Jari Ala-Ruona
 Entrepreneur in Residence EIR, PhD candidate/doctoral researcher


jari.ala-ruona@utu.fi








Areas of expertise
International business; web3; sustainability; business ethics; software; inclusion; blockchain; Africa; sustainable development goals; entrepreneurship; startup; entrepreneur's well-being; continuous learning; regenerative business; regenerative finance; decentralization; decentralized autonomous organizations; DAO; savings and loans; gender equality; equal opportunity; social progress; ESG; technology ethics

Biography

I am an entrepreneur and a researcher. I am a technology entrepreneur for a better world in business, an Entrepreneur in Residence and PhD candidate/doctoral researcher at the Turku School of Economics.

I co-chair Oxygen 2050 – ”home” of high impact entrepreneurs and investors at the forefront of a movement for a better world. I am a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of a digital and financial inclusion business focusing on African women entrepreneurs (Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

I support other entrepreneurs who are early in their journey and bridge Nordics with African markets. During the career I have raised and participated in multiple research initiatives with total budget over 20 million EUR spanning industry and academia. I was a member of the advisory board in VAMOS - value added mobile solutions program funded by TEKES (2005-2010) and lead in Movial Applications for COMET - Converged messaging technology funded by the EU.

I am a frequent and an entertaining lecturer on various topics spanning my journey. As a business researcher I enjoy critical thinking and prefer to look at the deeper, often hidden structures and meanings of complex and wicked phenomena.



Research

My working title and main research question of my dissertation project digs into the Transformation Continuum: How the Entrepreneur’s Ethics influence Entrepreneurship. I shall inquire into the transformation in the entrepreneurial life, i.e. how the transformation of the entrepreneurs own ethics e.g. through learning-by-doing or by e.g. continued education is linked with the transformational goals of the organisation, impacting the social transformational goals (the working definition of the transformation continuum). The first research question pertains to the emerging ideas and definitions of ethical entrepreneurship in the global digital economy. The technologies that inspire inclusive economy in Africa is my main theme. The technologies are recognizable in the software industry with keywords such as web3, machine learning, automated decision making, blockchain, and fintech. 



Teaching

During my career I have been a lecturer on a wide array of topics that cover disruptive technologies (internet, blockchain, open source, Linux, decentralization, mobile technologies), sustainable development, and ethics of business and entrepreneurship. I am also a frequent lecturer on topics related to doing international business in Africa. Earlier on my journey I was deeply involved in learning-by-doing learning of business by using computer simulations. 



Publications


Last updated on 2024-02-02 at 01:47