FAIR kick-off drew two hundred participants as the demand for AI for business increases

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FAIR kick-off drew two hundred participants as the demand for AI for business increases

Published: 13.4.2023

The kick-off event of the Finnish AI Region, which aims to boost AI adoption in SMEs, gathered a large crowd at the University of Helsinki's Think Corner.

Kalle Toivonen discusses FAIR’s services on the launch event stage — Kalle Toivonen discusses FAIR’s services at the launch event. Photo: Milja Veini

The services of the Finnish AI Region, or FAIR, were officially opened at an event organized on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. The opening of FAIR gathered more than two hundred curious participants, including many representatives of the Finnish business world.

Teemu Moilanen from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, who was responsible for organizing the event, says that he was surprised by the positive reception of the event among companies. “More than a hundred companies had registered for the event. It shows that there is a real need for our services in Finland. SMEs in Finland are serious about expanding and deepening the use of artificial intelligence in their business,” he says.

The keynote speakers of the event were Ilona Lundström, Head of the Enterprise & Innovation Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, FAIR's Kalle Toivonen from the City of Helsinki, and Microsoft's Lukas Lundin, with topics ranging from the importance of artificial intelligence to the use of ChatGPT and, of course, FAIR's service offering.

After the talks, it was time for open discussion and networking, during which the participants could ask FAIR's experts more about the services and possible collaboration.

FAIR consists of ten partner organizations that provide its services as a network. The cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa, Aalto University, University of Helsinki, Haaga-Helia and Metropolia Universities of Applied Sciences, KIRA InnoHub, IT Center of Science CSC and European Innovation and Technology Institute EIT Digital. Also, Enter Espoo is an affiliated entity.

FAIR’s operates in association with ABB, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District HUS, Microsoft, Varian Medical Systems Finland, the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI. FAIR is one of the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH). The network's operations are funded by the European Union together with Business Finland and the Helsinki Innovation Fund.

You can find more information about FAIR at:

The Finnish AI Region, or FAIR, aims to accelerate and expand the adoption of artificial intelligence in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI is a research hub initiated by Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, and the Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT. The goal of FCAI is to develop new types of artificial intelligence that can work with humans in complex environments, and help modernize Finnish industry. FCAI is one of the national flagships of the Academy of Finland.