In 2018, Vaasa-based energy cluster companies and higher education institutions jointly established the Digitalisation Academy. The aim of the Digitalisation Academy, which was created as a joint effort, has been to respond to the talent shortage in the region’s business sector by strengthening the digital skills of Finnish and foreign students studying in Vaasa and supporting their employment in the region’s companies.

This publication is the final report of a research and development project to develop the Digitalisation Academy, funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and carried out by the University of Vaasa’s Innolab. The international multidisciplinary group of researchers studied the experiences of the students and the representatives of companies and higher education institutions involved in the project. Based on these observations, the report includes proposals on how the Digitalisation Academy can be developed in the future. The report also describes the previous talent shortage and the ways to commit experts, as well as research on ecosystem cooperation and cooperation between companies and higher education institutions. In view of these, the researchers have issued recommendations on actions to the parties. The report can also be used as a handbook for setting up similar units in other Finnish clusters and as a basis for a discussion on how to support the commitment of highly educated experts to Finland.