Demola – Finland

Demola is a Finnish-born, now-turned international innovation challenge platform, which brings together university students and local, European, and international companies to work together on co-creation of different projects, service concepts and demos. The aim of the initiative is solving real social challenges in an impactful way, by ensuring every project leads to a concrete result (whether it is a new concept, demo or prototype).

About this initiative

The initiative was launched in Tampere, Finland, in 2008 as a response to a call for a more practical, multidisciplinary and co-creation type of overall ecosystem by industry leaders and decision-makers, with part of the initial development enabled by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Demola attracts major actors and stakeholders from industry and academia, such as Nokia and many local and regional universities.

Demola’s co-creation concept was developed based on research and analysis of leading innovation centres, with the goal of delivering concrete results in a more customer-focused, agile, cost efficient and effective way. The projects, developed via the platform apply this methodology as well to maximise the impact of using innovative methods and collaboration between talented students, companies, business executives and universities.

Why is this a good practice?

Since its inception in 2008, the innovation platform has grown, with innovation challenges currently involving more than 50 universities, 750,000 students, and some of the world’s leading companies, businesses, and institutions.  More than 5,000 projects have been conducted globally, engaging participants from 1,200 universities across 62 countries in the past year alone. 

Demola has helped Finland contribute to the EU Digital Decade target of 20 million ICT specialists by 2030. The program’s outcome include improved employability chances for students, increased innovation capacity for organisations, and specific improvements in areas like digital healthcare and sustainability.

Demola scores high in accessibility. The 2020 pandemic accelerated this process, making the co-creation platform a preferred option for students and companies. Since then, participants from more than 100 universities have taken part, reinforcing its international and interdisciplinary approach. Behind the success of the initiative is its ability to bring together academia and industry and empower students to apply their knowledge in environments where they can have the most impact. At the same time, Demola supports companies and especially SMEs, to remain competitive in rapidly changing industries.