Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT
HIIT is a joint venture between the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University of Technology. Its mission is to carry out internationally prominent basic and strategic research in information technology and to promote the competitiveness of the IT industry in the long run by connecting Finnish university research with the innovative process in the industries especially in the area of long-term strategic R&D. The institute also counts multi-disciplinary research cooperation with universities and other research institutes as one of its missions.
In 2007, the budget of HIIT comprised about MEUR 8.5, where external funding made up 81 %. The staff numbered some 150 persons. HIIT had three centres of operations: Spektri and the campuses in Otaniemi and Kumpula. In administrative terms, HIIT consisted of the Applied Research Unit (headed by Professor Martti Mäntylä) administrated by Helsinki University of Technology and the Basic Research Unit (headed by Professor Esko Ukkonen) administrated by the University of Helsinki .
There are four research programmes at the institute: Algorithmic data analysis, the Future Internet, the Network society, and Probabilistic adaptive systems. Each programme is headed by a professorial-level senior researcher and a programme manager. The programmes are led by steering committees consisting of senior researchers and an advisory board with representatives from the industries and academia. Currently, 15 research groups are working inside the research programmes.
In 2007, HIIT initiated the Finland-ICSI Center in the field of Internet research at the University of California ( Berkeley ). The institute was actively involved in establishing ICT-SHOK, the Strategic Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technologies, and the institute will strongly participate in the centre's research programmes. HIIT made a motion for a new Finnish Academy research programme, which will start operations in 2008. Networks were extended, especially at Helsinki University of Technology. US-based NIH started to fund the research into bioinformatics at HIIT, and a number of EU projects were also launched. A company for commercializing HIIT research results was established.
Contact persons: Professor Esko Ukkonen, Professor Martti Mäntylä (TKK)
Homepage: http://www.hiit.fi/