The project aims to sustainably enhance the vitality of the Helsinki metropolitan area by improving the prerequisites for the growth of drone business and services.
Objective
The first objective of the project is to intensify cross-sectoral RDI (Research, Development, and Innovation) cooperation in urban air mobility within the metropolitan area, which will have a long-term positive impact, particularly on the competitiveness of companies in the field.
This objective will be achieved, among other things, by bringing together the region’s RDI actors, companies, and cities to form a joint development group, organizing workshops and seminars where different actors can share information and expertise and develop common solutions, and by supporting the cooperation between companies and research institutions and promoting the development of new innovations.
The second objective of the project is to strengthen the cooperation and capability among public actors in the metropolitan area in promoting urban air mobility. The goal is that cooperation will become closer and deeper, and understanding of urban air mobility will increase. At the same time, the cities’ experiment and piloting platform activities will be developed, which also supports companies’ product development.
The third objective of the project is to initiate the development work for urban air mobility (U-space) in the metropolitan area in cooperation with various actors. U-space is a digital system that enables increasingly large numbers of unmanned aircraft to operate safely and efficiently. The goal is to create the conditions for the implementation of the U-space system in the metropolitan area, which also supports the project’s other objectives, such as intensifying RDI cooperation and strengthening the capability of public actors.
Duration, Partners, and Funding
- Project Duration: October 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027.
- Project Partners are: The City of Vantaa, the City of Helsinki, VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland), and Forum Virium Helsinki.
- Project Funder: The European Union and the Uusimaa Regional Council (ERDF) – from the metropolitan area ecosystem agreement.
- The total budget of the project is 844,735 euros, of which Forum Virium Helsinki’s share is 238,000 euros. External support covers 60 percent of the project’s total budget, or 506,841 euros.
Forum Virium Helsinki’s Role
Forum Virium Helsinki will build the urban air mobility ecosystem model and develop RDI activities in the metropolitan area using the developed ecosystem model. The most important role is to gather the actors together into an urban air mobility RDI development group and develop the operating model for RDI cooperation into a concept. In addition, Forum Virium Helsinki is responsible for the project’s communication and dissemination of outputs.
Forum Virium Helsinki supports the project’s other work packages, which include strengthening U-space cooperation and increasing capability in the metropolitan area, as well as supporting companies’ business and RDI development in urban air mobility through spatial development and innovation.
Benefits for Helsinki
The project strengthens Helsinki’s urban air mobility development, intensifies the cooperation between actors in the metropolitan area, and increases urban air mobility capability. With the ecosystem model and RDI cooperation, the City of Helsinki increases its ability to utilize drone services, develop new necessary services in cooperation with actors, and increases understanding of the benefits of drones in various sectors and units.
Sustainability
The most important objective of the project is to sustainably and responsibly enhance the vitality of the metropolitan area by supporting RDI cooperation in urban air mobility and the associated growing drone business, as well as by supporting the development of related public services.
By strengthening the prerequisites for the growth of drone business and services, the creation of new product and service innovations related to the field can be facilitated and investments can be attracted, thereby improving the competitiveness of both cities and companies.
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Image: Vesa Laitinen