Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR)

About research and ongoing projects

CKIR’s research agenda builds on premises that in demand-driven innovations people as citizens, users and customers, cities as places of life, public services and social networks and other ‘players’ are viewed as sources and contexts for knowledge creation and innovation.
Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research, Resesarch

CKIR is active in developing the theoretical background and research methodologies for open ecosystem-based human-centric research, development and innovation (RDI). This calls for the mobilisation and orchestration of RDI networks and the creation of new RDI infrastructures, such as living laboratories. In addition the modern usage of ICT for the collaboration of people, firms, cities and public agencies may contribute to problem-solving in climate change, energy-efficiency, wellbeing and quality of life. This includes new solutions for public services and governance, e-democracy, social and participative media, sustainable construction, and smart urban and rural development.

CKIR's empirical research benefits from applied multi-methodological approach. The research is parallel to corporate venturing and R&D, or in case of cities parallel to regional and urban economic planning and innovation policy development. The issues may be addressed from individual, technological, organizational, institutional, national and regional point of view.

The research and development for innovation (RDI) may be conducted in real-life contexts such as everyday life, work, or leisure contexts. Methodologically the focus is on end-to-end approach to RDI (parallel basic, applied and innovation research) that provides knowledge of underlying human, social and socio-economic (pre-market) patterns and mechanisms. This is for designing

  1. new human centric systemic or social innovations, or
  2. demand and user-driven service and business models that may include new forms of value and wealth creation, and
  3. user-centric design rules for application development that needs human, social and technological interaction in enabling open innovation environments, such as Living Labs.

Sustainability and scalability for industry creation (value constellations), including new patterns of production and consumption, and business and service development may be validated through individual, organisational, institutional, socio-economic and social perspectives. This may include design rules for service and business model development that are based on user experience in context; let it be at home, in office, on the move or over the distance in social networks and “distributed environments”.

CKIR is a founding member of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). CKIR organized with the Finnish Prime Minister’s office and the European Commission (EC) the official Finnish EU Presidency event in November 2006 for Launching of a European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) as a first step towards European Innovation System, in the frame of the new EU 2020 strategy and Digital Agenda. The network currently has 212 living laboratory members who are active in open, human-centric RDI.

Through various EU-funded projects, CKIR is networking with over 100 researchers and 30 companies in Europe. Some of the projects have also global reach. CKIR also belongs to the international Media, Interface, and Network Design Labs (M.I.N.D. Labs) consortium.

CKIR/Aalto ECON is a partner in ICT-SHOK (Tivit Oy) and active in Flexible Services (FS) program. In FS, CKIR participates in UDOI (User-Driven Open Innovation project) that develops RDI methodology for service development based on demand and user driven approach in open and innovative service ecosystems.

EDIFY-EDU - Equality, Diversity, Inclusion For improving the quality of Management Education, training and professions

The EDIFY-EDU project addresses the skills gap in the sector of Management education with regards to competencies on equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), which are more and more needed in a complex and fluid society.

Students in the Learning Center

TUNTO2 - Emotional agency in strategy implementation

The project studies strategy implementation through exploring emotional agency and emotional climate. The project continues the development of the concept emotional agency and studies it in strategy implementation. The project is conducted in an intervention context, where the members of the participating organizations are supported by an emotion-focused intervention. During and after the intervention, both quantitative and qualitative data are collected to seek understanding of and how emotional agency manifests in enacting strategy.

Aalto University/Unto Rautio

AI-ROT - Artificial intelligence optimization for production lines deploying rotating machinery

AI-ROT proposes a comprehensive AI enhanced optimization of production lines deploying rotating machinery. A variety of AI-based methods is applied, ranging from exact representation of knowledge to highly adaptive machine/deep learning primitives. As a result, valuable feedback for traditional engineering processes, such as design, operation and maintenance of rotation machinery, is received.

Aalto University/Unto Rautio

NeutralHost & LuxTurrim Ecosystem - Building the Digital Backbone for a Smart City

Nokia, together with a multidisciplinary group of companies and research groups, is creating the digital backbone of the smart city and new data-based services. In the second phase of the LuxTurrim5G ecosystem projects, the recently developed 5G smart pole concept is moving towards productization and practical piloting. Another major goal is to create a platform utilizing a wide variety of data in a reliable and secured way and develop new digital services to meet real needs of cities. This includes also evaluating and piloting of a Neutral host operating model for high-speed city networks. Through a two-year, EUR 26 million, intensive co-development effort the group of 26 partners target the global smart city markets worth tens of billions euros.

Aalto University/Unto Rautio

Baltic Sea Region S3 Ecosystem Platform (2019-2021)

BSR S3 Ecosystem Platform project aims to influence, improve knowledge and raise discussion among regional, national and EU-level innovation policy makers and experts of the opportunities, challenges and needed capacities related to the development of inter-regional innovation cooperation based on joint strategic fields in the Baltic Sea Region.

Aalto University/Unto Rautio

Sustainable Entrepreneurial Challenges in the Baltic Sea Region by Smart-Up

Pandemia, digitalisation, climate change and demographic shifts are shaping the future of Baltic Sea Region’s institutions, cities, ports, and daily life. The Smart-Up BSR with ten regions in all the nine Baltic Sea Region countries has been to testing practices of regional innovation and transformation and to encourage cross-regional initiatives including the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030.

Aalto University/Unto Rautio
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