His areas of specialisation are innovation management in business, innovation policy and the development and regulation of the digital economy.
Erkki Ormala has served as Nokia's Vice President of Technology Policy since 1999, overseeing the global development of the company's economic and regulatory environment. Ormala has represented Nokia widely in different international organisations. One notable role was President of the European information and communications technology and consumer electronics sector organisation DigitalEurope from 2008 to 2012.
He was also a member of the Board of Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) during 2009-2010 and is currently a member of the Board of the University of Oulu. During 2011-2012, Ormala was Chairman of the research and innovation committee of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).
Between 1987 and 1999, Erkki Ormala was Secretary of the Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland, significantly influencing the formation of Finland's innovation system as one of the world's leading systems in the 1990s. He has held a number of international positions of trust: he has been a chairman with the OECD and a member of a number of research and innovation programme evaluation and monitoring panels.