Digitalization is changing old operating practices in healthcare and introducing new business opportunities for Finnish companies. Business Finland addresses this change with its new Smart Life Finland program. The goal of the four-year program is to double exports for SME companies engaged in the health and wellbeing sector, reform business in the field and create at least four new billion-scale business ecosystems, growth engines, in Finland.

Smart Life Finland promotes digital change in health and wellbeing and helps companies, research organizations and public operators create novel health and wellbeing services for everyday use. The program offers targeted exports promotion services and a total of EUR 80–100 million of funding for research, development and innovation activities.

People are now more interested in their health. They are increasingly looking for personalized, smart health and wellbeing services that are not confined to time or place. On the other hand, the global need for care is increasing, due to a change in the structure of population as the number of working population is decreasing. It is absolutely necessary to develop solutions for reducing costs.

New digitalization-based solutions allow setting up new business, entering new markets and creating a competitive advantage on the global market.

"The Smart Life Finland program promotes the utilization of digital solutions and broad, goal-oriented cooperation between organizations representing different sectors. The possibility for this is now favorable” says director Minna Hendolin from Business Finland.

In research and development work, it is important that products and services can be tested and piloted in real-life operational environments. "There is an evident need for this. As a result, one of the goals of the program was to develop Finnish piloting and test environments so that companies can receive the references they need. The program also affects regulating in order to develop a competitive operational environment, says Veli Mäkelä from Planmeca Oy, who is member of the Advisory Board for Business Finland's healthcare area and Chairman of the Board of Healthtech Finland.

Source: www.businessfinland.fi

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