Building Vaasa’s RDI Competitiveness Compass

Commissioned by the City of Vaasa and prepared by OneTechEU, the Compass will guide the development of the region’s research, development and innovation activities, with a particular focus on EU-level cooperation.

The aim is to make it easier for companies, researchers and other regional partners to work together internationally, secure EU funding, and develop and test new solutions for the market.

Regional strengths and needs

Two workshops have gathered input from key stakeholders, large companies, SMEs and startups on Vaasa’s strengths, development needs and opportunities for international RDI cooperation. Most stakeholder interviews have also been completed, and the innovation ecosystems to be studied for comparison have been selected.

Together, these inputs will help build a clearer picture of Vaasa’s current position and identify practices that could support the region’s development.

Shared priorities and cooperation

The next phase focuses on building agreement on the priorities and strategic choices that should guide the innovation ecosystem’s future.

A further stakeholder workshop, facilitated by OneTechEU, will bring together higher education institutions, companies, public actors and development organisations. It will explore both shared priorities and how cooperation should be organised, coordinated and supported in practice.

A roadmap for concrete action

The findings from the workshops, interviews and benchmarking will inform the Competitiveness Compass and its proposed actions. The intended outcome is a practical roadmap setting out what needs to be done, who will be responsible and how progress will be measured.

This will give companies, universities and development organisations a shared basis for deciding where to focus their efforts and how to work together to strengthen Vaasa’s participation in international research and innovation projects.