Finland's state-owned technical research institution VTT is positioned as an organization that helps turn inventions into social innovation and supports industry on a nonprofit basis. Some observers say its overall structure is difficult for Japanese companies to grasp, but emphasis is placed on its status as a government-affiliated organization whose aims are to return research benefits to society and strengthen industrial competitiveness.
Finland's state-owned technical research institution VTT publicly describes its identity as an organization that goes beyond producing research results to turn inventions into social innovation. The executive vice president overseeing the energy sector describes VTT's function as “turning inventions into innovation.”
Nakajima Kensuke (中島健祐) explains that VTT operates on a nonprofit basis and aims to return research results to society and strengthen industrial competitiveness. Revenue is used to pay researchers' salaries and cover the organization's operating expenses, and is reinvested in strategic research and development. He notes that VTT is difficult to understand as a type of organization not found in Japan.
VTT does not invest in mass production at factories. Instead, partner companies are responsible for scaling up and commercializing technologies using the technology in question. Emphasis is placed on VTT's status as a 100%-government-owned nonprofit organization whose purpose is to create social impact.
The article highlights the difficulty Japanese companies face in understanding VTT's role as a whole, while also emphasizing its unique organizational form as a nexus between the public and private sectors.