The talents of international service design scene will gather in Helsinki in October
The strategic position of service design will be discussed at the industry’s prestigious event, when the annual Service Design Global Conference 2024 lands in Helsinki on October 2-4.
In Finland, the integration of service design into the development of cities and companies in various fields has been on the rise. The role of service design as part of strategic leadership will be discussed during the 3-day conference, held in the historical site of Paasitorni and online. The hybird event will gather over 700 professionals and design enthusiasts.
The main speakers of the conference will be e.g. design leadership coach Andy Polaine, Professor and Researcher in Design Coral Michelin, Deaf User Experience researcher and designer Marie van Driessche and Chief Design Officer of the City of Helsinki Hanna Harris.
Over the past ten years, service design expertise that combines human understanding, technology and business has become a key part of organizations’ basic business operations and resources in Finland. The City of Helsinki is a pioneer in utilizing service design.
The city of Helsinki will organize the opening reception of the conference at the city hall on Wednesday, 2nd of October.
– For Helsinki, good design and architecture are a way to build both functional and beautiful everyday life. We already have a long tradition in how design is utilized both in the development of the built environment and in the renewal of services and urban organization in a user-oriented manner. It’s great to have more than 700 service design experts as our guests and get to know how Helsinki has built a good and functional city with the help of design, says the mayor of Helsinki, Juhana Vartiainen.
Digital design companies are growing strongly
Over the last ten years, service design expertise combining human understanding, technology and business has become a key part of the business operations and resources of organizations in Finland. The growth of service design is strongly related to the digitalization of society and business.
The increase in turnover from 2018-2022 has been a whopping 31 percent. In 2022, companies in the software and game industry have had a turnover of no less than 11.6 billion euros.
Companies in the field are also significant employers, as in 2022 the companies employed 50,000 people in Finland, measured by the concept of full-year employment.
“Service design has become an integral part of value creation”
According to the President of the global Service Design Network Birgit Mager, Finnish companies are leading the way for international operators in the use of service design.
“Service design has become an integral part of value creation. Finland and Helsinki are leading the development through great educational programs, outstanding agencies, and exemplary integration into public and private sector organizations. Bringing the global Service Design Conference to Helsinki is our tribute to these achievements that will serve as an inspiration for the global community”, Mager states.
Service Design Global Conference 2024
The Service Design Global Conference 2024 (SDGC24) gathers world class service design thinkers, doers, and leaders in Helsinki October 2-4, 2024. The conference is organized by Service Design Network (SDN) and SDN Finland chapter in cooperation with Ornamo Art and Design Finland.
This year’s theme “Designing for Impact: Strategic Leadership with Service Design” will showcase both theories and real-world case studies that demonstrate meaningful strategic impact on business results.
Since 2008, nearly 1,000 industry leaders have relied on the Global Conference as a forum to engage in meaningful conversations, exchange ideas, and advance the reach of service design around the world.