Estonia launches bold AI initiative to double productivity
Estonia is no stranger to being the first in official digital adoption — already succeeding in making all governmental services online, using blockchain and e-voting. Now it’s time to take this approach into the AI era. The Estonian government unveiled Eesti.ai on Tuesday, an ambitious national program that aims to systematically implement artificial intelligence across all sectors, with the goal of doubling the value of Estonian work by 2035.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal launched the initiative alongside Bolt founder Markus Villig, who will chair the international advisory council driving the program. The council brings together Estonian tech leaders, including IT visionary Linnar Viik and entrepreneurs Sten Tamkivi (Skaala), Kaspar Korjus (Pactum), and Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton), working alongside international experts and sector representatives.
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Originally published on 27 Jan
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Enefit, the electricity business of Eesti Energia, is expanding its energy storage portfolio by building three new battery storage systems next to its wind farms in Lithuania. The new systems will have a combined capacity of 46 megawatts (MW) and 184 megawatt-hours (MWh). Once completed, Enefit’s storage portfolio will grow from the current 29 MW to 75 MW, strengthening the company’s position in the Baltic energy storage market.
“Energy storage is a key component of the modern energy system. Battery solutions help balance wind and solar generation, support grid stability, and mitigate high price peaks,” said Donatas Celešius, Member of the Management Board of Enefit and Head of Business Development. “Storage solutions also increase the value of our existing production assets and strengthen our integrated generation portfolio as a whole.”
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Originally published on 19 Mar
Great news for our international partners. Estonia will increase the Film Estonia cash rebate from 30% to 40%, strengthening the country’s competitiveness in the international film production market. “It’s official. Minister Heidy Purga has confirmed the final step of a long process: Film Estonia moves forward with a 40% cash rebate for film and TV production.
Regulations still need to be updated — and then, let’s roll!” stated Edith Sepp, head of the Estonian Film Institute.
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Originally published on 9 Mar
Sunly has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Respect Energy for the Rzezawa solar park in southern Poland. The agreement covers the sale of 100% of the electricity generated by the 60 MW photovoltaic installation.
The contract has been concluded in a “pay as potentially produced” structure. In addition to the electricity offtake, the cooperation includes providing balancing services with the installation. Respect Energy will act as the Balancing Services Provider (BSP), enabling the solar park to participate in the balancing market once the formal qualification process and technical integration are completed.
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Originally published on 18 Mar
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed its first pre-IPO advisory agreement to help a European growth company prepare for access to public capital markets. The support is provided through the InvestEU Advisory Hub and aims to strengthen the ability of innovative European companies to grow and remain in Europe as they scale.
The agreement supports Swedish biotechnology company Anocca, based in Södertälje, which develops next-generation T-cell immunotherapies for cancer. T-cell immunotherapy is a form of treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells, engineered to recognise and attack cancer cells more effectively.
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Originally published on 18 Mar
Ship design and construction company “Latitude Construction”, working under the Latitude Yachts brand in the Port of Riga, will establish a new company “Latitude Naval Technologies” with the aim to develop modern offshore platforms for security and defense operations.
Thus, another company will join the innovative and military technology production facilities of the Port of Riga, developing a new direction in the Latvian shipbuilding industry, combining extensive experience in shipbuilding with the growing demand for modern maritime safety technologies. In the current conditions, such a production facility will not only contribute to the economic growth of Latvia but also boost the security of Latvia and its partners.
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Originally published on 18 Mar
Estonia is no longer just a land of humble startups, as its premier companies are scaling ambitions. This week, Tallinn-based mobility giant Bolt announced that it will partner with NVIDIA to develop an AI-powered platform for autonomous vehicles tailored specifically to European roads.
The collaboration pairs Bolt’s vast amounts of real-world driving data — collected daily across its ride-hailing, carsharing, micromobility and delivery operations in 50+ countries and 850+ cities — with NVIDIA’s latest autonomous driving stack.
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Originally published on 17 Mar
Iute Group, a leading European personal finance group, begins operations with IuteBank in the Ukrainian banking market on 17 March 2026. The start of operations follows the completion of the transition process and marks an important milestone in the Group’s expansion of its digital banking model into one of Europe’s most digitally advanced financial markets. The transition process was completed earlier than initially expected.
With the start of operations, IuteBank will initially offer a focused set of core banking services, including current accounts, deposits, and instant payments, to its existing customer base. This initial phase is designed to ensure a stable and well-governed foundation. The build-out of Iute’s full digital product capabilities and the launch of a comprehensive value proposition, including mobile banking and active customer acquisition, is planned for early 2027.
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Originally published on 16 Mar
From March 22 to 24, 2026, Riga will become the center of the European audio industry for a few days, hosting the world’s leading radio, podcast, and digital audio conference, “Radiodays Europe 2026.”
The event will bring together more than 1,500 media professionals from over 65 countries, including executives from major public and commercial media outlets, podcast creators, technology companies, content creators, and audio innovation experts. The conference in Riga will become one of the most significant international media industry events in the Baltic region.
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Originally published on 16 Mar
Cybernetica joins GovStack’s network of recognised companies, with Unified eXchange Platform (UXP) officially approved by GovStack as a software compliant with the Information Mediator Building Block — a foundational component of the GovStack reference architecture for digital public infrastructure (DPI).
The Information Mediator (IM) is one of the most critical building blocks in the GovStack reference architecture, serving as the central nervous system of a digital government. It enables other building blocks — such as identity, payments, and registries — to communicate in a secure and verifiable manner. Without a robust IM layer, interoperability across government systems remains fragmented and vulnerable.
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Originally published on 16 Mar
The fairway to Vuosaari Harbour around the west side of Pikku Niinisaari will be opened to ship traffic in spring 2026. The fairway will ensure smoother traffic and make the visit to Vuosaari Harbour even more efficient. Taking the fairway into use will also benefit the environment, being part of the development of the low-emission sea route between Helsinki and Tallinn, the FIN-EST Green Corridor project.
The fairway used to serve the shipyard that operated in Vuosaari 1974–1987. The name “Shipyard fairway” dates back to these times. Minor changes were made to the fairway to expand it slightly, and some dredging work was carried out to ensure the fairway’s efficiency and safety to modern ships. The floating safety devices were upgraded to larger ones in January.
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Originally published on 16 Mar