TECHNOPOLIS OYJ PRESS RELEASE March 21, 2012 at 11.00
Yle and Technopolis Launch Cooperation to Develop Tohloppi Area
Finland's national public service broadcasting company Yle and Technopolis have signed a letter of intent to develop Yle’s buildings in the Tohloppi area in Tampere. The companies will investigate by the end of June the terms and conditions on which Technopolis could purchase, partly own or operate Yle's buildings. The companies will also survey their opportunities and those of other organizations in the media industry for creating a media industry competence center, Mediapolis, in the Tohloppi area.
”We want to turn a new page in the development of the Finnish media industry. The task of public service is to drive the entire creative industry. Yle will build an advanced HD operating environment and center for fiction production in Tohloppi, and, in connection with it, we want to develop the operating conditions of the creative industries in cooperation with Technopolis. With the Mediapolis project, we hope to have creativity and new competence that Yle cannot obtain in-house located close to Yle. This will benefit everyone,” says Ismo Silvo, director at Yle.
”Yle has excess space and letting it go will free up resources for Yle’s main task, content production. It will also advance Yle’s ability to respond flexibly to needs for change resulting from changing operating environments," Silvo continues.
Tohloppi has been Yle’s center in Tampere and Pirkanmaa since 1972. The area does not currently meet the needs of companies and their personnel as an attractive media industry hub. However, in the future vision, it is seen as a dynamic and growing cluster of companies and education without comparison, at least in Finland. The area is also important for the identity of Tampere, and the City of Tampere is strongly involved in the development of the area.
”Pikku Kakkonen, the children's program, is as much a part of Tampere as the local delicacy mustamakkara, a type of blood sausage. Yle's significance to Tampere is much more than the jobs it provides. For decades, it has contributed to Tampere’s identity and appeal. With the renewal of Yle's buildings in the Tohloppi area, the opportunities and significance will only increase,” says Kari Kankaala, director at the City of Tampere.
“Mediapolis created around Yle has good prerequisites for success. Yle acts as the anchor, attractor and dynamo for the area. Yle, a modernizing and open company, is also a potential platform and partner for companies locating there for joint innovations. The new media campus will also be an attractive option for educational institutions in the media industry or their departments,” Kankaala predicts.
”Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) offers degree programs and various kinds of courses for companies and is involved in research and development projects that support professional activity. It is important that all students are connected with real-life work during their studies. In terms of this objective, Mediapolis as an operating environment is interesting as the location of TAMK’s cultural studies," says Markku Lahtinen, president of Tampere University of Applied Sciences.
”Building a media hub around Yle is a one-time opportunity. There is top competence in the field in Pirkanmaa, but it is currently fragmented into various sites. Gathering all activity together around Yle will create critical mass, thereby providing everyone with synergies,” says Technopolis’ Satu Eskelinen.
”Companies suitable for Mediapolis can be found in the gaming industry, advertising and media, production companies, communications companies, event organizers, ICT companies, design firms, educational institutions and startups.”
Technopolis has cooperated closely with the public sector in recent years. In Tampere, the Finnmedi campus focuses on health care, while Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Kuopio focuses on the education sector. The potential Mediapolis cooperation with Tampere University of Applied Sciences further reinforces the share of the public sector in Technopolis' customer base, which is among the company's strategic objectives.
”Technopolis was there building Finland into a knowledge-intensive society. Now, we are building and facilitating growth in other sectors as well by creating functional business environments where it is easy and effortless for customers to operate. We will focus on the media industry in Tohloppi, but customers from other sectors are naturally also welcome,” says Satu Eskelinen.
More information:
Satu Eskelinen, Director, Technopolis
e-mail: satu.eskelinen@technopolis.fi, tel. +358 50 655 70
Ismo Silvo, Director, Yle
e-mail: ismo.silvo@yle.fi, tel. +358 40 505 1924
Minna Tiihonen, Director, Tuotantotalo Tampere, Yle
e-mail: minna.tiihonen@yle.fi, tel. +358 400 846 889
Technopolis Plc is a listed company specializing in real estate, leasing of business premises, and services. Its key business idea is to combine modern services that support business activities with modern premises and offer business environments that can be adapted according to the customers’ needs. Approximately 20,000 people work and almost 1,300 companies and organizations do business at Technopolis facilities in Finland, Russia, and Estonia. The company’s turnover for 2011 amounted to EUR 92.8 million and its EBITDA to EUR 47.5 million. Technopolis Plc shares (TPS1V) are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Yle is a media company owned by Finnish citizens, funded by TV license fees collected from households that have televisions. Yle has public service tasks prescribed by law. Yle produces programs and services in Finnish, Swedish, and also Sami, Finnish Romani and sign language, among others. Yle’s diverse program offering on TV, radio and the Internet is available to all Finns, regardless of wealth and place of residence. YLE's majority owner is the State of Finland. Yle has 3,100 employees across Finland.