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Conference
Business opportunities and Economic Development
in Estonia 2010+: The Role of ICTs
Time: 9.00 - 15.30, 18 February 2005
Location: Estonian Academy of Sciences
Organisers: PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies and Archimedes Foundation
Language: English and Estonian
Participants: Policy-makers, researchers, entrepreneurs (50-70)
Conference programme
9.00 Registration and Coffee
9.15 Opening
9.30 - 11.00 panel I: Competitiveness and Challenges for Estonia.
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drechsler
(University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology)
1. Knowledge-based Economy and the Role of the State in Economic Development
Prof. Dr. Erik S. Reinert
(Tallinn University of Technology and The Other Canon Foundation, Norway)
How did the rich countries get rich? Pragmatic lessons from the history of economic thought before and after Adam Smith for the knowledge based Estonia in 21st century. Problems with European economic integration - enlarged Europe is undergoing structural change towards a Latin-Americanization, including a larger spread in wages (more inequality), wages falling as a percentage of GDP, and the formation of pockets of urban wealth and an impoverishment of the countryside.
2. Estonian Competitiveness, Future Challenges and Policy Options (1MB, in Estonian)
Marek Tiits (Archimedes Foundation and Institute of Baltic Studies),
Prof. Rainer Kattel (PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies and Tallinn University of Technology),
Tarmo Kalvet (PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies)
When looking at the competitiveness of the Estonian economy it is evident that important challenges lie ahead, reflected also in the European Union's Lisbon Strategy - a ten-year strategy to make the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive economy - approved by the the European Council in March 2000. Despite some success in applying new technologies, Estonian economic development seems to be diverging from the goals of Lisbon strategy. Regarding this, stronger and more specific innovation policy measures are needed characterized by focusing on enterpreneurs, upgrading of the quality of foreign direct investments and stronger policy co-ordination.
See also: Made in Estonia (Book in Estonian, 1.6 MB)
Coffee
11.00 - 13.00 panel II: Lessons from Finland, Ireland and other countries
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Jüri Engelbrecht
(Estonian Academy of Sciences)
Dr. Kimmo Halme
(Advansis Oy, Finland)
While in the hindsight the Finnish innovation policies of the 1990s were successful, the "Finnish miracle" can only partially be explained by public policy pursued in the 1990s. It is evident that the necessary changes in policies took place already much earlier. On the other hand, the lesson of the 1990s is that the success was based on and changes in enterprise strategies, complementarities between various public policies, financial market liberalization, legal restructuring, It was actually the Finnish companies, Nokia and many others, that made the most of it.
The competitiveness of the Finnish economy has been based on a well functioning innovation system. However, the challenges posed by the global economic changes cannot be met by relying on past successes. In order to ensure its position as a leading edge knowledge society, Finland needs to continue developing and strengthening its innovation environment.
"Finland back to the leading edge. Excellence in innovations and competence", a report published by Sitra, describes this new business environment and ways to make Finland attractive for both professionals and businesses. It calls for the strengthening and internationalisation of the innovation system, further promotion of entrepreneurship, better utilization of new technologies and national technology foresight.
The report is based on Sitra's 2015 programme which aims to develop the knowledge, skills and networks of decision-makers in Finland so that they can handle the challenges facing the country in the future.
4. The role of S&T policy in upgrading traditional industries. From forestry to ICT in 15 years? - Interpreting the Finnish caseDr. Pekka Ylä-Anttila (ETLA, Finland)
In spite of the ICT revolution traditional industries like forest, engineering, and basic metals are still important in the Finnish industrial structure. The great leap of 1990s to a knowledge-based economy was not only that of phenomenal growth of telecommunications industries, but also a major within-industry structural change of traditionally strong industries, some of which were able to increase their productivity significantly. The challenge of the S&T policies today is to restore the competitiveness of strong traditional industrial clusters by enhancing utilization of ICT, increasing service content of industrial production, and promoting incremental innovation, typical of upgrading production processes and increasing value for the end-users. This is all the more important, since the growth contribution to the Finnish economy coming from ICT sector is slowing down. Manufacturing of ICT is moving to cost competitive countries. Economic history shows that it is only very seldom that totally new and competitive industries can be developed in a short time without strong linkages to traditional strongholds.
5. From Farming to ICT in Three Decades: Reflections on the Relevance of the Irish Experience to Estonia
Prof. John Bradley
(The Economic and Social Research Institute, Ireland)
The presentation describes the Irish experience of transition from a protectionist agricultural society to an open hi-tech economy that took place since the 1960s. The pace of modernisation accelerated during the 1980s, under the influence of the EU Single Market reforms, the expansion of EU investment assistance to lagging countries, and Monetary Union. In addition, a crucial role was played by conceptual frameworks for industrial policy that placed emphasis on building national competitiveness. The Irish case suggests that the politics of institutional design and implementation when combined with economic analysis and business research, can produce a step change in growth and development.
6. Positioning Estonian Information Society Developments in the European Context (7 MB)
Dr. Marc Bogdanowicz
(Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission)
The Estonian Information Society positions itself rather well in the "European concert", and in particular among the New Member States. Does this mean that all challenges are behind? Or does the Information Society generate its own new challenges,and if so, which ones? Furthermore, from a more prospective outlook, how does the Information Society project feed into a broader European Knowledge-based Society?
This presentation will aim at developing views on those topics, while presenting the major results of a large set of studies produced between 2000 and 2005 on the topic of "ICT and Enlargement" by a variety of national research institutions. This set of research has been coordinated by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, one out of the seven research institutes of the DG Joint Research Centre, a European policy-support institution of the European Commission.
13.00 - 14.00 lunch
14.00 - 16.00 panel III: Panel discussion - Knowledge-based Estonia 2010+: The way forward...
Moderator: Mr. Allan Martinson
(Martinson Trigon Venture Partners)
Speakers:
Mr. Allan Martinson, Martinson Trigon Venture Partners
Mr. Jaak Vilo, EGeen & University of Tartu
Mr. Jaan Penjam, Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology
Mr. Erki Mölder, Quattromed Ltd.
Mr. Aivo Reiner, Audentes/Mainor University
Mr. Jaak Leimann, Tallinn University of Technology (tbc)
Mr. Indrek Reimand, Ministry of Education and Research
Ms. Katre Eljas Taal, Ministry of Finance