This year’s theme – problem solving

Slush proved it again: Finland is the hotbed of innovation turning contacts to networks, ideas to business and even slush to snow.

One might be prone to think that technology is a mere business opportunity, and is not primarily a means of contributing to the common good. If we can already now create services that can predict for example diabetes or social exclusion today, what can be done in just a few years, when the new technology such as AI and advanced analytics have done their breakthrough in everyday service development in which data is the backbone.

This year’s Slush was characterised by lasers, politicians, royalty, entrepreneurs and a healthy dose of optimism.

Over the past decade, Slush has developed from a tiny gathering of young entrepreneurs to the hottest high-tech startup conference in the Nordic region.

Here are five exciting things we came across.

Entrepreneurs can change the world
Finnish gaming is now a mature industry
Everyone wants a piece of startup innovation
Finnish technology is diversifying
Finland is pretty okay

Being as the global perception is that Finns are a humble lot, the Slush organisers decided to recruit all of the international guests at the event to brag for us instead. Thus the hashtag #BragForFinland was born.