The Estonian state invests more than half a million euros in increasing the competitiveness of companies

The science and business campus Tehnopol, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, is creating an Artificial Intelligence (AI) development program with the aim of increasing the ability of industrial and data-intensive companies to move up the value chain.

“Artificial intelligence-based solutions are not only the playground of global companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc., but it is an ever-growing field of technology, the smart application of which can improve their work processes and develop products with greater added value by all companies that use a little data in their business model,” explained the Minister of business – and Information Technology Andres Sutt. “Being too late with the introduction of new technology weakens the competitiveness of both the companies themselves and the Estonian economy as a whole. Therefore, state support is important to remove the market failure and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence.”

The introduction of artificial intelligence solutions is capital-intensive and requires the expertise of various parties, which is why their introduction has been a failure. The lack of early-stage investments also plagues the creators of artificial intelligence solutions, and therefore these solutions often do not reach the market. One of the goals of Tehnopoli’s AI development program is to change this and support companies that want to introduce AI solutions into their processes. To this end, Tehnopol organizes two development marathons, conducts an AI accelerator and financially supports 6-8 artificial intelligence pilot projects. In total, the Estonian state is investing nearly 600,000 euros in the Tehnopoli AI development program.

Tehnopol CEO Indrek Orav said that the implementation of the artificial intelligence development program directly coincides with Tehnopol’s strategic goal of supporting world-changing technologies and innovation. “We want to support the development of companies in the introduction of innovative solutions, and artificial intelligence certainly does that. We are very happy that the country has chosen the field of artificial intelligence and robotics as one of its strategic directions, and this program is one of the first that has been launched specifically for its development,” said Orav.

Martin Goroško, business development manager of Tehnopol, added that the need for support in the introduction of artificial intelligence solutions clearly exists. “In our work with companies, we see how the introduction of artificial intelligence would solve a number of challenges that hinder growth and development. At the same time, there is a lack of capital and courage from awareness to pilot the early phase. With this program, we bring AI challenges and solutions together, we finance the implementation of pilot projects and through this we create positive examples in the field,” Goroško added. Industrial companies with artificial intelligence challenges, data-intensive companies, as well as start-ups offering solutions, research and student teams, and spin-offs are invited to take part in Tehnopoli’s AI development program. Participation in the development marathon is a prerequisite for receiving funding for the pilot project. The funding decision is made at the end of the marathon on the basis of the project plan and presentation by an expert panel, which includes top players and researchers in the field.