Helsinki, Finland’s southern capital, sits on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland. Its central artery, Mannerheimintie, is flanked by institutions including the National Museum, tracing Finish history from the Stone Age to the present, imposing Parliament House and Kiasma contemporary art museum. On busy Senate Square, the neoclassical Helsinki Cathedral stands in contrast with Uspenski Cathedral and its cupolas.

What
The X-Center Helsinki is a non-profit research institute that is conducting research on futures and uncertainty. The X-Center Helsinki is a member of the international X-Center Network.

Why
The X-Center Helsinki’s aim is to develop theoretical framework and methods for national decision making. The X-Center Helsinki has been established to work as an active member of the X-Center international network, that is working on building a Theory of Surprise.  The special aim of the X-Center Helsinki is to support Finnish decision making, and support Finnish companies when they are building their competitiveness for the global markets dominated by uncertainty.

When
The XCH was formed in Helsinki, Finland in early 2013.

How
Specific research themes currently under investigation at the XCH include:

Transition to the next technology paradigm: The development of the economy and technology takes place on long cycles, where in the transition period in which the source and means of productivity and growth are radically changing. These cycles are called Kondratieff Waves and we are right now moving from one wave to another. Our aim is to investigate the pragmatic implications of the transition between 5th and 6th K-waves in two contexts:

Business ecosystem development within a new paradigm by applying a special Care–model to understand the new conditions for success, which incorporates resilience and foresight. This project is conducted in collaboration with Turku University, Futures Research Center and the Institute for the Future, CA US

Interaction of national innovation system and a company specific innovation system and their resilience in the transition phase. This project is a collaboration project with Aalto University Systems Laboratory, University of Jyväskylä, Keio University, Japan and STEPI, Korea

Future of welfare society:  alternative futures for the slow economic growth environment in 2030. The project is a part of the work of The Futures Committee of the Finnish Parliament.  The project is a collaboration project with The X-Center Vienna and Californian and German members of the X-Center Network.

Generic features of resilient structures and operations in the national economy and corporate level.  We have studied national and sector level resilience within previous projects, now we are establishing a project that is aiming at a development of a resilience index for corporations. This project is a sister project for similar initiatives with our Japanese and Korean X-Centers. The Finnish part of the project is funded by Finnish National Emergency Supply Management Agency (NESA) and four corporations that are participating in the project.

Who

Core Founding Members of the X-Center Helsinki

Leena Ilmola: L. Ilmola, has been contributing to policy making and assessment of Finnish Government (Finnish Government Future Resolution Task Force, responsible for risks and resilience) and Finnish Parliament (Futures Committee) and Ministry of Employment and Economics (Innovation policy, structural change) since 2011. She is a Senior researcher International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Vienna She has worked for many years as an entrepreneur and methods innovator. CEO Fountain Park Ltd, Finland.; CEO Promotiva Ltd., Finland; Department Head Scandinavian Corporate Strategic Planning Corporation.

Markku Wilenius: Adj. professor Turku School of Business, Futures Research Center, member of the Club of Rome, previous senior vice president at Insurance Company Allianz

References

Selected References

i.         7 Shocks and Finland:  A project report by John L. Casti and Leena International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) February 2012

ii.         Extreme Events: by John L. Casti, IIASA; Leena, IIASA; Petri Rouvinen, ETLU; Markku Wilenius, Turku University. The book serves as the final report of the Game Changers project. The project was established towards the end of 2009 as a part of the Extreme Events in Human Society initiative at IIASA, the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Laxenburg, Austria)

iii.         Surfing the Sixth Wave: Exploring the next 40 years of global change. The interim Report of the Project “The 6th Wave and Systemic Innovations for Finland: Success Factors for the Years 2010-2050 (6^th Wave)” by Markku Wilenius and Sofi Kurki Finland Futures Research Centre FFRC eBook 10/2012