Increasing regulation challenges companies' business operations - Laurea's new master's degree programme offers technology law expertise

Increasing regulation challenges business and technology developers in Finland, Europe and internationally. Examples of regulation include the development of legislation related to artificial intelligence, information security, data management and intellectual property rights. To ensure that regulation is not a barrier to business but rather creates opportunities for future business, there is a growing need for technology law expertise. This need is also addressed by the Technology Law master's degree programme that will be offered for the first time at Laurea.

The English-language Technology Law programme will be offered for the first time at Laurea in the January 2025 joint application period. This is a completely new course and there has never been a similar master's degree programme focusing on technology law in Finland before. The studies will start online in autumn 2025.

Legal tech at the heart of education

The new degree programme is based on the premise that the field of law and regulation is in a constant state of flux. While there are no ready answers to many questions, the training provides many tools to operate in a multi-dimensional legal environment and to formulate workable solutions.

The core subjects of the training include international contract law, IPR law, legal technology, privacy and data management.

– On the other hand, ethics and responsibility issues are also strongly integrated throughout the curriculum. For example, artificial intelligence and its development have a huge impact on both people and the environment, says Jani Merikivi, who is responsible for master's degree programmes at Laurea.

Although the focus of the training is on technology law and "legal tech", the training also includes a strong emphasis on resilience skills; how to take care of the stress of work, for example in terms of job satisfaction and managing people.

As with Laurea's other master's degree programmes, each student can choose to study other programmes after the core studies, which are compulsory for all students. In this way, students can build a degree that suits them according to their own goals and interests.

Focus on European regulation

Technology Law education offers many opportunities for a wide range of students. Students can come from a background as varied as law or legal studies to engineering.

– It is preferable that applicants would be involved in technology law in their own work or have previous studies in business law, says Merikivi.

As studies are conducted online, it is possible to study both in Finland and abroad. The aim is to bring together an international group of students with diverse perspectives on the topics covered:

– The training will not only focus on Finland, but will mainly look at regulation from a European perspective. At the same time, the topics covered will be mirrored with international views from, for example, the United States and Asia, says Jani Merikivi.

Learn more about the new Technology Law master's degree programme

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