Find out about Finnish research on CORDIS
Finland may only have a few weeks left of its term as President of the Council of the European Union, but it is still maintaining the pro-active approach and energetic pace that it set itself as it took over from the German Presidency in July. This is not least reflected in Finland's commitment to promote scientific demonstration and innovation partnerships in Europe, and its keenness to communicate major developments and interesting Finnish research to a broader audience. It is in this setting that the Finnish Presidency collaborated with CORDIS, the European Community's Research and Development Information Service, to set up the CORDIS Finnish Council Presidency and Innovation website back in July. Since then, the site has been frequently updated, featuring news stories, information about upcoming events, innovation activities in Finland and collaborative projects around Europe. Current highlights on the website, spotlight areas of research in Finland that are likely to be of interest to others in the same or overlapping fields around Europe. They include information about an initiative to halt the 'brain drain' being experienced by the Upper Northern Karelia region in Finland, and how researchers can find practical assistance from university EU contact persons. Finland's battle against the 'brain drain' (where poor, remote regions lose their brightest talent through migration to more attractive areas) is being fought using information technology. The Finnish Council Presidency pages on CORDIS spotlight Finland's project to implement a national information strategy, written by Sitra, to turn Finland into a knowledge-based society with a 'human touch'. The 'Learning Ylä-Karjala' project was launched in April 1998, and the 'Sitra' part should be completed by April 2000. Essentially the project has resulted in a computer network being set up, which had 3600 registered users by June 1999 - about 20% of the region's population. More detailed information about this initiative as well as other aspects of the Finnish approach to R&D is available from the Council Presidency webpages on CORDIS at: http://cordis.europa.eu/finland/en/home.html(opens in new window)
Countries
Finland