Published:  14.3.2018

Digita provides its domestic LoRaWAN network for free use in educational institutions across Finland. Currently, almost 100,000 students in the cities of Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku, Salo, Vaasa, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Kokkola and in the Northern Savonia region have the opportunity to utilise LoRa technology in teaching.

“The initiative has sparked great interest, and we are constantly
contacted by more educational institutions across Finland”, says Mika Flinck, Director, IoT Services at
Digita. “We will be expanding our cooperation with institutions over the course
of the winter. Our goal is that next year, all interested educational
institutions will have the opportunity to benefit from LoRa technology in
teaching”, Flinck continues.

The University of Jyväskylä and the Jyväskylä University of Applied
Sciences were the first institutions to begin cooperation with Digita. “The two
schools have initiated a joint research project to examine new technologies
connected to IoT and their relation to novel types of business. The
project attempts to create new business opportunities for its partner companies
Metsä Group, Valtra, Vapo, Etteplan, City of Jyväskylä and Ficonic Solutions”,
explains Riku Immonen, Project
Manager at the Faculty of Information Technology of the University of
Jyväskylä. In network tests performed during the autumn, the technology was
found to operate efficiently, i.e. the LoRa messages sent by the sensor node
were delivered to and could be read from the university database.

Nationwide coverage a
strength of the LoRa network

A clear asset of Digita’s LoRa network is its extensive coverage within
Finland. As a result, a single application is compatible across the country
without the need for cumbersome system integration. As companies often
operate on the national level, this opens up possibilities for the development
of new types of agile applications.

“An example of such applications are various management interfaces that
collect data from a company’s production facilities located around the
country”, Immonen explains. “In IoT applications, the challenge is often an
overemphasis on old ways of thinking and a lack of courage to reshape methods,
even as the new technologies make this possible”, says Immonen.

LoRa base stations for free use by students for research and testing are
available at, among others, the following educational institutions:

• Aalto
  University

• Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences

• University of Jyväskylä

• Centria University of Applied Sciences, Kokkola

• Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius

• Kouvola Region Vocational College

• Lappeenranta University of Technology

• Savonia University of Applied Sciences

• Tampere University of Applied Sciences

• Tampere University of Technology

• Turku University of Applied Sciences

• Novia University of Applied Sciences, Vaasa

• University of Vaasa

• Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (VAMK)

Furthermore, Digita has granted use of its LoRaWAN network to Salo IoT
Campus and the IoT Forge based in Keilaniemi, Espoo, which provides
opportunities for SMEs and startups for product development, measurement and
testing.

LoRaWAN technology

The LoRa (Long Range) technology is developed specifically for the
Internet of Things and has already achieved significant worldwide success.
Digita is one of the pioneers in LoRa technology in Finland, and educational
institutions now have the opportunity to benefit from Digita’s LoRaWAN network,
which is expanding toward nationwide coverage.

LoRa technology can be employed in various IoT solutions that require
methods of data transfer that are cost-efficient and independent of external
power sources. LoRaWAN solutions are particularly suitable for the sending and
receiving of small amounts of data across distances of potentially tens of
kilometres, depending on the terrain.

Media Contact:

Digita Oy, Mika Flinck, Head of Sales, IoT Services, tel. +358
44 231 8030

Digita transmits radio
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day of the year. We also apply the latest digital technology in order to
develop and offer versatile online television and radio services. In addition,
our service portfolio includes comprehensive IoT services based on our
nationwide network, as well as world-class Data Centre Services. Our clients
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