Ilkka Niemelä

• Senior executive with over 10 years of leadership experience and equipped with skills in man-agement, strategy, finance, business development, organizational leadership and development.
• Excellent knowledge of the manufacturing industry, marine industries, mechanical engineering sector and the related technologies including supply chain management, logistics, industrial ser-vice business development and new business models with service dominant business logic
• Experience and knowledge in the field of digitalization, new data based business models and digit-izing the industry.
• Experience and knowledge of the circular economy and cleantech industries
• Excellent knowledge of the developments of the Finnish and European business environment in-cluding legislation, regulations, standards development and funding of investments and R&D&I
• Very well networked both in Finland and in European Union (Brussels) covering companies, re-search and innovation organizations, R&D funding agencies, industrial associations, ministries and political decision makers including Commission and Parliament of the EU.

I worked 28 years for Technology Industries of Finland. The last 10 years I was responsible director for the Mechanical Engineering Industry, which is the largest of the 5 main sub-sectors of the federation. In addition, I was head of the Branch Networks unit, which took care about over thirty different branch associations and groups under the umbrella of the Technology Industries.