Information and communication technology

Software development

Software development is one of the world's largest and fastest growing businesses. In Finland, the sector has grown rapidly from the beginning of the 90's and has continued to grow steadily since. Software’s share of Finland’s GDP was 2 %. In 2012, software industry sales value increased 9% compared to 2011.

It is projected, that in the future, the importance of software development increases in Finland’s ICT markets. Cheap hardware products from the east make it unprofitable to keep concentrating on hardware. According to Federation of Finnish Technology Industries ICT department Finnish ICT industry cannot afford pricing competition in hardware markets in the future and urges small and bigger companies to concentrate on innovative, environmental friendly, energy effectiveness, flexible production and customer effectiveness.

Number of broadband connections was 5.12 million in the end of 2012, which equals 0.91 connections per a Finn. 88 % of households had an Internet connection. The popularity of online services is expected to increase dramatically in the near future, offering more growth opportunities for software companies. In Finland, there is a clear trend that added to their major projects, municipalities and state administration are also initiating smaller projects with software companies.

Software clusters in Finland provide networks for long-term co-operation between software companies, educational and research units. There are five strong technological centres: the regions of Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä and Oulu. Most of the software companies are located in these areas. There are several big software houses stemming from Finland which have international projects and sales. Also, there are lots of small software companies that are eager to grow and pursue international markets.

Software companies are yet another sector in Finland offering great opportunities for investment and co-operation.