Transport Sector Growth Programme will give companies a boost in the international market

The national Transport Sector Growth Programme 2018–2022 will bring companies, public actors and the field of research together to speed up business-driven development, growth and internationalisation in this sector. The growth programme and the roadmap for its implementation were published at an expert seminar held in Helsinki on 11 December 2017.

The growth programme will translate the potential of digitalisation in transport into concrete products and services, and its measures will support the transport sector in capturing its share of the growing international market. The value of the global market in this sector amounts to thousands of billions of Euro, and even the domestic market is valued at tens of billions.

“The transport sector offers opportunities for many platform economy solutions. Using new technologies and artificial intelligence as well as developing innovative services based on them will create new business and growth potential for companies. I welcome the proposals for concrete actions under the programme that were put together in broad-based cooperation. Creating new competence, innovations and future success stories will require cooperation”, notes Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

“The Transport Sector Growth Programme provides an outstanding opportunity for actors in this field who wish to speed up their internationalisation. Finland has an excellent business reputation internationally, and we are well known for our expertise. I find the involvement of several ministries, all the largest cities, funding providers and companies in the growth programme extremely significant. Such extensive cooperation further improves Finland’s potential for success. Transport can become an enormous new export sector for Finland, and we should seize this opportunity", says Anne Berner, Minister of Transport and Communications.

Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, machine vision and learning, 5G and cybersecurity, automation, servitization, blockchains, sharing and platform economy, the IoT and sensors are some of the basic concepts to be further utilized in the transport sector. They are key building blocks for transport of the future that will fundamentally change our daily life, work and mobility. Finnish companies have top expertise of an international standard in all of them.

“These new technologies will enable new business models and revolutionise old practices”, says Pekka Soini, Director General of Tekes. Soini has been pleased to witness the birth of a great number of startups in this area in recent times and their ability to attract significant investments. “Now, the next step is giving these companies a boost on their way to becoming global success stories. Tekes is preparing actions to promote this aim”, Soini continues.

“The growth programme and its measures will give companies the possibility of innovating products and solutions that will allow us to develop our transport system sustainably and responsibly. At the same time, we will create export opportunities for companies. The Transport Sector Growth Programme is an excellent example of broad-based cooperation, which is undeniably one of our greatest strengths”, says Karri Salminen, Board Chairman of ITS Finland.

To monitor growth programme implementation, a negotiating body will be set up with representatives of the central government, cities, companies and the research sector. The group will follow up on the progress made with the measures and make decisions on new actions to be included in the programme. The programme is to be reviewed on a yearly basis if necessary.

The members of the steering group for the preparation stage of the growth programme represented the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Cities of Espoo, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and Vantaa, Tekes, Sitra, the Smart & Clean Foundation, Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT Ltd, the Regional Council of Häme (the Growth Corridor) and ITS Finland. The programme was prepared during the autumn in close cooperation between companies, the research sector and public actors.

Further information:
Mika Aalto, Deputy DirectorGeneral, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 438 9247 (steering group chairperson)
Ministerial Adviser Krista Huhtala-Jenks, Ministry of Transport and Communications, tel. +358 295 34 2375