Who is Who in the Blockchain ecosystem of Finland?
By: Kari Syrja
Tags: Blockchain, Blockchain Technology, Blockchain Application, Blockchain Startup, Blockchain Development

Who are the key influencers in the Finnish Blockchain sphere?

Picture via Pixabay by Anastasia Borisova

How do you analyze who is who if you want to find key influencers of a certain country Blockchain sphere? Who is who? Who are the movers & shakers? Who are the “brains” and leading people? Disclaimer: Fyggex.com is Finland based limited company and has deep interest in the matter. For the sake of integrity we de-list all our collaborators from the below list.

Sources of information

Here, as a sample, let us have a look into Finland. Quick research check here to be done with Social media (Twitter & Linkedin), Literature & Academic papers and finally if there is any association or meetup where key people interact. Please note (not 100% sure) avoidance cryptocurrency angle as this text is entirely about Non-currency related Blockchain only

Social Media (Real names only, not exchaustive list)

Twitter: Anna Juusela, Petri Honkanen, Juha Viitala, Ville Sointu

Linkedin: Juhana Hirvilehti, Markus Hautala, Martin Wichmann, Hans Kärtner, Antti Osara, Vesa Lähdemäki, Mika Honkasalo, Olli Muukka, Jarmo Suoranta, Teijo Peltoniemi, Sven Martinsson, Tuomo Haukkovaara, Sampo Tervomaa, Mikko Alasaarela, Matti Timonen, Ville Hilmola, Riku Wiitala, Esa Niiranen, Anniina Saarinen, Dmytro Naumenko, Svante Lehtonen, Mika Romanoff, Hannu Valkonen, Suvi Nummipuro, Juha Nokelainen, Lauri Peltonen, Ben Sheppard, Janne M. Korhonen …& still very many others

2. Literature: Books & research

Antti Innanen, Mikko Eerola, Juha Viitala, Patrik Johansson: Lohkoketju

Wille Kuutti: Kryptovaluutat ja lohkoketjut, mahdollisuus vai uhka?

Henter Eloranta: Lohkoketjut kryptovaluutoissa

Arto Holopainen: Lohkoketju, Digitalisaatio

Sami Karhunen: Lohkoketju ja älykkäät sopimukset

Vesa-Matti Lahti: Lohkoketju muuttaa maailmaa

Markus Rahkola: Katsaus Lohkoketjuteknologioiden hyödyntämiseen Suomessa

Erno Seppänen: Lohkoketjujen potentiaali ja tulevaisuus

Henrik Suikkanen: Economic and Institutional Implications of Blockchain

3. Associations and other institutions

Blockchain forum Finland: Jay Hamideh, Tomi Dahlberg, Mikko Valjakka, Juhani Strömberg, Markus Lehtonen, Teemu Rissanen, Anita Kalergis, Jussi Simolin, Henrik Keinonen, Lari Iso-Anttila & Pertti Reponen

Lohkoketju Laboratorio (University of Jyväskylä)

Conclusion: Who is who?

Despite the impression of Linkedin giving over 40 pages of people in Finland with Blockchain skills, the real circles are relatively small. If you reach out to the people mentioned here, they will know most likely common names who lead the Finnish blockchain scene.

One might criticize the above list that it is the Government and Big corporates who lead the game, they are the ultimate locomotives or show stoppers of any serious local development. In that sense one might need to ask are there any major Finnish large multinationals embrace Blockchain technology today? In the finance sector Tieto,OP group, Nordea bank & Privanet had a joint share distribution development project but it has not reached daylight yet as commonly used system, has it? TietoEvry is the largest Finnish company with a Blockchain practise

From the Public Sector side, the capital of Finland, Helsinki invests in Helsinki Blockchain center and sets up the scene. The Parliament has ordered special report about practical implementations. But from another perspective, who needs national boundaries anymore on the age of internet? Blockchain customers, partners and provides can operate globally from anywhere, as the very idea is to be decentralized across the nodes. Therefore, more important than Finland might be to analyze the nodes. Which cities around the world are those network nodes that gather most Blockchain talent and companies to themselves as magnets of the development?