Opportunities for Cooperation between Estonia and ... - Valitsus

One of the core duties of innovation activities is to intensify contacts between
universities and research institutes. The Gulf of Finland must not be allowed
to impede such contacts.
When joint efforts are made to enhance research and development activities in
Estonia and Finland, the strengths of both countries must be duly considered.
Clearly, further investments need to be made in the educational and research
cluster created by Helsinki and Tallinn and steps should be taken to improve
its competitiveness.
A major project is under way in the Helsinki area to merge the Helsinki University
of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and
Design to create an innovation centre called the Aalto University. Other similar
projects have been launched and cooperation between universities and other
institutes of higher education is being intensified.
Most R&D activities are based on independent evaluation and decision
making on the part of the institutions and enterprises involved. Therefore,
the governments are called upon to augment resources and remove potential
restrictions that tend to thwart the attempts to intensify contacts and research
cooperation across the Gulf of Finland.
As research draws upon a fairly expensive infrastructure, it would make sense
for the two countries to make use of shared resources. A case in point is
an institution in Espoo, Finland, that offers super computer services also to
Estonian users.
Conversion of research findings into useful commercialized products is an
important part of the innovation process. Most universities have innovation
centres tasked to provide assistance in the utilization and commercialization of
the results of research. Therefore, the innovation centres located on both sides
of the Gulf of Finland should intensify their contacts and cooperation.
Design is highly valued in Finland and Estonia with both countries boasting long
traditions in the field. Yet even this is facing new challenges - the environmentfriendliness
of various products, for example, is a powerful sales argument
today. At the same time, the importance of design in economic and innovative
activities is growing fast. Cooperation in training, joint projects, marketing
and commercialization should be encouraged. A permanent Finnish-Estonian
network should be established to provide more favourable conditions for
creative interaction.
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