Speakers

Mr. Petri Honkonen has been the Minister of Science and Culture of Finland since April 2022. As the Minister of Science and Culture, he is responsible for Higher Education, Science, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth as well as Religious Affairs. 

Prior to his tenure as a Minister Mr. Honkonen has been a Member of the Finnish Parliament since 2015. He holds a Master’s Degree in Arts with major in History and is qualified as a teacher of history and social studies.

Lauri is a scientist turned investor. He is one of the founders of Nordic Foodtech VC, the first investment fund focused explicitly on deep foodtech in the Nordics. Lauri holds a PhD in biotechnology and is an expert in cell culture technology and protein production. As a manager of Nordic Foodtech VC, his day-to-day work with scientist, new technology, food industry and startups gives him a deep perspective to the future of food. Lauri is passionate about building a radically more sustainable and healthy food system for this planet – and the next one.

Henrik is a strategist and business developer, but also a hands-on person that gets things happen. He has a can-do attitude: “If there is a will, there is a way.”

Developing new businesses, opening new markets, supporting strategy planning with business intelligence and taking part in strategy planning are just some of the work experiences. Henrik carries in his backpack over 20 years of experience in the food industry and over 10 years of experience of new business development.

Recording: How to Internationalize Business?

Louisa Parker-Smith is the Director of Global Sustainability, ESG and Government Affairs at AGCO Corporation. Working across AGCO’s brands, Ms Parker is passionate about precision agriculture, sustainable food production and a net-zero world.

Recording: Sustainable agricultural machine production

Claus Grøn Sørensen is Professor/Head of Research Unit at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University. Research focus is production and operations management, digitalization, system analysis, and simulation and modeling of technologies in agriculture. He is the past president of CIOSTA (Commission Internationale del’Organisation Scientifique du Travail Agriculture), past president of EurAgEng (the European Society of Agricultural Engineers), incoming President of CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering), full member of the Club of Bologna, and an iAABE Fellow (International Academy of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering).

Recording: Digitalization and the Green Transition

Jari Matero is a Senior Investment Lead at the Finnish Climate Fund where he leads new transactions through the investment process, manages portfolio investments and supervises the team of analysts. The Finnish Climate Fund is a government-owned financier and its operations focus on combating climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting digitalisation. Before joining the Finnish Climate Fund, Jari worked in the emerging markets at Finnfund, the Finnish development finance institution, as the head of agriculture and forestry portfolio.

Recording: The Finnish Climate Fund financing smart digital transformation in agriculture – Trends and future outlook

Hannu Haapala is doctor in agrotechnology. Smart Agriculture and related innovations are the key expertise areas of him. He has been Professor of agricultural engineering in Helsinki University and at the national research centre, MTT Agrifood Research Finland (current Natural Resources Institute). He has worked as CEO of ProAgria South Ostrobothnia, the advisory service for agriculture.  Currently he is the leading researcher at Jamk Institute of Bioeconomy, leading the Smart Bioeconomy research, and Associate Professor at Helsinki University.

An Assistant Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). A veterinarian with 20+ years of coding experience working within AI-driven agriculture and Computer Vision fields. Interested in the responsible digital transformation of agriculture, resource-efficient IoT applications and user-oriented product development.

Ebra is an international coach in business development. He is a serial entrepreneur in Sweden, Iran and Finland. He graduated from Dalarna University in Sweden with a Master of Science in Energy and Environmental Technology.

He has 15 years of experience in business development, sales and marketing, strategic planning, international and domestic management. As an expert in consulting and managing projects of internationalization and commercialization of innovative ideas as well as localizing projects, he has worked for different industries gaining in-depth knowledge of each. Working in C-Level positions for both European and Pan European markets has given Ebra the ability to manage multicultural teams and understand human resource diversity needs. His efforts have facilitated multiple startup successes and during his entrepreneurship career, he has closed fundraising rounds from seed stage to series B.

Sami Myyrä is doctor in agricultural economics. He has worked as a researcher almost two decades, before joining insurance business. His research topics included parametric insurances which are currently emerging to agricultural insurance portfolio. He is one of the agricultural economists who has published the most scientific articles in research journal including Land Economics, European Review of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Systems. Currently he is working extensively with LocalTapiolas regional companies to improve products and services offered to agricultural customers. Within his current work, he is also involved in research and development within Eurapco.

Tuija Riikonen is CEO of Lanneveden Osuuspankki having vast experience of both finance and insurance sector. She is passionate about helping people and business to make their dreams and plans true.

Elina Suni works at Jamk University of Applied Science´s Institute of Information Technology as a project manager in projects related to cyber security. Currently, she works as a project manager in Food Chain Cyber Resilience -project, The Cyber Security Incident Management Processes and Guidelines in Food Production and Logistics -project and as Jamk's representative in the Robocoast EDIH consortium.

Johannes Tiusanen is a 19th Generation Farmer, PhD scientist and adjunct professor with specialty in soil science and electronics. He's the founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Soil Scout, the leading provider of the most advanced wireless soil monitoring solution for soil experts. He's passionate on guiding the farming community towards an informed chain of digital steps instead of one giant leap.

Silvia Gaiani is a Senior Researcher at Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki where she is currently leading research on Innovations and entrepreneurship towards a sustainable transition of the food system. Before joining Ruralia Institute, Silvia has worked for FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its headquarters in Rome, Italy and WMO, the World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Her research and consultancy activities focus on the sustainability of the food supply chain, food innovation and entrepreneurship, food security. Silvia holds a master degree in International Relations and two PhDs, one in International Cooperation and Policies for Sustainable Development and one in Food Politics and Economics.

D.Sc. (Business Admin.) Minna-Maaria Hiekkataipale works as a Vice Rector of Jamk University of Applied Science. She is responsible for education.

Recording: Opening Session

Minna Lappalainen is in charge of the development of the Institute of Bioeconomy at JAMK University of Applied Sciences. She has an extensive experience in bioeconomy based businesses, innovation and start up strategies, management and funding. Lappalainen is passionate about the new business opportunities related to twin transition and is committed to enhance especially the digital transformation and data management in agriculture.