Two aspects of Finland’s STI policy have been especially important: first, its commitment to public investment in R&D and education, even in the face of recession (as in the early 1990s), and the expansion of this investment in the second half of the 1990s, second, the leading role of w hat is now the Research and Innovation Council (RIC) in co-ordinating policies that took a systemic approach and led the development of STI policies. Finland’s recovery and success through the 1980s and more than the decade before the 2008 global financial crisis was built on these policies, as well as strengths established in earlier periods. Finland initially responded to the global financial crisis in a similar way as in the 1990s. The recent revival of the RIC provides an opportunity to establish new' and systemic policies that address national needs, development and growth.