Estonia joins Nordic AI Gigafactory project
Estonia is no stranger to frontier AI projects, already using the most modern tools in the education system and producing an impressive array of AI-first startups and scale-ups. Now, there’s more on this front, as Estonia has signed a cooperation agreement with Nokia to participate in a Nordic consortium developing sovereign AI infrastructure across the region, Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta announced today in Oulu, Finland.
The project currently includes Estonia, Finland, and Latvia, with ongoing negotiations to bring Sweden and Denmark on board. The initiative responds to the European Commission’s program supporting the development of European sovereign AI infrastructure—specifically, AI gigafactories—designed to reduce dependence on third-party computing resources.
For Estonia, the agreement means establishing an AI-ready data centre on its territory that would integrate with both existing Estonian and broader regional infrastructure. The facility would provide essential computing capacity to the public sector, research institutions, and private enterprises.
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Originally published on 19 Dec
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group opened an office in Estonia today to drive strategic investments and sustainable growth in the country. The new office, located in the capital Tallinn, will focus on priority projects in areas including climate action, digitalisation, security and defence.
The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), will use its presence in Tallinn to deepen cooperation with Estonian partners in the public and private sectors including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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Originally published on 8 Apr
Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP) has received its first STS crane, which will be installed at the new container terminal in Ydre Nordhavn, Copenhagen, from Konecranes in Finland.
The voyage took four days, and it is a significant milestone that the crane has now safely reached its final destination. The arrival of the crane marks an important step for CMP. This advanced STS crane symbolises CMP’s ambitions, together with By & Havn, the developer of the new container terminal, to create one of the most efficient and modern container terminals in Northern Europe.
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Originally published on 7 Apr
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group opened an office in Latvia today to propel strategic investments and sustainable growth in the country. This office, located in the capital Riga, will focus on priority projects in areas including climate action, digitalisation, housing, security and defence.
The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), will use its presence in Riga to deepen cooperation with Latvian partners in the public and private sectors including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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Originally published on 7 Apr
The adaptation of the Grain Quay to a depth of 12.5 m in the port of Szczecin has become a fact. The investment by the Szczecin and Sea Port Authority significantly increased the transshipment capacity of the Grain Quay by being ready to handle larger ships than before – with a draft of up to 11.0 m (i.e. the same ones that can enter Szczecin via the deepened waterway).
Before the investment, the depth at the quay was 10 m. This means that we could handle ships with a maximum draft of up to 8.5-9 m. Now it is two meters more.
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Originally published on 3 Apr
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €50 million loan to Lantmännen to co-finance the construction of a new pea protein isolate factory in Lidköping. The loan will cover approximately half of the project investment cost.
The first of its kind in Sweden, the factory will have an annual processing capacity of over 40 000 tonnes of peas grown by Lantmännen cooperative members. It is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027 and to create around 30 jobs in the region.
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Originally published on 3 Apr
Estonian energy company Eesti Energia opened the Baltic’s largest battery storage at the Auvere industrial complex. This state-of-the-art storage system is already enhancing the stability of the regional electricity grid and mitigating high peak electricity prices for consumers.
According to Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi, who attended the inauguration event, the Auvere battery reservoir represents a pivotal advancement in Estonia’s energy transition. “For a democratic nation, having renewable energy storage capacity is crucial for enhancing energy independence. It’s also heartening that this investment incorporates technology from the free world,” Ligi stated.
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Originally published on 3 Apr
Payhawk, the leading spend management platform, announced the launch of “AI Office of the CFO,” a suite of specialised AI agents that solve finance’s biggest AI challenge: drastically increasing finance teams’ productivity while maintaining complete control over their operations.
With its platform already managing companies’ transactions, policies, workflows, and master data, Payhawk is uniquely positioned to build AI Agents that deliver practical value alongside the necessary controls. These new AI agents autonomously handle operational tasks with the same careful permissions as employees, enabling organisations to implement AI with confidence. While building its in-house agentic infrastructure, Payhawk has been leveraging early-access OpenAI models to refine its AI agent technology.
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Originally published on 2 Apr
AMPlify is an established platform designed to advance Finnish healthcare companies’ US market readiness and entry. Expanding upon the successful Nordic AMPlify and Gazelle programs, AMPlify is a complete ecosystem that brings Finnish companies and Mayo Clinic together.
With the US accounting for 40% of the global healthcare market and over 30% of new technologies emerging from collaborations with international partners, American health systems are evolving their innovation hubs into global co-development initiatives. AMPlify is leading this transition, and Mayo Clinic has picked Finland as a strategy focus area.
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Originally published on 2 Apr
Today the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia announced a major advancement in the project’s development. Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry, Erkki Keldo, has signed a decree confirming the route plan for the Pärnumaa section of Rail Baltica, enabling construction to begin in a region where progress had been halted since a Supreme Court ruling partially annulled the previous plan in 2020.
“Rail Baltica is a strategically important infrastructure project for Estonia and the entire Baltic region. It will create a modern and environmentally friendly transport connection with the European railway network, reduce road traffic congestion, and foster economic development while also serving as a backbone for military mobility on NATO’s eastern flank,” said Minister Keldo.
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Originally published on 2 Apr
In recent years, Lithuania has been increasingly establishing itself as a creator of space technologies, and one of the country’s brightest stars is Astrolight. With impressive innovation potential and global ambitions, the company has moved into developing laser communication technologies that could fundamentally change communication between Earth and space. These solutions are also opening new paths in the defense sector, where secure and uninterrupted communication is critically important.
Lithuania’s innovation ecosystem has long since crossed the boundaries of local projects, and support from the European Space Agency (ESA) is opening up more and more opportunities for Lithuanian companies to establish themselves in the international market. In total, Astrolight has already received around 1 million euros in funding from ESA.
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Originally published on 2 Apr