More startups and Growth through Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence
The project will identify the synergy between SeAMK’s profile area of Growth Entrepreneurship and SAMK’s profile area of Automation, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence together with the combined profile areas (Digital Manufacturing and Industrial Internet + Enterprise Accelerator™). The project will establish a joint RDI platform for connecting the digitalisation and AI expertise into a startup and scaleup ecosystem, converting digital potential into business growth for new and existing companies.
SeAMK has a long experience of supporting and researching growth entrepreneurship. SAMK has similarly acknowledged expertise in its profile area of automation, robotics and AI. Additionally, SeAMK possesses expertise in digital manufacturing and industrial internet, supported by laboratories enabling simulations of production and value creation processes, and SAMK of boosting student entrepreneurship in SAMK Enterprise Accelerator™. These capabilities provide a strong basis for building capabilities needed for the next level of digitalisation. Combined, SeAMK and SAMK can build their profile areas into a knowledge creation and application space that has a strong contribution to innovation systems in their regions as well as nationally and internationally. In the face of the digital transformation, sharing is needed to multiply the impacts of expertise and to leverage digital potential into business growth. Research verifies, that in both regions, there is a need for boosting digitalisation and companies’ growth.
The project aims to identify the synergy between SeAMK’s and SAMK’s selected profile areas and clarify the division of efforts and strengthen the impact of these core profile areas within regional, national and international innovation ecosystems. The aim is to develop technology and business knowledge transfer between the universities and companies to strengthen the competence of all parties and deepen the role of universities of applied sciences within the ecosystems. This will raise SeAMK and SAMK even more clearly to top position as nationally and internationally acknowledged HEI partners and connect the SME companies in the two regions more strongly to frontiers of digitalisation and AI utilization, thus enabling business growth and supporting a vigorous and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition, the project develops a learning concept for digitalisation, AI and growth entrepreneurship and increases the capabilities of students and staff in supporting business growth utilizing digitalisation and AI.
As a result, the quality and impact of RDI in the focus areas will increase and successful integration of digitalisation and AI competence with growth entrepreneurship and startups competence will be implemented. SeAMK and SAMK will upgrade capabilities and permanently improve expert base, have stronger and deeper international networks and increase the volume of RDI projects and publications in focus areas. New learning modules for students will be designed and the number of students participating in projects in the focus areas will increase. The strengthened synergy advantages and division of work between SeAMK and SAMK will provide best expertise brought to benefit of innovation ecosystems in the two regions. Regular co-operation and co-creation pathways will be established and mutual learning enabled. SeAMK and SAMK will strengthen their positions in regional innovation ecosystems. In addition to skilled workforce for the regions, the impact will be the increasing number of business startups and business growth. The results will be utilized in the development of innovation ecosystems in both regions.
