Resilience Forum Creates Insight, Skill, and Will for Business Preparedness
Finland is taking a significant step forward in industrial foresight and preparedness. The Resilience Forum, launched by the Technology Industries of Finland, serves as a collaborative platform supporting both businesses and public authorities. Its mission is to provide up-to-date intelligence on environmental risks and strategies to strengthen the resilience of entire value chains.
The Resilience Forum is a cornerstone of the new strategic direction of the Technology Industries of Finland, where resilience through collaboration is seen as a key enabler of sustainable business growth.
By enhancing companies’ ability to detect and manage environmental risks and disruptions, the technology industry aims to ensure that Finnish technology companies remain operational and competitive in an increasingly complex global landscape—one shaped by geopolitical tensions, technological interdependencies, digital vulnerabilities, and ecological crises.
There is growing recognition that resilience is becoming a core priority in both policy-making and corporate strategy.
Building on Finland’s Long Tradition of Collaborative Preparedness
Finland has a long and successful history of building cooperative models for national security. Its unique, internationally recognized approach to security of supply is based on close collaboration between public authorities, the private sector, and civil society.
However, the shifting global security environment and the emergence of unexpected risks underscore that preparedness can no longer rest solely on companies deemed critical to national supply. Every organization now has a role to play in safeguarding societal functions.
The Resilience Forum is designed to foster a cross-sectoral, internationally minded model of preparedness that spans entire value and supply chains. It enables the sharing of foresight and situational awareness while improving coordinated responses in times of disruption.
In the future, companies will play an even greater role in strengthening societal security—and responsible preparedness will be an essential part of sustainable, competitive business.
Leveraging AI for Faster, Smarter Resilience
The Resilience Forum aims to strengthen society’s ability to withstand disruptions by collecting and analyzing real-time environmental signals with the support of artificial intelligence.
AI enables the rapid, comprehensive gathering and analysis of foresight and situational data—even automated analysis—making it especially valuable in fast-evolving or complex scenarios.
The goal is to train AI models with sector-specific knowledge so that companies across different industries and value chains can benefit from tailored, context-sensitive impact assessments. This deep and dynamic understanding supports both business-level preparedness and government decision-making on national policies and strategic goals.
Yet information alone is not enough. Effective preparedness requires practical, user-friendly tools that companies can apply systematically to improve their resilience. That’s exactly what the Resilience Forum provides—concrete tools for anticipating, preparing for, and managing disruptions.
Clear Need for Tools – Especially Among SMEs
Results from the Technology Barometer conducted by Technology Industries of Finland highlight the need for development: only 30% of companies have a written continuity or preparedness plan, and just 9% have practiced for disruption scenarios.
To address this gap, one of the Resilience Forum’s first tasks is to develop a clear, easy-to-use guide and planning template for SMEs to create continuity and recovery plans—a tool to help companies prepare in advance and recover efficiently when crises strike.
From Tools to Influence: Driving Change Across Society
The Forum’s initial phase includes not only the development of resilience tools but also broader societal impact work. A key focus will be to develop and implement the proposals of the Finlandia Declaration—a national statement on security and resilience signed by over 200 Finnish industrial companies in March.
The aim is to translate these resilience-enhancing themes into actionable policy recommendations and practical measures that strengthen both corporate and public sector preparedness.
The Forum will also commission studies and provide regular reporting on the state of preparedness and national resilience. A monitoring framework is currently being developed to assess how business capabilities and societal resilience are evolving over time—crucial for identifying where additional support, action, or cooperation is needed.
For More Information:
Koskela Akseli
Director – Foresight and Preparedness Technology Industries of Finland