Kari-Pekka Murtonen grew up in Tanzania and now works globally from Zanzibar.
“I was honoured to be invited to an evening reception in Dar es Salaam, organised by the Finnish Ambassador. Before the actual event, I had the chance to briefly introduce our work on digital rehabilitation to the President”, Murtonen says.
At Jamk University of Applied Sciences, as part of our multidisciplinary rehabilitation focus area, we’re actively promoting a global shift toward digital multidisciplinary rehabilitation. We are also investing in AI-powered simulations and research environments with strong local partnerships in East Africa and beyond, to enhance functioning, participation, inclusion and dignity in social and health systems.
In Tanzania, we are co-developing future rehabilitation competencies, promoting inclusion, and increasing the number of students with disabilities in higher education. We are also currently exploring, together with the Ministry of Health rehabilitation team, how to scale Finnish solutions that were first proven in Rwanda.
This work, now recognised widely, reflects a core lesson also shared to Mr. President: “You can’t design scalable solutions from Finland alone. You build them with the people and countries/markets they’re meant to serve.”
