VTT's vision paper: Most promising technologies

In the recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about the technology and innovation policy of Finland and the ways Finland can become a leading country in sustainable growth. At the moment, the objective approved jointly by all parties in the Parliament is to increase RDI funding to four per cent of GDP by 2030. The burning question is: how should this funding be targeted so that it creates sustainable growth and new international business in Finland as efficiently as possible.

In order to become a leading country in sustainable growth, Finland must invest in those areas where Finland has special top-level expertise and competitive advantage. By investing in these areas, we can promote sustainable growth globally.

New technologies are needed to solve global challenges. Investing in research and expertise in technology is essential to enable sustainable growth.

We must be able to allocate RDI funding wisely so that our research-based technology expertise can really create commercially significant innovations and thus new business and value for society. In addition, the generation of new solutions and scientific breakthroughs should always be supported.

The allocation of funding is hampered by the fact that scientific leaps and new technologies are often complex to understand and that there are many different areas of research that compete for funding. How to make choices between different sectors so that funding is as effective as possible in terms of the competitiveness and economy of Finland as well as in terms of the environment, climate and social sustainability?

This vision paper proposes which areas of technology - emerging from the advances in science - Finland should invest particularly in order to achieve its economic and sustainability goals.

Our paper gathers the views of Finland’s leading technology researchers on the most promising areas of technology expertise based on science and research, as well as the factors that play a key role in the creation of innovations.

This paper does not refer to technologies already in the market, but to research-based competence platforms. They are based on recent scientific breakthroughs that are progressing at researchers’ desks and laboratories in higher education institutions, research institutes and the research and development units of companies. As they enter the market, they revolutionise the world. Each of them also contributes to solving global sustainability problems.