Representatives from a Finnish National Research Fund will Visit San Diego, January 9-16, to Study Innovation
01/07/2005
Paula Cichocka,
National Fund for Research and Development (SITRA) will attend a series of meetings and seminars in San Diego on January 9-16. The SITRA commission will be co-hosted by the UC San Diego's Graduate School of International Affairs and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) and UCSD Extension. Established by the Finnish government in 1967, SITRA's responsibilities include the promotion of economic development through research and training and financial support for innovative projects and business development. In 2004, SITRA launched its Innovation Management Programme to help make Finland a "pioneer in innovation". As part of the program's first phase, project leaders will visit two cities, San Diego and Dublin, to study the strategies that both cities have mplemented to promote innovation.
On January 10, the commission will attend presentations by IR/PS professors Dean Peter Cowhey, Gordon Hanson and Barry Naughton on the creation of an attractive regional innovation environment. Afterward, they will meet with researchers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center, the UCSD Wireless Center and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology to learn more about the cutting-edge research currently being done at UCSD. SITRA representatives will also visit a broad range of local public and private organizations, including the Burnham Institute, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, and a cluster of digital media companies in Marina Del Ray. SITRA plans to use the information gained from their visit to San Diego to develop a country-wide innovation action plan for Finland.
IR/PS Media Contact: Paula Cichocka, (858) 534-1465, pcichocka@ucsd.edu
