Launch of the European Network of Living Labs at an EU conference

This week Finland will host two important information society events as part of the official programme of Finland's EU Presidency. Launch of the European Network of Living Labs at an EU conference will begin the super week of information society issues on Monday, 20 November. The most important information society conference in Europe this year is the IST 2006 - Strategies for Leadership conference, to be held at the Helsinki Fair Centre on 21-23 November 2006.

Finland's EU Presidency places particular emphasis on the European competitiveness and innovation. The European Network of Living Labs to be launched at the conference is an important step towards a new European innovation infrastructure.

- The Living Labs network places people at the very centre of product development and innovation. The network will provide innovation services for SMEs, international corporations, public-sector agencies, NGOs and individual citizens, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen stated in his opening remarks.

The conference called "European Network of Living Labs: A Step towards a European Innovation System" organised at the Dipoli Congress Centre in Espoo is attended by over 300 research, technology and innovation-policy specialists from the EU countries, representing the public sector, research institutes and business world. A high-level delegation from China also participates in the conference.

Speakers of the conference include:
- Ulf Dahlsten, Director, European Commission, DG for Information Society and Media
- Hans-Ulrich Maerki, Chairman, IBM Europe - Middle East - Africa
- Esko Aho, Chairman of the Hampton Court Expert Group, President of the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra)
- Timo Kekkonen, Director, Confederation of Finnish Industry
- Markku Mattila, Director General, Finnish Ministry for Education.

European Network of Living Labs

The European Network of Living Labs to be launch at the end of the conference includes, in the initial phase, 20 actors from 15 European countries. The network also involves more than 100 active researchers and a representative group of innovative European companies. The Living Labs network concentrates on the development of new information society services, businesses, technologies and markets.

The aim of the European Network of Living Labs is to link the separate Living Labs innovations and innovators around Europe to a common European network. The network enables the development of innovation services and methods and testing environments and Europe-wide provision of those for local and international companies and public administration. This helps to achieve globally competitive European innovations and to create products and services facilitating the everyday life of people and businesses.

The Helsinki Manifesto aims to boost European competitiveness

The Helsinki Manifesto aiming to boost European competitiveness was published this morning. The Helsinki Manifesto pursues to draw attention to concrete means to achieve the objectives set by the Lisbon Strategy. These key measures are based on the conclusions of the Networked Business and Government - Something Real for the Lisbon Strategy conference in October.

The Helsinki Manifesto is available on the conference website.

The conference is organised by the Finnish Government Information Society Programme, the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR) of the Helsinki School of Economics, and the European Commission.

Further information:
- Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja, Programme Director, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 9 1602 2363 or +358 40 8200 750;
- Seija Kulkki, Director, Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR) at the Helsinki School of Economics, tel. +358 9 431 38945 or +348 50 584 9070;
- Bror Salmelin, Head of Unit, European Commission, Information Society and Media, tel. +32 2 2969564;
- Päivi Paasikoski, Head of Information, Government Communications Unit, tel. +358 9 1602 2082 or +358 40 547 6279.