Networks for Serious Business: Finnish Game Industry

Kaisa Still, Networks for Serious Business: Finnish Game Industry. The Finnish game industry has grown to include about 260 game companies, most of them in mobile gaming, some of them being played by millions of gamers around the world every day. What is behind the remarkable success of Finnish game industry? Furthermore, how can the growth and success be supported and enabled in the future? We have taken a network- centric view to understanding the Finnish game industry and its dynamics. Our view is based on seeing independent firms forming symbiotic relationships to create and deliver products and services. Furthermore, firms are embedded in networks of relationships that remarkably affect their potential success in the markets. These nested structures of individuals, firms and their relationships can be studied with network modeling. With visual network analysis afford we aim to provide insights into the social configurations of the networks, simultaneously assisting in communicating the findings to others.

Kaisa Still is a Senior Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Supporting collaboration with technology continues to be at the core of her career. Her current research concentrates on platforms and innovation ecosystems, accelerating innovation activities and on digital opportunities. Combined with the policy perspective, her work extends to both private and public organizations, in regional and global contexts. Her academic background includes a M.Sc. in industrial engineering and management, and a Ph.D. in Information System Sciences. She has extensive industry experience in Finland, USA and China.

Interactive media and games increasingly pervade and shape our society. In addition to their dominant roles in entertainment, videogames play growing roles in education, arts, science and health. This seminar series brings together a diverse set of experts to provide interdisciplinary perspectives on these media regarding their history, technologies, scholarly research, industry, artistic value and potential future. As the speakers and title suggest, the series also provides a topical lens for the diverse aspects of our lives.