Urban and Regional High Technologies: The Case of Oulu

Abstract

This paper investigates the reasons behind what has been termed the ‘Oulu Phenomenon’ in Northern Finland. Over the past two to three decades the city of Oulu has transformed its economy from dependency on timber, paper and pulp industries into one based on High Technology, notably, telecommunications, biotechnology, electronics, multimedia and environmental technologies. In particular the paper will explore the role played by the national government via regional policy, higher education and the subsequent interaction between these, the local authorities and entrepreneurs

Keywords:

• High technology
• regional policy
• higher education
• path dependency
• anchor firms
• networking

Acknowledgements

A great debt is owed to the current and former staff of both Oulu University and Oulu Polytechnic, particularly Ilkka Marjomma, Antti Rovamo, and Paavo Simla, and to many firms for giving up their time to be interviewed and answering what must have seemed like interminable questions.