Strategy across three workstreams
Urban planning operates on long timescales. A 5-, 10-, or 15-year horizon is the relevant frame for smart city investment — which makes conventional business strategy tools poorly suited to the job. We applied strategic foresight methodologies that were new to Business Finland, giving them a systematic way to think about mid-to-long-term offering development for the first time. The work had three distinct areas. VTT produced a landscape study analysing opportunities, risks, trends, and drivers in the global smart city space. In parallel, we conducted comprehensive smart city strategy mapping across 16 cities in 4 geographical areas. From this, we developed the "Sustainable Smart City Quadrant Framework" — a positioning tool that Business Finland consultants can use in their sales conversations with Finnish companies. The third area involved facilitated sessions with the participating companies. KONE, Vaisala, Nokia, and Varjo worked through the framework to position their own future offering development, identify opportunity areas, and map anticipated changes in their respective domains. This grounded the strategic picture in the realities of today's business environment.
16 cities mapped. 4 geographical areas. One framework for positioning Finland's smart city offering — built to be used in sales conversations, not filed in a strategy report.
An offering larger than its parts
The project surfaced a key finding: global corporations typically offer only narrow slices of the smart city ecosystem. To win, Finnish companies need to collaborate closely — combining strengths within unique public-private ecosystems rather than competing independently against much larger players. Business Finland now has a shared vision, a holistic approach, and a future-proof collaboration model for sustainable smart city offerings. Strategic foresight has been embedded into their toolkit as a practical method — not an occasional consultant input, but a capability they can apply to future business development. The project also created tangible value between the participating companies. Multiple potential business opportunities were identified between KONE, Vaisala, Nokia, and Varjo. Trust was built. Partnerships were initiated. Finland's competitive position in the global smart city market moved from fragmented to coordinated.
"Global corporations' offerings represent only narrow ecosystem parts. Successful winning offerings require close internal collaboration among local actors within unique public-private ecosystems." — Key project finding
Next projects.
(2016-25©)
