Starting Strong: Kickoff Meeting (industry & academia)

Today marked an important milestone for the Dining Flow project with our official Kick-Off Meeting, bringing together the companies in our consortium and our multidisciplinary team. The event was held at Aistikattila, part of Flavoria. We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to experience the environment where we will be conducting our research and collaboration throughout the Dining Flow project.

The event featured presentations from our partner organizations and the leaders of each work package, showcasing the collaborative spirit that drives this initiative. Listening to and discovering the diverse expertise of our consortium partners was truly eye-opening and inspiring.

An interesting question that often arises is: what is KONE doing in a project that focuses on forecasting food for Self Service Restaurants? This usually comes as a surprise to many listeners. Since KONE specializes in the flow of people, we are exploring how their expertise can contribute to creating more accurate forecasts. Innovation often emerges when knowledge from different domains is combined, and through this collaboration, we have the opportunity to learn from one another.

At the University of Turku, we are in the process of building our dedicated team for Dining Flow project. We are also opening communication channels for all members, and structuring how we will work together to turn our plans into tangible, actionable outcomes. An exciting journey lies ahead, and we are aware that it won’t always be easy, but we look forward to achieving great results together.