In building the needed research infrastructure, our future need will be for the highest level of international competence. This was well discussed in the communication from the Commission "ICT Infrastructures for e-Science" (March 5, 2009)", which stresses the need for a reinforced and coordinated effort to foster world-class ICT infrastructures, also known as e-infrastructures, to pave the way for the scientific discoveries of the 21st century.

New research methods based on information technology are revolutionizing research in a similar way to the scientific renaissance that started in the 1300s. During that period the foundation for modern science was laid, when researchers tried to describe phenomena of nature as accurately as possible, with mathematical means.

The European Commission states in its communication: "By scaling experimentation to unprecedented levels to tackle the very small, the very big and the very complex, we are on the verge of a new scientific renaissance." We must take action in order to ensure that Europe can maintain its compatibility and meet citizens’ expectations. This applies particularly well to small EU member states like Finland.

With its strong IT expertise, Finland can offer attractive collaboration possibilities for its European partners. In exchange, Finland can benefit from the high-quality expertise that society and corporate life badly needs in order to develop in areas like health care and energy-efficiency.

The importance of IT expertise is gaining ground as a competence field in pace with the increasing significance of e-Infrastructure. Even today, Finland has a major role in the implementation of IT solutions for the international research environment, attributable to our strong IT skills and stable national infrastructure.

The geographical location of Finland provides interesting possibilities when it comes to cost-effective information technology. Thanks to our Northern location, Finland is optimally located when it comes to cooling of large IT machine rooms. Low external air temperatures can be utilized in the “free cooling” process. Google has set an example in showing what an attractive place Finland is; they are building a large machine room complex in the old Summa paper mill in Hamina.

Eco-efficient information technology is growing rapidly in Finland as also elsewhere in the world. I believe there are collaborative opportunities for us in this field, not only in Europe but globally too. The building of green machine room environments will open avenues for cost-effective implementation of international IT operations. Collaboration is the key to making sustainable information technologies and services a European success factor.

Juha Haataja
Director, Customer services, CSC