Estonian government supports Competence Centres with approximately billion kroons

On 3rd of June 2009 President Toomas Hendrik Ilves conferred the investment decisions of Enterprise Estonia to eight Competence Centres, which is the biggest support of the Estonian history for the research and development activities of the companies. The total grant is approximately billion kroons (approx 64 million Euros) and will be financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

President Ilves expressed his satisfaction on the fact that the state’s investment to support the entrepreneurship was directed specifically to the Competence Centres. “Supported Centres are the best platform of the cooperation between the universities and entrepreneurship,” President Ilves noted. “Either in the sector of nano and food technology, software development or diagnostics of infertility – cooperation is beneficial for both the researchers who focus on the real problems of the companies but also for the entrepreneurs who introduce new products compliant with our new needs as a result of the research work”.

According to Juhan Parts, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications the support decision has a very long-term impact on the entrepreneurship. “It is extremely important that as a result of the activities of the Competence Centres we create the products and services which have a potential at the world market,” the Minister added.

Enterprise Estonia allocates the support in total amount of 904 million kroons (58 million Euros) for the activities of eight centres within the following six years. In addition to the grant of Enterprise Estonia the companies and universities participating in the centres invest additionally 428 million kroons (27 million Euros). All partners invest the total of 1.3 billion kroons (83 million Euros) within the following six years to the development activities

Approximately 100 Estonian companies are involved in the supported Competence Centres for whom the preconditions will be created that they will be the major risers when the normal economic environment is restored. “Establishing Competence Centres is a strategic investment. Both the implementation of the research and the development of new products and services on the basis of the research as well as the training of the specialists require time. The first Competence Centres were established at the end of 2004 and their first research results are being implemented now,” Ülari Alamets, the Chairman of the management board of Enterprise Estonia, explained.

Five of the supported Competence Centres have operated already for several years and three centres are still in the process of launching. The centres are divided between the following sectors: 2 centres in food industry; 2 centres in medicine; 3 centres in information and communication technology and applications of electronics (e.g. IT application in production management); and 1 centre in nanotechnology with the focus on the development of new materials.

As to the centres established in 2004 the continuously operating centres are the Competence Centre of Food and Fermentation Technology (grant 110 million kroons), Bio-Competence Centre of Healthy Dairy Products (grant 114 million kroons), ELIKO Competence Centre in Electronics-, Info- and Communication Technologies (ICT-sector, grant 120 million kroons), Competence Centre for Cancer Research (120 million kroons) and Estonian Nanotechnology Competence Centre (grant 111 million kroons).

Three new centres to be established are Competence Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Biology (grant 120 million kroons), Software Technologies and Applications Competence Centre (grant 119 million kroons) and Competence Centre for Innovative Engineering Production Systems Technology (grant 88 million kroons).

The Competence Centres are the research organisations created in cooperation with the companies and the Estonian universities, the main task of which is to conduct the research in the sectors required for the product development of the participating companies. The results of the research of Competence Centres are taken into use by the companies according to their needs to introduce new products and services at the market. On the basis of the cooperation more ambitious research and development projects will be carried out than any participating company could be capable of for itself.

The Competence Centres have considerably contributed to the connecting of the studies of the universities with the Estonian companies. The number of university post-graduates and masters assemble around the Competence Centres. The established Competence Centres have provided an excellent platform for connecting the studies with the real problems of the Estonian companies and currently more than 100 masters and post-graduates have written the master and doctoral theses and other articles in the topics important for the companies participating in the Competence Centres.

The year 2009 has been declared the year of innovation in Estonia and this has been started with the objective to inspire the people to carry out their bright ideas. The initiator of the year of innovation is Enterprise Estonia and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the patron is President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.