Pekka ٳٲԳä쾱 appointed as UNESCO Chair
“Our purpose is to clarify the applicability of digital service platforms for the environments of developing countries. Application areas include, for example, the Finnish education system, the health care system and other public services. The project involves a large international cooperation network of researchers and companies,” says Professor ٳٲԳä쾱.
“Finland has seven UNESCO Chairs and at the moment two of them is at JYU, Professor Pekka ٳٲԳä쾱 and Professor Heikki Lyytinen. ٳٲԳä쾱 is the fourth UNESCO-professor at JYU. The UNESCO Chair is in a key area of JYU’s strategy. Knowing ٳٲԳä쾱’s merits, we can expect the project to have significant scientific and societal impact,” says Rector Keijo Hämäläinen.
The four-year UNESCO Chair supports global and multidisciplinary networking in order to research and utilise digital platforms in changing world. The project utilises Finnish experience in platform development and research pioneering. Funding is applied for from the EU and international operators.
Research and development work is directed to the challenges of both industrial and emerging economies. Special target areas include African countries, Pakistan, India and some South American countries. With the help of the project, also international students living in Finland are able to investigate in their final theses how good Finnish practices and technologies could be applied in their home countries.
“Doctoral education in our faculty has traditionally been very international, and the project also includes master’s and doctoral education for students from developing countries,” says Pasi Tyrväinen, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology.
“The cooperation supplements our international Platform Value Now project that is funded by the Academy of Finland. We especially focus on renewing the education and healthcare systems with AI-based technologies. As part of the project activities, Jyväskylä will host international education and healthcare conferences that deal with solutions based on groundbreaking tehnologies in the fields. In my career, I have done a lot of similar work. Now the UNESCO Chair offers it a global status,” says Professor ٳٲԳä쾱 joyously.
Further information:
Pekka ٳٲԳä쾱, UNESCO Chair on Digital Platforms for Transforming Economies, tel. +358 40 550 7005, pekka.neittaanmaki@jyu.fi.
UNESCO Chairs and Professorships at the Ģֱ: