Alongside Tampere, Oulu and Espoo, Joensuu is one of Finland’s four major hubs for photonics. The city plays a key role in the field’s development. Approximately 15 photonics companies currently operate in the area. Photonics education has grown significantly, and Joensuu produces nearly half of Finnish photonics students.
This success is not a coincidence. It is the result of years of determined development work in cooperation with various actors in the field. Photonics is not a new field for the University of Eastern Finland. Research into the field has soon been carried out for 55 years, but in the beginning, activities were not recognised as internationally significant.
‘Back then, it was perhaps believed that promoting North Karelia within Finland would be enough – and we are indeed well-known. Later, we expanded our thinking to developing an ecosystem,’ says Juha Purmonen, who has a front-row seat to developments in the photonics field.
‘The idea behind our development work has been that the larger the competitor, the closer we must be to them. Through cooperation arrangements, a role has been found for each actor, and this is also true for Joensuu.’
He does not simply observe, either, but is also a strong participant: Purmonen is the Development Manager of Photonics at the university and Business Joensuu. He is also the Executive Director of Photonics Finland.
‘The idea behind our development work has been that the larger the competitor, the closer we must be to them. Through cooperation arrangements, a role has been found for each actor, and this is also true for Joensuu.’
Since then, the city’s photonics cluster has developed rapidly. Future challenges include a potential shortage of experts as well as what is becoming an acute lack of facilities for a growing number of businesses.
Purmonen’s position has given him a lot of travel opportunities, but also a great view into monitoring – and influencing – the way in which the field develops.
‘If there ever was a front-row seat, this is it. We are able to speak for Finnish photonics as a whole, we are familiar with businesses operating in the field and we are also able to work for those businesses. We are sort of like a national team for photonics,’ Purmonen says.
‘I think it’s great that we succeed in photonics through actions rather than proclamations!’
This material was produced as part of the activities of the City of Joensuu Innovation Ecosystem Agreement (ERDF), co-funded by the European Union and the city of Joensuu.