Espoo Marketing Oy and Japan Innovation Network Sign Co-operation Agreement
Tokyo 12 February 2016
Espoo Marketing Oy and Japan Innovation Network today signed a co-operation agreement at
Japan Innovation Network's (JIN) offices in Tokyo.
The agreement was signed by the President of Japan Innovation Network, Professor Dr. Noboru
Konno and CEO of Espoo Marketing Oy, Ms. Jaana Tuomi.
The co-operation aims to bring together the innovations and startup-thinking of the Finnish
counterpart with the excellence in quality and engineering of large scale Japanese corporations.
Both parties expect the co-operation to be fruitful and beneficial.
The agreement encompasses co-branding opportunities, joint events such as seminars andconferences, and company missions in both countries. The signatories, also agree to help
companies from the other country to establish or expand business and innovation operations in thepartner's market.
"Opportunities for innovation are everywhere nowadays, not limited within a single country or area.
Having a global partner such as Espoo Innovation Garden located in a mature country takes on
significance for us because Japan is also a developed nation that faces serious social issues incommon with Finland. We believe that this partnership agreement is a great trigger for various
studies and projects for new knowledge creation and mutual understanding of both regions," saidDr. Noboru Konno, President of Japan Innovation Network.
"We expect increase innovation activity in both directions. The world of innovation and the growthof Born Global companies are globally important topics, and we at Espoo Innovation Garden arevery pleased with this new co-operation with the Japanese," said Mr. Ari Huczkowski, COO ofEspoo Marketing Oy.
Japan Innovation Network has similar arrangements with organization and companies in the UnitedStates and Europe and now — Finland.
The idea for a co-operation agreement was initiated during JIN's top executives' visit to Espoo inJune 2015 during the European Commission conference, "Open Innovation 2.0," held at Espoo
Innovation Garden.
About the signing parties:
Japan Innovation Network (JIN) is a non-profit innovation platform that assists companies increating value through global collaboration, disruptive thinking and outside-of-the-box approach.
JIN aims to create 100 innovative companies through global collaboration. JIN plays a role ofCatalyst with strong advisory capabilities as a hub function to foster innovation in Japan. For more
information: http://ji-network.org/en/
Espoo Marketing Oy is a non-profit company owned by the City of Espoo promoting and developing
Northern Europe's largest innovation hub Espoo Innovation Garden in Espoo, Finland. Espoo

Innovation Garden creates one risk-fundable startup every week through its many accelerators andco-working locations. Over 44,000 people from 110 countries work locally in its over 100 companies
and research organizations. For more information: http://www.espooinnovationgarden.fi/en
Contact Information:
Noboru Konno
Jaana Tuomi
Naohiro Nishiguchi
Ari Huczkowski
Best regards,Ari Huczkowski
COO & Chief Innovation Evangelist
M.Sc. (Econ)
Espoo Innovation Garden
Innopoli 2
Tekniikantie 1402150 ESPOO
Finland+358405215642
ari.huczkowski@espoo.fi
www.espooinnovationgarden.fi