Researchers
Jacopo Cammeo (UNISI)
Seconded from UNISI (Italy) to Merinova (Finland)
1 month, Spring 2022
I am a research assistant at Department of Business and Law, University of Siena. I graduated in Economics from the University of Florence and in Sustainable Development and Environmental Economics from the University of St Andrews. I am PhD Candidate in Business Administration and Management, with a project on the impact of digitalisation on firms’ sustainability in the Tuscan marble sector. My research areas lies with sustainability, clusters and innovation eco-systems, transition management, digitalisation. I am doing the secondment at Merinova, Vaasa, with the aim to study the functioning of the EnergyVaasa cluster and to identify the virtuous mechanisms, in terms industry-university cooperation, for the dissemination of knowledge and sustainable patterns. One of the possible outcome of the research is to cooperate with practitioners and scholars from Vaasa to design a framework for a possible “translation" of a successful model of technology transfer in different regional contexts at the European level.
Jacopo’s secondment experience
First, I would like to say that it was a great experience. I decided to go on a secondment to both explore a new professional environment and expand my network. I have never regretted this decision, since I spent a productive month in Vaasa, meeting several prepared practitioners and kind professors and colleagues. During the secondment, I mainly worked on the topic of technology transfer, specifically on the functioning of Industry-University cooperation in Finland.
Thanks to Merinova Technology Centre (the Finnish industrial partner for the OpenInnoTrain project), and to professor Tauno Kekäle who works there, I had the chance to meet managers and stakeholders involved into the process, submitting them a semi-structured interview about the historical pattern of the cluster, its mechanisms in terms of disseminaton of knowledge, and the importance of tangible and intangible assets for the development of Ostrobothnia region and Finland in general. The assessment of the digitalisation and sustainability level of the Vaasa Energy Cluster have been further issues that I have deepen during my stay.Â
The month spent in Vaasa was therefore important to verify in practice the different institutional framework established to support the technology transfer.
Thus, my stay in Finland was a personal enrichment in terms of expanding my international network and adapting to new work contexts. This experience has been definitely an adding value for my professional and personal growth, and I would definitely recommend to go on secondment in Vaasa, especially to those that want to work in a quiet but, at the same time, lively and nice place