Abstract:Oulu has been a place for business and export industry in Northern Finland. In the 1970s began a difficult period of recession. Then, declining and unemployment-ridden Oulu seemed unexpectedly to start to boom. High technology products were being produced in the city and these products were sold more and more in international market. The main contribution of the paper is to provide a more thorough view of the multi-scientific expertise apparent in the gradual building of the growth base of the 'Oulu phenomenon'. The analysis shows the crucial role of system-theoretical and softwareoriented expertise and complements earlier views.
Abstract. This paper discusses the internationalization of software business in the Oulu region. Despite its small size, the region grew rapidly and very successfully into a global information and communication technology business center. The University of Oulu, which was the northern most university in the world at the time of its establishment (1958) had a strong emphasis on engineering since its very beginning. Research on electronics was carried out since the early 1960s. Later, when the Department of Information Processing Science was founded in 1969, research on information systems and later also on software engineering was carried out. This paper discusses the role of the information systems and software engineering research for the business growth of the region. Special emphasis is put on understanding the role of system-theoretical and software development expertise for transferring research knowledge into practice.
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