Open call for mobile developers to join World Design Capital Helsinki 2012

“Mobile technology can be an enabling factor in solving wicked problems,” said CEO Martti Malmivirta of the Eera business management consultancy at a MobileMonday event in Helsinki in early June. He made an open call for mobile technology and service developers to tap into the opportunities offered by World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 (WDC Helsinki 2012).

 

WDC Helsinki 2012 is an opportunity for mobile developers to create contributions for ‘making a better city’, according to the objectives of the World Design Capital project. “Mobility could be a big theme in WDC Helsinki 2012 projects,” Malmivirta said at the MobileMonday event.

 

Eera played an important role in creating Helsinki’s concept for the World Design Capital 2012 bid and in the development of the WDC Helsinki 2012 strategy.

 

Mobility has been an enabling factor for Eera and its clients, and Malmivirta is now urging mobile developers to help companies not very familiar with mobile applications to come up with new solutions under the umbrella of WDC Helsinki 2012. Mobility could play a role in many real-life related processes in, for example, health care, public transport, solving problems created by the aging population, and in fighting climate change.

 

According to Malmivirta, successful WDC Helsinki 2012 projects could be springboards for mobile companies to market their products globally, aided by the global visibility of the World Design Capital title.

 

WDC Helsinki 2012 seeks to build prerequisites for a better life for citizens, starting from their daily lives, and aims at new growth for businesses at the same time. The project sees a new role for design in society – where design is embedded in life. Embedded Design is the overall theme of Helsinki’s World Design Capital year and projects.

 

“A key to Embedded Design is the desirability of products – why people want to have and use new products and services. Here emotional aspects are in a central role,” Malmivirta explains the meaning of Embedded Design and what it can mean for mobile developers.

 

WDC Helsinki 2012 will be accepting project proposals from the early autumn 2010 onwards.

 

 

MobileMonday is an open community for mobile professionals, self-described as the world’s largest mobile networking initiative.

 

Mobile industry representatives from all sizes of businesses, from start-ups to world leaders of the industry, and from any level of the organization, meet once a month at MobileMonday events to exchange views and ideas. The events serve as unofficial platforms for making connections that can lead to new business ideas and deals. Between the monthly get-togethers, networking continues virtually via MobileMonday websites.

 

The background of the mobile networking is the strength of the Finnish mobile industry. Close to ten years ago, small Finnish mobile enterprises joined forces to be successful in the international arena, and the outcome was MobileMonday Helsinki.

 

Mobile Monday remained a Helsinki-based initiative for the first four years. Since 2005, the initiative has been going global at a fast pace. New chapters are established monthly. The chapters now number approximately 120 and can be found in 50 countries on all continents. The chapters operate on voluntary basis.