Juha Miettinen, Chief Technical Advisor and Team Leader of Southern Africa Innovation Support (SAIS) Programme, has close to 20 years of experience in innovation systems development and innovation support, technology transfer, business development and methods in public-private collaboration regionally, nationally and internationally. Before joining SAIS in 2011, he has earned wide experience and practical knowledge on Finnish and European innovation systems and methods as a COO in one of the leading innovation and science park companies in Finland, Hermia Ltd, and in his own daily management work.

He has wide experience in project management and has also been a member of supervisory and steering boards of tens of innovation and development initiatives, programmes and projects throughout his carrier. Juha holds an M.Sc. in Economics from University of Tampere, Finland and the University of Oregon, US. He is currently pursuing (-2016) his PhD-work on the topic “Triple Helix Model in emerging innovation ecosystems – Case Studies on University-Industry-Government collaboration and interactions in Southern Africa” at University of Pretoria, South Africa.