Which solution will win a million euros? The Ratkaisu 100 competition approaches its climax

Fifteen teams, a million euros, and only the best will win. Who holds the key to the skills and knowledge challenge? Ratkaisu 100, Sitra’s competition to shape the future for Finland, climaxes this autumn when the teams developing the best social innovations compete for the top prize at Sitra’s 50th anniversary celebrations, to be held at the Finnish Science Centre Heureka.

“The solutions of the teams have progressed tremendously over the course of the competition,” says Kalle Nieminen, a specialist in challenge competitions at Sitra. “It will be exciting to see whose solutions are chosen as the best.”

Effectiveness of solutions in the balance

The effectiveness, innovativeness and feasibility of the solutions will be assessed in the final evaluation. The winner of a million euros in development money will not be chosen by Sitra, the organiser of the competition. The selection will be made by an independent, external jury.

“The choice will not be an easy one. Utilising the skills and knowledge of everyone is an important and complicated task,” says the chair of the jury, immigration researcher Laura Hirvi, who serves as the Director of the Finnish Institute in Germany.

“I am waiting with great interest to see how the teams have approached the challenge and what kinds of new, insightful solutions have emerged in the process.”

The jury comprises seven members:

Laura Hirvi, Director, Finnish Institute in Germany,
Chair of the Ratkaisu 100 jury

Timur Kärki, CEO, Gofore Oy
Ilona Lundström, Director General, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Maija-Leena Paavola, Secretary-General of the Finnish Parliament
Harri Peltoniemi, Director, Finnish Education Evaluation Centre
Taneli Tikka, Head of Innovation Incubation, Tieto Oyj
Liisa Välikangas, professor, Aalto University.

The monetary prize will be given to help further develop the winning solution.

Finland’s most important challenge – How to maximise the knowledge and skills of everybody

The challenge facing the teams in the Ratkaisu 100 competition is to develop a solution that enables the better recognition of knowledge and skills in a world in which people and data increasingly move from one country to another. The challenge was chosen through crowdsourcing: thousands of Finns took part in the selection of the challenge: first in open debate and through a search for ideas, and then through an open public vote.

Fifteen teams were chosen for the competition in the spring of 2017.

“The challenge competition is not only producing concrete solutions, it can also spur societal change by sparking debate,” according to Nieminen.

Challenge competitions have proven to be a good way of tackling a variety of challenges and of prompting new ways of thinking for solving our complicated problems.

“The prize money is not the only reason why the teams have joined the competition,” says Riina Pulkkinen of Sitra, who is responsible for supporting the development of the teams. “The competitions are public arenas for developing a solution and for some the visibility of the competition is an interesting benefit.

“For others, the sparring of peers and mentors has been the attraction. The competition also gives individuals the possibility to develop themselves and an idea that may have been stewing in their mind for some time, but which has lacked the right time and place for development.”

Learn about the solutions

The Ratkaisu 100 Showtime event at Suvilahti in Helsinki on 24 October offered an opportunity to talk with members of the teams, to learn exciting things about new social innovations and to gain inspiration from an atmosphere buzzing with forward-looking thinking. The event was featured online at www.ratkaisu100.fi.

Of the original jury, Anita Lehikoinen, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Culture and Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director of the National Agency for Education, disqualified themselves from participation in the work of the jury and the evaluation of the entries over a potential conflict of interest. To secure diversity of the jury and the equal and non-discriminatory treatment of the contestants, the composition of the jury has been supplemented. The new members of the jury are Ilona Lundström, Director General of the Enterprise and Innovation Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and Harri Peltoniemi, Director of the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre Karvi.