HELSINKI, Finland, December 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Would you Like to Meet an Angry Bird in London this Spring?

Excellence Finland together with President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen handed out the winners' awards for quality and innovation at the annual Excellence Finland Gala this year. The competition is international and prizes were awarded to competitors from Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

The Innovation of Innovations 2011 award went to Finland's Rovio Entertainment Ltd, which developed the international blockbuster game Angry Birds.

You can meet the Angry Birds - as well as all the other innovation winners - at the Oasis Of Excellence innovation seminar in London! The event, arranged by Excellence Finland, will be held between 21st and 25th March 2012. The theme will be innovation activity, examined from a variety of perspectives. Our main partner for the event is Deloitte.

Don't miss this chance - fly to London and meet "Angry Innovations"!

If you are interested, contact Excellence Finland now: oasis@laatukeskus.fi or visit our home page: http://www.laatukeskus.fi/OoE.

The aim of the Quality Innovation of the Year competition is to boost the creation of innovations in Finland and to enhance innovation quality. There are five different categories in the competition. Any innovation that has a competitive edge based on knowhow or expertise and that can be exploited in a commercial, social or wellbeing environment can be entered for the competition. For example:

- New knowhow, expertise or technology

- A new product, technical solution or production process

- A new service

- A new design or brand.

The winners in 2011, listed by category and country, are as follows:

Large companies category: Digia Plc, http://www.oiko.fi service for controlling mobile work. Advanced electronic tools help coordinate jobs and invoicing.

Small and medium enterprises category: Rovio Entertainment Ltd, developing, commercialisation and marketing of the Angry Birds game. The game has been downloaded almost 500 million times. There is a game-related movie, comic and other merchandise. Along with the game development, commercialisation and marketing have been very successful.

Micro-enterprise category: Team Action Zone Oy, TAZ outdoor games to encourage girls, boys, women and men to exercise. Electronic tools are used for example by Flaghunt which combines the best parts of hide and seek, orienteering and mock fights.

Honourable mention: Helena Häkkinen and Anu Miettinen, Helpline for Boys (Poikien Puhelin). Experts offer professional help to boys for free. The ever-growing popularity is an indication of the need. The service receives annually over 100,000 calls.

Public sector and non-profit corporations category: Health centres in Helsinki, Health Card (Terveyskortti) Helsinki. This electronic service comprises of a health card, health screening and health coaching. It helps an organisation offering health services to offer preventive and screening services in a way that supports independent health promotion for the people of Helsinki.

Potential innovations category: Meclimb, Mec Carver. Helps to remove deadfall trees from on top of power lines at a safe distance without cutting the voltage.

Sweden

Large companies category: AFA Försäkring, proactive customer service in social media. In contrast to other insurance companies, AFA Försäkring strives to ensure that everyone entitled to compensation is aware of the matter. Modern ways to use social media are the latest tools to put this into practice.

Micro-enterprises category: ES Equipment AB, S-CUT Emergency Cutting Tool. A tool to remove the clothes from an injured person in emergencies. It is quicker than scissors or a knife. Removing the clothes is often the first procedure in order to deal with injuries. The tool is also very useful in chemical accidents. It is used in ambulances, by fire departments, police (for example the FBI in the USA) and armies in several countries.

Potential innovations category: LidköpingHospital, new operating room management). By reducing the number of operating rooms and making their functions more efficient, patient safety, customer satisfaction and efficiency can be improved by approximately 20%.

Estonia

Companies category: Wihtla OÜ, ELS Excellence - real time customer satisfaction survey system for Estonian Post. An electronic tool which helps and speeds up daily surveys, getting results and taking corrective steps.

Public sector and non-profit organisations: Estonian Tax and Customs Board, customer-specific prepayment account. An account that can be used to pay all taxes and payment with one payment. This helps save time and bank charges. Public sector and non-profit-organisations: Estonian Health Insurance Fund, digital prescribing of medicines in Estonia. It is worth noting that this is not yet available in Finland.

SOURCE LAATUKESKUS EXCELLENCE FINLAND