The Mayor’s Innovation Competition

• Competition is open: 1 May – 14 June 2024   
• Information session for Mayor’s Innovation Competition applicants as a Teams webinar(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish): 8 May 2024 at 13:00–14:00. The webinar will provide concrete application tips. 
• Q & A on the Mayor’s Innovation Competition application process as a Teams webinar(external link, opens in a new window): 22 May 2024 at 13:00–14:00 (In Finnish) In the webinar we will advise and assist with general application drafting matters.
• Excellence Finland will evaluate the applications. All participants will receive a notification on whether or not their proposal has made it to the final: 20 September 2023 at the latest.
• The finalists will give a brief presentation on their innovation to the city management in autumn. 
• After that the City of Espoo’s competition jury will convene.  
• A proposal of the winners and honorary mentions will be presented to the Mayor and after that to the city's Management Group.  
• The award ceremony will be held in 23 October 2024. 
• The winners of Excellence Finland’s national Quality Innovation Award will be announced in 7 November 2024.

 The 2024 competition is seeking resident and customer-oriented innovations under two categories 

1. Innovations category. New innovations that have already proven to solve challenges efficiently or productively. 
2. Potential innovations category. New innovations that are still in the development phase and have the potential to solve challenges effectively or productively. 

Prizes

Workplaces, companies and employees may enter the Mayor’s Innovation Competition. The prize for an employee is paid as a bonus (earned income).

Prizes awarded to a workplace/company:                                                         
First prize in the innovations category €5,000                                     
First prize in the potential innovations category €3,000                                    

Prize awarded to an employee:
First prize in the innovations category €500
First prize in the potential innovations category €300

Honourable mentions awarded at the jury's discretion €100–500.

When assessing competitions applications, the evaluators shall use a uniform set of criteria. Innovations will be assessed based on the following criteria: 

• Novelty value  
  • fulfils needs in a new or significantly revised way 
  • is timely 
• Usability  
  • is applied in practice systematically and according to a plan within a company, organisation or society 
  • is feasible
• Learning  
  • based on a clever idea 
  • utilises information in a new way 
  • is created as a result of or is supported by systematic development 
  • service development utilises partnerships, where appropriate 

• Customer orientation has improved  
  • meets current and future customer needs 
  • meets customer requirements 
  • aims to exceed customer expectations 
  • service development utilises partnerships, where appropriate. 
• Profitability and efficiency have improved  
  • technical or financial performance related to customers 
  • social, societal, and environmental responsibility 
  • lower stakes yield the same outcome 
  • same stakes yield more outcome 
  • lower stakes yield more outcome 
  • service development utilises partnerships, where appropriate.

After the panel of experts from Excellence Finland have evaluated the applications and selected the finalists from among them, the City of Espoo’s own competition jury will evaluate the applications that have made it to the final from the city's perspective. 

These instructions provide more information on what is entered in the fields of the innovation competition’s application form. Please note that the assessors and jury do their work mainly based on the application.  

Attachments are used to help the assessors and jury better understand what the innovation is all about. That said, all relevant information should be included in the application. The maximum number of attachments is five (5). 

LINK TO THE APPLICATION FORM(external link, opens in a new window). You can complete the application form in parts using the ‘Save and continue later’ button at the bottom of the form. The system will ask for your e-mail address to send a link to continue completing the form later. If you don’t see the e-mail, please check your clutter or junk e-mail folders. Enter the competition application using the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the application form. Once submitted, the application can no longer be edited. 

Application is made by...

Employees of the city of Espoo. What's the name of your work community?
The official name of the sector and unit.

A company registered in Espoo
The official name of the company participating in the competition. The business ID of the company. It must be registered in Espoo. 

Contact person
We will inform the contact person about the progress of the competition and any further instructions.

First and last name

Title 
Title of the contact person. 

E-mail 
E-mail address of the contact person. 

Phone number
Direct telephone number of the contact person. 

Has the innovation been developed in cooperation with a team/
alone. Name the key people involved in the development of the innovation. You can enter the competition alone or as a team. 

List all the persons to be considered here. Also, mention if you apply on behalf of someone else and/or have not personally been involved in the innovation development.  

Have you previously participated in the Mayor's Innovation Competition with the same idea you are proposing now? If yes, what substantial changes have occurred in the innovation?

If you have submitted the innovation to a previous Mayor’s Innovation Competition, state the year of the previous submission and include a brief description of how the innovation has been improved. 

Tell us about your innovation. Are you participating in the Innovations or Potential Innovations category?

Select the competition category in which the innovation participates. 

• INNOVATIONS category. By innovation, we mean a solution or a reform that has been shown to solve challenges in an effective or productive way.
• POTENTIAL INNOVATIONS category. A potential innovation is an idea that is still in the development stage and has the potential to solve challenges in an effective or productive way. 

What is the name of your innovation? (Maximum length100 characters) 

The name of the innovation participating in the competition in as brief a form as possible.  

Briefly describe your innovation. (Maximum length 200 characters) 

An elevator pitch. Describe briefly (about one paragraph) what the innovation is all about. Use as down to earth language as possible. The brief description should provide an answer to the following question: what is the innovation?  

Tell us the story of your innovation. For example, you can describe the starting situation, the actions taken, the resources used, the lessons and insights gained from the innovation, and the results achieved with the help of your innovation. Please also describe any positive social, societal and environmental impacts of your innovation. (Maximum length. 2,000 characters) 

The starting point for the innovation, the actions taken and the results achieved. Describe here the background story: why was the innovation developed? What actions have been taken to develop the innovation? What results have been achieved or will be achieved with the innovation? Also, this description should give a person less knowledgeable in the field a good understanding of the origin of the development of the innovation, what happened next and what the innovation is really about. 

Your own assessment of the novelty value of the innovation. How does the innovation meet any needs in a new or significantly revised way? Also assess how well-timed the innovation is. (Maximum length 2,000 characters) 

Give here your self-assessment of the innovation’s novel features. Present results that convince the assessors and the jury that your proposal is a real innovation. Describe how your innovation differs from existing similar approaches. 

Your own assessment of the innovation's usefulness. How is the innovation put into practice in a planned and systematic way in a company, organisation or society?Assess the usefulness of the innovation. (Maximum length 2,000 characters) 

Give here your self-assessment of the usability of the innovation. How is the innovation applied in practice? Can the benefits promised by the innovation be realised? Describe a successful practical implementation of the innovation or how it could be achieved. 

Your own assessment of the learning process related to the innovation. Is there an insight behind the innovation?How has knowledge been used in a new way? Is your innovation a result of or supported by a systematic development process? Have there been any partnerships involved in the development of the innovation and, if so, what kind of partnerships? What is the role and responsibility of the partners in the collaboration?*  (Maximum length 2,000 characters) 

Describe the research and development process that gave birth to the innovation. How were knowledge and know-how utilised along the way? How did the idea for the innovation come about? How was it developed into the innovation? What have you learned along the way? Has the implementation of the innovation involved external partners? What is their contribution to the implementation of the innovation? 

Your own assessment of the customer centricity of the innovation. How does the innovation respond to current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and aim to exceed customer expectations? Also assess the contribution of a potential partner in improving customer centricity. The partner may also be a user of the service. (Maximum length 2,000 characters) 

Describe here what is the ‘new’ that the innovation brings to its target group. How were the needs and expectations of the innovation’s customers determined? How does the innovation make life better for the customers? Provide results that prove that there is a real need for the innovation.  

Your own assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the innovation. How has the innovation improved technological, economic, social or societal performance of customers or residents of Espoo? How has it improved environmental or social responsibility? In what ways has the innovation improved or will improve operational productivity or build economically sustainable growth in Espoo? Please also assess the contribution of a potential partner in improving performance. If possible, please also use numerical data to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of your innovation. (Maximum length 2,000 characters) 

Describe here the results achieved with the innovation. What are the indicators used to assess the results of the innovation? What targets have been set? Have they been achieved? How do the results compare with similar innovations, if any?  

Explain and assess the way in which the innovation/idea has improved or will improve the productivity of the operations.  

Provide an assessment, for example, on the following (for applicable parts): How does the innovation contribute to the production of the service, activities or work process with fewer resources without affecting the current level of service or activities negatively? How can the provision of service be increased using current or fewer resources? If possible, demonstrate the improvement in productivity in numbers. 

You can add a maximum of five (5) attachments to the application. We only accept PDF files with a maximum size of 25 MB. The primary purpose of the attachments is to illustrate what the innovation is all about. The attachments are not intended to provide answers to the questions presented in the application form. The assessors will primarily assess the application: any attachments are only used in support of the assessment. 

Katja Eskola, Excellence Finland, tel. +358 45 2631613, katja.eskola@excellencefinland.fi