The provision of social and health services is facing a new era with the formation of wellbeing services counties. Despite Kainuu's advanced 20 years of experience in providing social and health services, it too faces challenges related to finances and workforce availability. To overcome these challenges, it has been proposed to seek new solutions, with a key focus on the integration of social and health services in collaboration with the wellbeing services county and organizations from various fields, as well as the utilization of technology in the provision and production of services. This project is positioned within the ongoing discussion about wellbeing services counties and social and health services and responds to the need to seek new solutions for organizing and producing Kainuu’s social and health services, emphasizing collaboration between organizations and the utilization of technology. The project's aim is to initiate the construction of Kainuu's "Innovation Ecosystem for Good Health and Wellbeing." An innovation ecosystem refers to cross-sector collaboration and the ability to create value broadly for various stakeholders to achieve a shared goal or mission. The focus of the innovation ecosystem is on promoting good health and wellbeing rather than merely building a wellbeing services county. The project involves the initial two development phases of the innovation ecosystem: the exploration phase and the experimentation phase. According to general understanding, in the exploration phase, potential partners seek collaboration opportunities, begin developing methods for cooperation, and start joint development work. In the experimentation phase, the collaboration begins to mature and take shape, and the jointly developed solutions start to be piloted. The goal is to develop competences together with stakeholders from various fields within the innovation ecosystem, identify the needs and opportunities for new health and wellbeing technology solutions, and pilot their use in Kainuu's social and health services. As a result of the project, an innovation ecosystem in Kainuu focused on promoting good health and wellbeing within the social and healthcare sector will be initiated. This innovation ecosystem will have a shared common vision. The collaboration among stakeholders from various fields who participated in the project will have intensified and deepened, and the ecosystem's activities will continue. The innovation, collaboration, and digital competences of the stakeholders will have developed. The innovation ecosystem's activities will have expanded to include new participants, and the system will continue to grow. Connections to other innovation ecosystems in the region will have been established. The outcome will be pilot social and healthcare services that utilize health and wellbeing technology, taking into account the needs of the clients. The initiation of the innovation ecosystem will enable the next two developmental phases of the innovation system and the formation of the innovation ecosystem itself. With the introduction of new ways of organizing and delivering social and healthcare services, organizational efficiency will improve, conditions for economic recovery will develop, and innovation capabilities will increase. Businesses' performance evolve. The dissemination of expertise to students in master social and healthcare programs will promote the development of organizations and the sector. Kainuu's attractiveness as an employer in the social and healthcare sector will increase. Clients will receive services that better meet their needs, leading to greater satisfaction with the services. The availability of services will improve in Kainuu's remote areas. The region’s innovation ecosystem for good health and wellbeing will position itself among the national innovation ecosystems in the sector, enhancing its international competitiveness and attractiveness as an investment destination.
