Finland’s hunt for a new tech edge

SINGAPORE – For decades, Finland dominated global benchmarks in areas such as happiness, education and technology.

It consistently ranked at the top, after the first Programme for International Student Assessment results were released in 2000, especially for reading, mathematics and science.

Finland was also a pioneer in mobile technology, with the late 1990s to the early 2010s often referred to as the “Nokia era”.

While it remains the happiest country in the world, this Nordic stronghold has seen a steady decline in its educational standings and has plateaued in economic growth over the past 20 years.

This slide is now being addressed by Finnish policymakers.

To engineer a new era of resilience and regain its competitive edge, Finland is banking on a “next great industrial revolution”, driven by deep tech and innovation.

It is carving out a global niche in specialised tech sectors, including artificial intelligence and 6G connectivity. The country has seen breakthroughs in satellite technology and a surge in its gaming and software industries.

With a mix of local and global talent, it is experimenting with how public and private sectors can tap innovation and digitalisation for a viable future.

In April, The Straits Times visited Aalto University’s space lab, the birthplace of the nation’s modern space industry; Supercell, a titan of mobile games; and Sitra, a think-tank focused on problem-solving for the future, as part of a four-day media visit to the capital city Helsinki organised by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The technology industry has become Finland’s largest export sector, accounting for more than half of its total exports and generating 29 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Mechanical engineering is the largest in this space, while information technology is the fastest-growing.

Around 331,000 people are directly employed by the sector, while 140,000 new skilled workers will be needed over the next decade, according to a September 2025 workforce needs survey conducted by the Technology Industries of Finland, a trade association for this sector.

Companies surveyed expect that three in four jobs in the sector will require workers with higher education.

However, just 40 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds in Finland meet this requirement – trailing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s global average of 47 per cent.

Policymakers are now striving to correct past decisions made in “efforts not to overeducate citizens”, said Mr Touko Apajalahti, head of education policy at the Technology Industries of Finland, when asked about the shortfall.

Finland has set a goal for 60 per cent of young adults to have a higher-education degree by 2040.

To encourage more Finns to get a degree in tech, an educational pathway has been mapped out, starting from first grade.

This begins with a technology education project called “This Works!”, which uses group problem-solving to spark early interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among seven-year-olds.

University students visit schools as “tech ambassadors” to share what they learn and inspire younger pupils to make a foray into tech.

By using digital platforms like TikTok to meet youth where they are, Finland aims to reposition tech as a lucrative and desirable career path.

Amid this push, Ms Elina Valtonen, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs – herself a former software developer and tech entrepreneur – said it is important for regulation not to get in the way of innovation if Finland is to have a competitive edge in technology.

While she does not think that regulation from the European Union has hampered technological innovation, she cautioned against focusing on red tape for specific technologies, to give space for entrepreneurship and autonomy.

“It is difficult for a regulator to keep up with the pace (of innovation), but that’s exactly the reason why we should concentrate on broader brushes than trying to do the nitty-gritty,” said Ms Valtonen.

She added that for Europe and Finland to secure its long-term future, it must do more than just produce tech.

“We not only need to cater for the fact that we have sufficient innovation and companies taking care of certain leading technologies, but we also have to make sure that we are leading in that technology and in that space,” she said.

One example of a Finnish company leading in its space is Supercell, a Helsinki-based gaming titan.

As the country’s most significant cultural export, its flagship titles – Clash Of Clans and Clash Royale – generated over €19 billion (S$28.2 billion) in lifetime revenue.

With more than seven billion installs and 290 million players monthly, Supercell is a testament to the global scalability of Finnish innovation.

According to Ms Frida Johansson, the games developer’s chief people officer, this success is driven by a belief in risk-taking and giving full autonomy to game creators.

“Hierarchical models are usually top-down, but here, we flip it. Power is given to game creators to make decisions, not the top executives,” she said.

To sustain its competitive edge, she added that Supercell pursues “Silicon Valley-level talent”, which has now translated into a diverse workforce of more than 900 employees from over 45 different nationalities.

Said Ms Johansson: “We believe that we won’t fail if we take risks, only if we stop taking risks.”