We publish writings from the essay collection Vision 2040 — When things in Finland were done boldly and without prejudice” on our website. Wolt’s founder and CEO, Miki Kuusi envisions that in 2040 Finland will be an international technology center that is open, safe, encouraging, and constructive about technology and change in world.
As the founder of Wolt and the first CEO of Slush, I am often asked what decision-makers should do to create good conditions for the birth of new technologies and growth companies. Individual issues are the availability of skilled labor, the facilitation of immigration and obtaining work permits, the incentive of taxation, and the functioning of financial markets. The most decisive, however, is the overall societal picture.
My vision of Finland in 2040 starts from this overall picture, where the significant challenges of our time are
answered through forward-looking reforms and bold actions. My vision is that in 2040, a Finn welfare state will be living its new golden age, the foundation of which was created after the wars and developed with the help of the extensive social reforms of the 2020s. These reforms focused on Finland’s strengths, and we are a caring, tolerant, encouraging education and work, open to change, and agile society that is ready to meet the challenges of the future. The Finland of 2040 can better utilize the potential of international companies like Wolt as part of solving social challenges.
The aging challenge has been answered by attracting top international experts to Finland and by finding practical solutions for rapidly integrating people with a foreign background into society and the labor market. Finland has become one of Europe’s leading technology hubs, attracting talent worldwide to the headquarters of Finnish technology companies and prestigious educational institutions. In 2040, Finland will be at the top of the world regarding education, research, health care, security, equality and governance. Low-threshold platform work has been harnessed as a stepping stone in labor market integration. Platform work has become an established part of the Finnish labor market model, and clear rules of the game have been created for it to ensure the flexibility of the work and the safety of the workers.
Finland has responded to the security challenge by establishing its position in the Western foreign and security policy field, actively participating in maintaining the rules-based world order, and reducing the geopolitical risk of Finnish export companies. Finnish technology companies have strengthened our country’s influence abroad, at the same time promoting values important to Finland, such as openness,
equality, democracy, and sustainable development.
Finland has responded to the challenges of growth by strengthening the competitiveness of domestic companies through sustainable development in accordance with the principles. Finnish retail is able to serve customers’ needs comprehensively, at home rather than abroad. Local e-commerce platforms such as Wolt have changed the global e-commerce competition by offering Finnish brick-and-mortar stores the opportunity to compete successfully with global competitors. In order to develop cities and prevent urban centers from disappearing local online shopping has been used, which has made it possible to increase the efficiency of transport with light electric vehicles and promoted the efficient use of reusable packaging and packaging material recycling.
In order to realize the vision, a broad collective will and courage of social actors is needed to make reforms that ensure Finland’s role as a positive force and a leader in an internationalizing world.
Miki Kuusi, Wolt
(Picture: Vision 2040 launch event 19.8.2024.)