ESTONIA: Microsoft to open an innovation centre in Tallinn
TALLIN: Microsoft this Summer announced plans to open an innovation centre in the Estonian capital Tallinn. The centre is due to be operational in the autumn of this year and will develop e-government solutions.
The new initiative will materialise in co-operation with the leading Baltic IT-company Mikrolink and Ülemiste City, an innovative business park in Tallinn. This new “smart business” park has proved a big success and is already housing a number of IT- and other knowledge-based companies, including at least two Norwegian ones.
Microsoft’s innovation centre will pool the best Estonian e-solutions that have the potential to be commercialised on export markets, make them accessible for Microsoft’s partners internationally and help Estonian companies create contacts with relevant partners outside the country.
The Microsoft centre is a good example of how private industry can contribute to the export of the innovative e-government solutions developed in Estonia.
Estonia in the e-government forefront
Estonia has been among the leading countries regarding the use of public e-services. Its citizens have access to a wide array of electronic services ranging from submission of digitally signed documents to the authorities, access to personal information in public databases, and filing of tax returns to electing the parliament in front of their PC.
The IPR barrier
So far, however, these solutions have only to a very limited extent been commercialised on export markets. One of the obstacles to exporting Estonian e-solutions has been the issue of intellectual property rights. The state as the main customer and owner of property rights is now working on that problem. It is planning to pool the state’s intellectual property rights into a new organisation and allow the private industry to use existing solutions outside Estonia.
The government has also recently approved spending NOK 300 million on improving the IT-environment in 2008-2009. The programme’s priorities include increasing people’s knowledge, developing e-business environment and public services, switching over to paper-free administration, increasing cyber security and promoting electronic use of the national ID-card. Most of the financing comes from European Union’ structural funds.
The latest steps come just at the right time for the government that has lately been critisized for loosing momentum in its e-efforts.