Annual Report: Research and development 2021
Lead paragraph
We started 2021 in a new formation in which research, development and innovation work were placed in the four research areas reflecting Haaga-Helia’s profile. We implemented engaging research and development in cooperation with our partners in the following four research areas:
• Sales development and digitalisation
• Service business development and design
• Engaging vocational pedagogy
• Entrepreneurship and business development.
The new financing programmes that commenced in 2021 in addition to the EU’s recovery instrument have worked very well in Haaga-Helia’s and our partners’ RDI project efforts towards a greener and more digital world.
We actively applied for funding and over half of our applications were successful. The funding we received exceeded our target which was EUR 6 million. Three-quarters of our funding came from three sources: The European Social Fund (ESF), the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Our good development towards increasingly impactful operations is also underlined by the annual development of our number of publications, which continued its steady increase. In 2021, we published a total of 855 publications, 96 of which were peer-reviewed articles.
Sustainability and digitalisation
Haaga-Helia’s project base reflects the EU’s twin transition well, the aim of which is a green (climate neutral) and digital transition. Projects focused on responsible and sustainable development are highlighted in our portfolio.
Correspondingly, the utilisation of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in particular are visible in our operations. We are also involved in the Finnish AI Region consortium (FAIR) that is striving for the status of an European innovation cluster.
The development of artificial intelligence is also visible in the services we develop for the students. In the 3AMK alliance, we developed the Careerbot AI solution for prediction and planning. Careerbot helps people design their own competence profiles and apply them to the needs of working life, plan topics for theses, and find courses and jobs corresponding to the competence profile.
Our AI Driver profile funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture focuses on the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence and accelerating the digitalisation and artificial intelligence development of SMEs. Haaga-Helia is also part of the European Ulysseus university alliance in which our responsibility covers things such as the AI Hub innovation environment.