Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at the opening of the Finnish Presidency Conference

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In October we gathered in Helsinki for the Finnish Presidency Conference Networked Business and Government - Something Real for the Lisbon Strategy. This seminar discussed competitiveness and innovation in Europe, and also sought concrete ways of putting the Lisbon strategy into practice.

Strengthening European competitiveness is a common challenge for us all. Responding to this challenge means investment in more focused research and development, more efficient use of information and communication technology (ICT), and broad-based co-operation in many areas.

The October conference was designed to be interactive. That interactiveness continued after the conference, with the drafting of the so-called Helsinki Manifesto, which sums up the main outcomes of the conference and which is being published today.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
New, concrete measures are needed to turn the Lisbon Strategy into a living reality, and to make Europe more competitive and innovative in a human-centric way - a way that focuses on people's real needs.

There is good reason to be concerned about Europe's global competitiveness in terms of productivity and creative innovation. The productivity gap with the US is increasing and European companies invest less in R&D than their US counterparts. Strong economic growth in Asian countries such as China and India attracts not only international manufacturing and services but also international investment in the R&D that feeds innovation.

Bold action is needed immediately to boost productivity and innovation and so achieve higher economic growth and job creation over the next five years. There is also an urgent need across the EU for structural changes to facilitate innovation-based growth.

These measures must encourage entrepreneurship and risk-taking, they must foster mobility, including the mobility of high-knowledge jobs and workers. And they must promote the interoperability and compatibility of services and businesses throughout the EU.

The overall education level is very high in Europe, but that is not enough if Europe is to seize the opportunity to create a globally competitive unique profile as a knowledge-intensive service economy. It will also take R&D and innovation in the fields of business and technology to help create a single European market in terms of jobs and growth.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to open this conference, marking the launch of the new European Network of Living Labs. A lot of hard work has already gone into creating the network, and I would like to thank everyone involved in this Europe-wide project.

The European Network of Living Labs links together 20 sites from 15 European countries. It establishes a European platform engaging people in a process of open, collaborative and creative innovation.

Living Labs will provide innovation services for SMEs, large corporations, public-sector agencies, NGOs and individual citizens. A systematic and coordinated approach will ensure that common methodologies and tools are developed.

The Network will also enable the sharing of information, knowledge and best practices amongst the Living Labs, and provide a basis for efficient cooperation on a European scale. One of the aims in setting up the network is to attract global companies to participate in European R&D and innovation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European Network of Living Labs is one welcome addition to the family of new important initiatives designed to contribute to European innovation, in very concrete terms.

Currently the European Institute of Technology (EIT) is being set up. It is an ambitious plan and with its completion can be a 'European MIT'. European Technology Platforms (ETPs) are another important element for improving European innovation. One technology platform - Artemis, focusing on embedded systems - has already received the green light for development as Joint Technology Initiative. I am convinced that these new innovation initiatives will do much good for European global competitiveness, jobs and growth.

The European Network of Living Labs is a welcome addition that will help to upgrade our ability to innovate in Europe. It offers an open, human- and user-centric environment for conducting experimental research for innovation with a global reach. This type of network can create value, especially globally competitive service and knowledge society services and business development. We predict it will have a positive impact on technological development.

This positive impact will come from the human-centric contextual knowledge of everyday life which the Network will provide. The Living Labs can also provide knowledge of user needs, which will help with the design of user-demand-based physical structures and technical solutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In September, Finland published its third national Information Society Strategy. As the title suggests, we want to create a Finland that is human-centric, competitive and capable of renewal. The vision of our strategy is Good Life in Information Society.

We recognise that the information society of the future will be an advanced knowledge and service society, and widespread use of ICT will clearly make service production more efficient. ICT will also enable structural reform of physical and electronic services. In other words, it will lead to the development of completely new production models, services and service combinations. The European Network of Living Labs is very much a potential player in this kind of development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
As well as launching the Network, this conference will also discuss the different aspects of European innovativeness and innovation policy.

Throughout our EU Presidency, we have stressed the importance of innovation in enabling European to stay competitive. That means developing European innovation policy - a major theme for our Presidency.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Together we can create a human-centric and competitive Europe. - Allow me to wish you a very successful and result-oriented conference day! And the best of luck for the new network!

Thank you.