation ecosystems in cities. Our current research in mapping urban innovation is starting to provide results that seem to validate this hypothesis. We are seeing that collaboration spaces that create and manage communities are critical nodes of city urban innovation ecosystems.

We will share more results about this analysis in future blogs but given the relevance of these spaces, I summarized what I believe are the most relevant categories of collaboration spaces. This list, which I prepared for a paper I am working on, is not prescriptive and it is not closed by any means. To the contrary, it just presents a starting point and I welcome comments to expand and refine these categories.”

Tentative categories by Victor Mulas:

Co-working spaces

Examples: WeWork, New York (https://www.wework.com); Impact Hub, London and other locations (http://www.impacthub.net);  Alt City, Beirut (http://www.altcity.me)

Accelerators 

Examples: Tech Stars, Boulder, New York, and other locations (http://www.techstars.com); Seedcamp, London and other locations (http://seedcamp.com)

Maker spaces

Examples: Santiago Maker Space, Santiago de Chile (http://www.stgomakerspace.com); Maker Space, Madrid (http://makespacemadrid.org); GearBox, Nairobi (http://gearbox.co.ke)

Fabrication labs (Fablabs)

Examples: Fab Lab Barcelona (http://www.fablabbcn.org); Fab Lab Lisboa (http://fablablisboa.pt); Fab Lab South Africa (http://www.fablab.co.za)

Techshop®

Example: Techshop®, multiple locations (http://www.techshop.ws)

Living labs

Examples: Waag Society, Amsterdam (https://waag.org/en); Citilab, Barcelona (http://citilab.eu/en); Living Lab Maputo (http://www.micti.co.mz/micti/index.php)

Urban labs

Examples: Urban Lab, Barcelona (http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/698/897/lang,en); New Urban Mechanics, Boston (http://www.newurbanmechanics.org/boston

Industry innovation labs

Example: U+I Labs, Chicago (http://www.uilabs.org)

Innovation hub

Examples: NUMA, Paris (http://en.numa.paris); Forum Virium, Helsinki (http://www.forumvirium.fi/en); Ruta N, Medellin (http://rutanmedellin.org); iHub, Nairobi (http://www.impacthub.net)

Read the whole blogpost by VICTOR MULAS ON MON, 11/17/2014

Steve Blank: Four Types Of Startups

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As a multi-sided platform organization, Urban Mill is working simultaneously on many types of markets.  Related business models are synced through value orchestration.

Watch what Steve Blank tells about different market types and their implications to business model components:

http://steveblank.com/2015/01/06/there-are-4-types-of-startups/

Urban Mill at the 20th ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN

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Urban Mill’s first priority is to enable serendipitous discoveries and collaborative learning experiences for our members, customers and peers acting on our innovation platform and in its related ecosystems. Meaningful social interaction and suitable digital means are the key enablers of our support processes for them.

So, where to find the state-of-the-art of digitally enabled sharing and learning?

Aiming to contribute to the fore-front development activities we participated once again ”The Largest Global e-learning Conference for the Corporate, Education and Public Service Sectors”:

The 20th edition of ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN (OEB)

OEB was a resounding success, attracting 2,332 participants from 100 countries and more than 300 international speakers presenting over three busy days of plenaries, parties, networking and workshops.  This excerpt of the OEB Newsletter will reval some of the dynamic discussions and debates that came out of this year’s event.

Big data, reclaiming personal learning, educational ecosystems, and predicting and preparing for future demands were just some of the topics that got people talking.

Analysis, criticisms and solutions: OEB 2014 keynote highlights

The plenary sessions from ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2014 gave us a glimpse into the future, questioned how we are changing learning to meet new demands, and gave a frank assessment of the education sector as it stands today.

Providing varied and upfront insights; see what industry experts had to say in our roundup of memorable keynote quotes.

Friday plenary: Talking the talk to inspire action

As panellist Nick van Dam from McKinsey & Company and the e-Learning for Kids Foundation stated in his introduction: “Today it’s all about collective wisdom.”

It was in this spirit that the interactive plenary session called upon the audience for questions and comments to fuel discussion around the theme: ‘Less Talk, More Action! Meeting Tomorrow’s Needs Today.’

New ideas in the spotlight

The rolling programme of interactive formats in OEB’s newest feature made sure that not just the speakers but the audience was part of the show.

Speaking after his presentation on re-humanising e-learning, David White from the University of the Arts reflected that “100+ people seemed surprisingly willing to enter a piece of shared theatre!”

The OEB Debate: ‘This house believes that data is corrupting education’

As big data dominated much of the discussion at OEB, anticipation was high for the light-hearted yet intellectually serious battle over the controversial motion: ‘This house believes that data is corrupting education’.

Why mobile learning is key to student recruitment and engagement

Despite the shift from desktop computers to embracing approaches such as BYOD, just having access to mobile technology does not solely make it successful.

Institutions still face the challenge of how to effectively use mobile to maximise student success and outcomes, and should carefully consider their goals when mapping out mobile strategies

Download the post-conference report and discover:

• OEB in numbers – the key facts and figures of the conference
• Programme highlights, summaries and outcomes
• What participants said – social media clippings
• Exhibition overview and exhibitor list

https://www.facebook.com/ONLINEEDUCABERLIN

Where Urban Mill comes from? Introducing Innovation Alley, Otaniemi and Espoo Innovation Garden

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Innovation Alley: Design Factory – Startup Sauna – Urban Mill

Situated in the heart of Espoo Innovation Garden, Innovation Alley is the focal point of innovation buzz on Aalto University campus. Its core activities pivot around Aalto Design Factory, Startup Sauna and Urban Mill. Together these three co-working and co-creation platforms, and their common yards, form a networked physical, virtual and social Knowledge Triangle with its nodes focused on learning (main responsibility Design Factory), systemic innovation (main responsibility Urban Mill) and new business creation (main responsibility Startup Sauna).

These three multi-disciplinary communities of practice work daily and closely together. Activities are mainly self-organised and collaboration is facilitated through shared boundary objects. The human-centered innovation orchestration approaches in use challenge the traditional institution-centered practices. Innovation alley attracts yearly thousands of international visitors (e.g. scholars, businessmen and investors) and the exchange with its global co-location networks is intensive.

Aalto Design Factory (founded 2008) is an experimental co-creation platform for education, research and application of product design – where ‘design’ has a broad meaning. Design Factory aims to develop a passion-based student-centric learning culture for the Aalto University.

Startup Sauna (founded 2010) is a non-profit space, organization and community for startups and aspiring entrepreneurs in Northern and Eastern Europe and Russia. The aim is to implement a blooming startup ecosystem and a pay-it-forward culture into the region in order to make it the best place for startups.

Urban Mill (founded 2013) is a thematic focal point and open innovation platform service for global urban innovators. It is a co-working space, an innovation community, as well as a change orchestration tool for urban development. It aims to re-define the way in which people accomplish joint innovation work, and aims to make societal impact in a global urban context.

IA-kuva

One alternative future, based on ideas collected from the Innovation Alley communities.

Otaniemi: Innovation – Business – Quality of Life.

Otaniemi, located in Espoo, Finland, is the largest technology hub in the Northern Europe, featuring a unique mix of top-level research organizations, academic institutions and technology businesses. Otaniemi is a community of over 32,000 people that includes 16,000 students and another 16,000 technology professionals.

110 different nationalities. Buzz. Serendipity.

If you are interested in visiting Otaniemi or if you’re looking for a suitable location to establish your hitech business in Scandinavia or Europe, look no further – Otaniemi is the place to be. Are you in Otaniemi yet? If not – allow us already in Otaniemi to help you get started and connected!

Otaniemi Marketing Ltd’s mission is to enhance Otaniemi’s competitiveness by supporting close collaboration between its key players and boosting its recognition and exposure around the world. For more information about Otaniemi and Otaniemi Marketing please check:

http://www.otaniemi.fi

Espoo Innovation Garden: Innovation and adventurous experiences!

Espoo is a garden of innovation and adventurous experiences – Espoo Innovation Garden. This refers to an innovative operational model that encourages a culture of collaboration; it’s the Espoo way of thinking and acting. Espoo Innovation Garden shares and enriches the Espoo story.

Espoo Innovation Garden is a growing and developing city garden that offers diverse services in the area that includes Otaniemi, Keilaniemi and Tapiola. It’s the home of the largest innovation hub in Northern Europe with thriving international companies, the hottest start-up sauna on the planet, various cultural activities and sports clubs as well as a renowned community of scientists and researchers. Science, financial activities and arts all make the Garden flourish.

Several world class companies have their global HQ’s, local or regional HQ’s or R&D units in Espoo Innovation Garden. These include Rovio, Kone, Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft, Bayer, Aalto University, VTT Research, EIT ICT Labs.

A total of 5,000 researchers, 25 research and development organisations and a number of Finnish listed companies operate in the area. The fact that there are people of 110 different nationalities working in the area is a clear reflection of its international character. The active centre of science and finance is enriched by abundant offering of arts and cultural events.

EIG-map

Espoo’s success in the European Commission’s 2014 search for the European Capital of Innovation inspired our gardeners to continue to work with the Espoo soil to make it even more of a fertile ground for growth and innovation. Espoo managed to get onto the shortlist of six prominent cities from among 58 applicant cities.

Encounters – planned or random – between people are a source of innovation and new experiences. The garden will grow and flourish the more gardeners that tend to it. Everyone is welcome to do some gardening, make it bloom and create new innovation and experiences.

Making the dream garden come true

Espoo Innovation Garden’s aim is to bring together the various partners operating in the area and to encourage their collaboration and sense of community. We are making our dreams come true by nurturing the best companies, the best research and the best environment to work and live in. We want to prepare a seedbed for creating new jobs and a good strong living environment in collaboration with companies, communities and residents. Our aim is to develop both as a ground where innovation can grow and as a partner who makes innovation work.

We want to increase cooperation activities in order to create opportunities for success for the entire country as well as good life for the people living and working in the area. Our dream is to make the Innovation Garden bear fruit for the entire metropolitan area and all of Finland.

How to become a gardener?

People, companies and communities are the most important resources in our garden. Espoo Innovation Garden is an open network of residents, companies and communities. Anyone can become a gardener – science and research organisations, companies, cultural and sports organisations, city employees and residents. Anyone who lives in or likes Espoo is welcome.

http://www.espoo.fi/en-US/Jobs_and_enterprise/Innovation_Garden

http://www.espoo.fi/en-US/City_of_Espoo/Decisionmaking/The_Espoo_Story