Finnish companies earn up to 20 times their investment in supercomputing, study finds — but methodology raises questions
A first-of-its-kind study commissioned by CSC – IT Center for Science found that Finnish companies using high-performance computing services, including the LUMI supercomputer, achieved returns of 11 to 20 times their investment, as business use of the infrastructure doubles year on year.
Text by Martti Asikainen 14.4.2026 | Photo by Juha Torvinen, CSC
Finnish companies that used high-performance computing services provided by CSC – IT Center for Science achieved a return on investment of between 11 and 20 times their costs, according to research published on 13 April by market research company Taloustutkimus.
The findings cover companies that used the services between 2023 and 2025, including access to Finland’s national supercomputer infrastructure and the pan-European LUMI supercomputer hosted at CSC’s data centre in Kajaani, northern Finland.
The study is the first to measure commercial returns from CSC’s computing services specifically. A separate Taloustutkimus study published in 2024 found that every euro invested in CSC’s high-performance computing generated €25 to €37 in broader social benefit over the period 2018 to 2023.
What the computing services deliver
High-performance computing, the use of many processing units in parallel to solve problems too large for standard computers, has accelerated product development, supported new business models, and enabled companies to bring new products to market faster, according to the study.
Uses cited by participating companies include artificial intelligence development, big data analysis, simulations, and digital twins, which are virtual replicas of physical systems used for testing and optimisation.
“Companies’ business models and product development methods have evolved,” said Pekka Uusitalo, Director of Industry Engagement at CSC. “Decisions are increasingly based on extensive data-driven analyses, and artificial intelligence is now widely used. All of this depends on high-performance computing.”
For startups in particular, the study found that access to computing resources had become a prerequisite for product development rather than an optional enhancement. Without the services, the study concluded, many innovations would not have been achieved.
Data sovereignty as a selling point
The study also highlighted CSC’s secure data processing environments as a significant factor in companies’ decisions to use the service. Because CSC’s infrastructure is based in Finland, companies can be confident their proprietary data does not leave the country or reach external parties, according to Kimmo Koski, CSC’s Managing Director.
“Strengthening data sovereignty, together with efficient computing capacity, is a key factor in reducing dependence on non-European digital services,” Koski said. He noted that CSC has spent more than a decade building a high-performance computing and data management ecosystem, originally for research, that is now being extended to commercial users.
The data sovereignty argument has gained traction across Europe as governments and companies reassess reliance on American cloud infrastructure. The LUMI AI Factory, the service layer built around the LUMI supercomputer, is part of the EU’s AI Continent strategy, which aims to build independent European AI capabilities.
Growing demand and an expertise gap
Business use of CSC’s computing services doubled in 2025, according to Uusitalo, who said the organisation expects further significant growth this year. Of the 15 companies interviewed for the study, all but one expected their own use of high-performance computing to increase.
However, the study identified a shortage of expertise as a significant obstacle. In many companies, insufficient in-house knowledge is slowing adoption, making tailored expert support and close collaboration between companies, CSC, and research institutions essential, according to Irina Kupiainen, CSC’s Director of EU Affairs, Policy and Business Development, who oversaw the ROI study.
“We need broad-based dialogue across all levels of society about how Finland can ensure sufficient industry-specific technological capabilities for the future,” Kupiainen said.
Finland's hybrid computing advantage
The study points to a broader capability that distinguishes Finland from most other countries: the convergence of traditional high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing into a single accessible infrastructure. LUMI’s data centre hosts quantum computers developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, enabling companies to pilot quantum approaches alongside conventional supercomputing workloads.
Finland is one of the first countries in the world where this hybrid computing environment is available to commercial users, according to CSC. The country’s quantum capabilities were formalised in a national Quantum Technology Strategy published in 2025.
The findings should be read with the study’s design in mind. The research was based on in-depth interviews with representatives from 15 companies and organisations, a small sample, and draws on qualitative data alongside some quantitative figures.
Erna Icén, Insight Director at Taloustutkimus, noted that the analysis incorporates “assumptions and generalisations” derived from the interviews alongside background material provided by CSC itself.
The study was commissioned by CSC, whose services are the subject of the research, and this is the first time such a measurement has been attempted for the commercial user base. The wide range of the headline finding, 11 to 20 times return on investment, reflects the variation across different companies and use cases rather than a single precise figure. The report does not name the participating companies or break down returns by sector or company size.
The article is based on press releases and research from LUMI and CSC published on 13 April 2026.
