The volume of research, development and innovation activities (RDI) turned towards a clear decline after two challenging years. The volume increased significantly from the previous year to €7.6 million (€6.9 million in 2015). The amount of external funding nearly doubled, standing at €4.7 million (€2.5 million in 2015). A wide range of RDI projects were prepared through a variety of financing programmes. The granted funds enabled the commencement of new RDI projects. However, the majority of the funding decisions came later than anticipated, which contributed to slowing down the implementation of RDI activities and preventing the planned goals from being reached. At the turn of the year, the financiers were still processing numerous project applications.
The most significant efforts went into the preparations of the eAMK – Oppimisen uusi ekosysteemi (eAMK – New ecosystem for learning) project, which is a joint initiative of all universities of applied sciences, with JAMK in charge of the preparation. The planned cost estimate for the project is approx. €5 million for the entire project consortium.
The RDI efforts focused on the strengths specified by JAMK’s new strategy, including education and business expertise, bioeconomy, applied cyber security, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, and automation and robotics as an emerging field. Activities in these areas of strength were initiated in many fields. Similarly, the cooperation with key partners, the University of Jyväskylä and the municipal education consortium was diverse. JAMK experts were actively involved in the development of the Kangas, Kukkula (new and old hospital) and Hippos areas. In addition to this, the EduFutura cooperation was initiated.