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Jarmo Eskelinen is  an urban data and smart city expert leading  the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative at the University of Edinburgh. DDI is 15-year, £661m investment and innovation programme delivered in collaboration with the Heriot-Watt University and external partners. As part of the Edinburgh City region Deal, DDI will set up an innovation platform of 6 innovation Hubs across 10 industry sectors from creative industries to fintech, agritech and robotics, to educate 100.000 data scientists, launch or scale up 400 start-ups, collaborate with a 1000 organisations and establish Edinburgh as the Data Capital of Europe, with a mission of Doing Data Right. Jarmo is also the board member of the Open Knowledge Foundation, international NGO promoting open data and information.

Jarmo joined the University from London where he was the Chief Innovation and Technology Officer of the Future Cities Catapult. Before joining the Catapult in 2016, he was the CEO of Forum Virium Helsinki, the innovation company of the City of Helsinki, since 2006. He has also been a member of the Smart London Board, vice chair of the Open & Agile Smart Cities network OASC, and the President of the European Network of Living Labs ENoLL.