Harri Palviainen was appointed as the director of the Information Technology Unit of HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences at the beginning of December. Palviainen is highly experienced in leading international ICT companies as well as in the management of education and training businesses.

Before this appointment, Palviainen was the CEO of ACC Global Oy, a part of Sanoma Group. Palviainen also worked as executive vice-president of Comptel Oyj, where he was in charge of the company’s European operations and, before that, its operations in Northern and Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa. This work was the culmination of a career at Comptel in several management positions related to sales and product development. Palviainen’s other positions have included those of Satama Interactive Oyj Technology Director and the director of the Elisa Communications research centre.

- The IT education at HAAGA-HELIA focuses on internationalisation and co operation with business partners. Utilising information and communication technologies in business, developing service and sales abilities, and cultivating entrepreneurship are just a few examples of our areas of focus, says Palviainen.

HAAGA-HELIA is Finland’s largest IT education provider at the polytechnic level. The institute currently has more than 1,700 IT students. In the autumn of 2012, the study opportunities will further expand, with an English-language master’s programme.