SPEAKERS

Professor Markku Wilenius has acted as Director of the Finland Futures Research Centre in 1999-2001, as Research Director in 2002-2003 and again as Director from August 1, 2003. He was nominated as Professor of Futures Studies at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration on November 14, 2003. Markku Wilenius is also Adjunct Professor in the University of Helsinki.

Wilenius' interests in research and development focus on the development of the society and forecasting of development, visionary and strategic management of organisations in terms of their competence building as a way to "futurise" them, and sustainable development. In 2004 he published a book on creative economy and the meaning of cultural know-how, named "Cultural Competence as a Component of National Competitiveness". From the spring 2005 on, he has been on leave from the Centre's Director's post, focusing on leading a large research project "Managing Creative Knowledge Capital", which studies the potentials of competitiveness with 6 major Finnish corporations through assessing their innovativeness and renewal capability. In November 2006 he published, together with Professor Pirjo Ståhle, an new book based on this project entitled "Creative Knowledgre Capital. Sustainable Competitive Advantage of the Future".

Wilenius is member of two boards, one set by the Finnish Ministry of Education and the other by University of Jyväskylä, which both promote and build grounds for cultural know-how and innovativeness as a national competitiveness resource. In 2002, Wilenius was appointed to the Club of Rome and in 2005 its Executive Committee. He has also acted as a chairman of the committee that prepared the national agenda of Finland for the UN summit meeting in Johannesburg 2002. Wilenius acts also as a vicechair of the executive committee of the Finnish Consumer Agency and acts as an expert in various Conference Advisory boards. His publications cover academic, economic and public forums about the current research issues as well as burning daily issues close to his heart. He is also a wanted speaker, and has made time to lecture on many different arenas.

Pekka Ylä-Anttila
Research Director at ETLA (The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy) and Managing Director of Etlatieto Ltd (a project research and information services unit of ETLA).

Pekka Ylä-Anttila is author or co-author of more than 25 books and dozens of articles in the fields of competitiveness analysis, industrial and technology policies, industrial economics, technological change, and internationalization of business. Executive Committee member of EARIE (European Association for Research in Industrial Economics) in 1984-92. Member of Scientific Advisory Board of Statistics Finland (Central Statistical Office) in 1996-2002.

Pekka Ylä-Anttila was the director of the major cluster study program “Advantage Finland - the Future of Finnish Industries”, carried out in 1992–1995. He was the main adviser for the Ministry of Trade and Industry in preparing National Industrial Strategy for Finland in 1992-93 and consultant for making industrial and innovation policy guidelines in 2001. He was also a steering group member of Prime Minister’s task force ‘Finland in the Global Economy’ in 2004.

Ylä-Anttila has been a member of several groups evaluating innovation and industrial policies, including the evaluation of the Finnish innovation support system in 2003.

Pekka Ylä-Anttila has recently participated in international ICT-related projects at OECD, UNU/WIDER, and the World Bank. He is also a team leader of ETLA – BRIE (Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy at University of California, Berkeley) collaborative research program on global digital economy. Ylä-Anttila is a member of several international research teams and networks. His current research interests include innovation policies, internationalization of R&D, and multinational companies in small economies.

Justin O’Connor is Professor of Cultural Industries at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds, where he leads the Masters in Culture, Creativity and Enterprise.

Between 1995 and 2006 he was Director of Manchester Institute for Popular Culture at Manchester Metropolitan University. His main areas of interest are contemporary urban cultures, with a special emphasis on cultural and creative industries, culture-led urban regeneration and contemporary urban cultures. He has published extensively and organises many conferences on these subjects. During this time he was programme leader for the joint Masters on European Urban Cultures involving Universities from Brussels, Tilburg and Helsinki.

O’Connor led the research which led to the establishment Manchester Creative Industries Development Service) the UK’s first dedicated local economic development agencies for the creative industries. Justin also co-convenes the Forum on Creative Industries, the UK’s leading network of creative industry development professionals. He was also a member of the North West Regional Development Agency’s ‘think tank’ on creative industries, and is frequently asked to present to visiting foreign delegations on creative industries in the city and region. Justin was also lead academic advisor to Manchester’s Urbis museum on the contemporary city.

O’Connor also led a partnership project between Manchester, Helsinki and St Petersburg to develop a creative industries strategy for the Russian city. His interest in the developing agenda for the creative industries outside Europe has seen him speak in Beijing, South Korea and Taiwan; he has recently organised an academic conference Creative Industries, Creative Cities with Singapore National University and Shanghai Academy of Social Science. He is on the international advisory board for the Shanghai Creative Industries centre.