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Japanese Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama University choose Oulu as European partner in the Life Sciences branch

Julkaistu 16.10.2014

The official delegation of Mr. Yuji Kuroiwa, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, will be visiting Oulu from October 15th to 17th, 2015. The group of 19 visitors in total will acquaint themselves with the operations of the City of Oulu, the University of Oulu, local businesses, and Oulu University Hospital.

On Thursday, a document (MoU - memorandum of understanding) was signed in Oulu regarding cooperation in the fields of health and well-being, biotechnology, eHealth research and business activities between the City of Oulu and Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The document lays the groundwork for collaboration between the regions of Oulu and Kanagawa, particularly in the branch of Life Sciences, and paves the way for the development of science, technology and commerce between public actors, businesses, universities, and research institutes.

Members of the delegation include 10 representatives of the board of Kanagawa Prefecture, four representatives of Yokohama National University and the CWC-Nippon organization, and four corporate partners, mainly from the Life Sciences branch.

“Oulu is Japan’s first European partner within future health,” says Olli Löytynoja, Head of Key Accounts at BusinessOulu.

“The OuluHealth ecosystem and the Kanagawa health network are now engaged in cooperation. On a national scale, Oulu is in a leading role in the Innovative Cities (INKA) programme led by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (TEKES). The Japanese counterpart is the New Frontier programme, in which Kanagawa Prefecture is a key actor," says Noora Jansson, Director of OuluHealth and the INKA programme.

The CWC-Nippon company, founded in Yokohama in 2002 by the University of Oulu, focuses on research and business cooperation between Finnish and Japanese operators. (See Appendix: CWC-Nippon, University of Oulu research institute in Japan)
The visit concludes in Helsinki on Friday.

More information:

Tuula Palmen
Head of Key Accounts (Life Sciences),
BusinessOulu; 050 461 7290
tuula.palmen@businessoulu.com

Noora Jansson
Director (OuluHealth, Innovative Cities (INKA))
040 753 2917
noora.jansson@businessoulu.com

Olli Löytynoja, Head of Key Accounts, BusinessOulu
0400 34 00 28
olli.loytynoja@businessoulu.com

Pentti Leppänen
Professor Emeritus, CWC-Nippon board member
0400 586 489
pentti.leppanen@ee.oulu.fi

Vice Principal
Professor Olli Silvén
CWC-Nippon board Chair
olli.silven@oulu.fi

www.ouluhealth.fi