Millennium Innovation Forum brings future makers together
Do you want to learn what kind of technology will save the planet? What will we eat, how will he consume and how will we be cared for? Who will make decisions on our shared future?
These are only some of the world-changing conversations that you will be able to join at the Millennium Innovation Forum on 19 May, a conference that brings together innovators, researchers, business community members and influencers to discuss the significance of technology, knowledge, and innovations to the future of humankind.
“We already have technologies to save the planet.
Pasi Vainikka, Solar Foods
The international innovation conference will be organized for the first time on 19 May 2021. Millennium Innovation Forum celebrates the Millennium Technology Prize, worth one million euros and awarded to a technological innovation that improves people’s quality of life and promotes sustainable development.
The international line-up of speakers at the event includes, among others, Economics Nobel Laureate Bengt Holmström, futurist Anne Lise Kjaer, robotics researcher Jamie Paik, Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark, Neste CEO Peter Vanacker, and founder of Decolonizing Futures Initiative Pupul Bisht. The event is moderated by Jason Palmer, journalist and host of “The Intelligence” podcast in The Economist.
“We already have technologies to save the planet. In climate issues, for instance, individuals need to be empowered to be a part of the solution, not only a part of the problem,” says Pasi Vainikka, one of the speakers as well as founder and CEO of food production innovation company Solar Foods.
The conference will be opened by the Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä and Chair of Technology Academy Finland Marja Makarow. Technology Academy Finland is the foundation that awards the Millennium Technology Prize.
“Following the example of the Millennium Technology Prize Winners, we will open a broad dialogue on the solutions that are direly needed for globally shared challenges. Answers can be found in the ways people decide to use science, innovations and technology. We wish to offer businesses, researchers and policy-makers a common forum for the discussion,” says Technology Academy Finland CEO Markku Ellilä.
Pitching contest and virtual visits
Participants of the Millennium Innovation Forum are invited to join virtual visits to six organizations at the vanguard or the innovation field.
In Halton’s InnovationHub, we learn how air processing can be used to stop the spread of viruses in an operating room. Metsä Group takes us to their demo plant, where textile is made of wood. With Aalto University, participants visit the Ice Tank laboratory mimicking the conditions of the arctic seas.
Read more about the destinations of Vaisala, Neste and Nokia.
In addition to the virtual visits, the conference also offers a chance to witness the Grand Final of the Millennium Pitching Contest, where top organizations have nominated their representatives.
Millennium Innovation Forum is also the venue for the 2021 Millennium Youth Prize award ceremony. Youth Prize is a challenge-based contest by Millennium Technology Prize for innovators under 19 years old. The contest is organized by Aalto University and Technology Academy Finland.
