Fortum and Nokia to host a hackathon together before Slush
FORTUM CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 19 October 2015
Fortum and Nokia will host a hackathon event together on November 6–7th. The companies will invite 40 innovators from startups and tech companies to develop new concepts together with their own staff.
During two days, the selected participants will design and code pilot products that utilise the data and tools available during the event. The theme of the event is #maketechhuman which is also the main theme of Nokia’s 150th anniversary year. The goal is to develop services that help people’s everyday life by making technology more human and approachable.
– We want to find new solutions that serve our customers better in all of our markets. By combining the strengths of these innovators and Fortum we can create new and learn from each other, says Heli Antila, CTO of Fortum.
Fortum and Nokia are willing to continue developing these concepts together with the best teams. This is why the companies give access to data not available otherwise.
– This kind of hackathon is an interesting and fast paced way to illustrate Nokia’s vision of a programmable world, believes Nokia’s Head of Technology Exploration and Disruption, Pertti Lukander.
The event will be organised at the foundations of the Finnish industry, in Mustio, where the first ironworks in Finland was founded in the 16th century. Several startups in the area of industrial internet will also be present in the event to provide their products for the participants.
– Our mission is to bring the big and small players in the field to work together tightly. The ability to collaborate and make rapid experiments will be one of the key competitive advantages for the whole ecosystem, says Petri Vilén, founder of Industryhack, the company that organises the event.
The event will be part of Slush Hacks, a series of hackathons organised before the startup and technology conference Slush. In all the events during Slush Hacks, there will be nearly 1000 participants from all around the world. The winner of each event will get to present their ideas on stage at Slush and get a chance to win the main prize of 20.000 euros.
Also Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes), Finpro and Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) support the event. Together they want to enable rapid experimentation, new forms for innovation and strengthen competitiveness of Finnish companies. The applications for the event are open at www.industryhack.com until midnight on Friday, October 23.
Additional information:
Fortum: Aki Koskinen, +358 50 453 6599, aki.koskinen@fortum.com
Nokia: Janne Parantainen, +358 50 4836 658, janne.parantainen@nokia.com
Industryhack: Petri Vilén, +358 40 706 9094, petri@industryhack.com
Fortum
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. Fortum’s expertise is in CO2-free and efficient electricity and heat production. The company also offers energy-related products and expert services to private and industrial customers and energy producers. Fortum’s main areas of operation are the Nordic and the Baltic countries, Russia and Poland. In 2014, the annual sales (excluding the divested electricity distribution business) totalled EUR 4.1 billion, and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.1 billion. The company employs approximately 8,000 people. Fortum’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com
Nokia
By focusing on the human possibilities of technology, Nokia embraces the connected world to help people thrive. Our three businesses are leaders in their fields: Nokia Networks provides broadband infrastructure, software and services; HERE provides mapping, navigation and location intelligence; and Nokia Technologies provides advanced technology development and licensing. http://www.nokia.com
Industryhack
Industryhack is a Finnish open innovation platform that brings bigger companies together with innovative startups and individuals to develop new product experiments. The company was founded in 2015 and has already been working together with some of the Finnish industry leaders including Konecranes, Fiskars, Gasum, Lassila & Tikanoja and Fastems. www.industryhack.com