Introduction and Nokia's Early Days
Finland’s impact on the world of technology has been monumental for the technology industry. The country and its talented workforce have changed how we look at technology and revolutionised the technological landscape with their innovation and quality. Every device you own has been influenced by Finland.
So, how did technology in Finland begin? For the oldest and most influential company in Finland, it all started in the small city of Nokia in the year 1865. Yes! Nokia is older than many other tech companies. The company was founded by Fredrik Idestam, Leo Mechelin, and Eduard Polón, who founded it as a paper mill company. Nokia has an interesting history that includes many ups and downs, and we’ll be covering it later on in another in-depth article.
Nokia's journey and Recent Developments
Finland has created many innovations that are used worldwide, but not many people know they are actually Finnish. So, what are these innovations? We’ll start off with Nokia and talk about its journey from a paper mill company to a worldwide mobile network and phone creator. Nokia phones are the most well-known Finnish products.
Unfortunately, Nokia lost to Apple and Google, but the brand’s success is still very powerful, with HMD Global bringing Nokia phones back after the failure of the Windows Phone and Microsoft acquisition, but now with the Android operating system. Nokia, the main company, is still going with a focus on communications technologies like 5G and even 6G.
Linux and Linus Torvalds
The other major Finnish invention that ironically powers the most popular mobile OS, Android, that helped kill Nokia’s mobile business is called Linux, which many of you should already know, but it’s the open-source foundation that Android was built on.
Linux is the operating system that is the foundation of many different Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux Mint. Linux was created by Linus Torvalds, who was born in Helsinki.
Technology in Finland and The Fast Adoption of New Inventions
When it comes to technology and its adoption of new technologies, Finland is a frontrunner. Thanks to the huge success of Nokia, Finland has built a culture of quick technological adoption, with Finland upgrading from 3G to 4G and now to 5G and upgrading home connections to fibre. Finland has been one of the fastest countries to adapt these technologies and deliver the broadest coverage.
Thanks to the collective effort of offering fast and broad internet connectivity, the country has moved past the archaic data-caps that way too many countries still have and now offers unlimited data at every price point.
The country has adopted a policy where an internet connection is a basic human right, which means that internet connectivity is broad and stable and everyone has the right to access it.
Finland is also fully digitalized nowadays, where people rarely use physical cash anymore and everything is done digitally.
The World's First Web Browser
Looking at other innovations, there is Erwise, which you probably have not heard of, but it was the first web browser ever created that had a graphical user interface, and it was released in April 1992. It was created by four Finnish master’s students, but as you can probably see, it was discontinued. Then there’s the IRC chat protocol, which was created in 1988 by Jakko Oikarinen and was used for group chats on channels like chat rooms.
Invention of Heart-Rate Monitors
Finland has had an impact on the health industry too with the invention that every one of you has tried or still uses actively, the heart-rate monitor. It was invented in 1977 by Polar Electro and was meant to aid the Finnish National Cross Country Ski Team.
More Finnish Inventions
The History of Finnish Inventions: From Sauna to Linux and Beyond
The unique environment has created a need for comfort, which has led Finland to become one of the most innovative countries, even with its small population.
For the cold weather, Finns invented the sauna; for the darkness, they created safety reflectors; and finally, to create comfort for parents, Finland invented the baby box.
4G, 5G and Fiber Adoption and Gaming Sectors Success
All in all, Finnish inventions have helped the world immensely, made Finland a technological nation that produces cutting-edge technology and services, and made the country the first to adopt new technologies like 4G and 5G, giving the country one of the fastest internet connections and making virtually everyone in the nation part of the internet.
Unfortunately, the fall of Nokia had a massive impact on the Finnish economy, as Nokia’s huge success made it a key pillar of the economy that then had to be replaced.
However, Finland’s economy has since been diversified, and there have been many successful new technology companies founded in Finland, contributing over 50% of exports and employing over 335,000 workers, according to Teknologiateollisuus.fi.
Finland has found new success in the mobile gaming sector with Supercell, Angry Birds, and others. To read about the massive success Finland has had in the gaming sector, I’ve written an article about it, which you can read here:
