Innovation Working Group
Has completed the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association Development Activities Report 2022 Happy reading!
At the start of 2021, the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association launched the Innovation Working Group, which aims to
- create greater added value for wood in Estonia,
- promote complex development and coherence of the sector, including cooperation with other sectors,
- encourage the sector (businesses) to innovate, including cooperation with research and development (R&D) institutions and other businesses,
- and consistently raise and highlight common development issues.
Main emphasis of activities: creating opportunities for members and contributing to the development of the sector as a whole, as well as raising the level of importance of the sector in society.
Support measures for companies
The Estonian Employers’ Confederation has created the Innovation Start-Up Chamber Their website contains relevant information on support and services (Estonian Research Council, Enterprise Estonia, Environmental Investment Centre (EIC), and Kredex).
Enterprise Estonia-Kredex support measures 2023 – Enterprise Estonia-Kredex presentation to Employers
EIC measures 2023 – EIC measures for employers at the Estonian Employers’ Confederation seminar
Research projects in Estonia and elsewhere in the world
An overview of the research projects being conducted by Estonia’s universities and research institutions can be found on the website of the Estonian Research Council https://www.etis.ee
Adapter https://adapter.ee is the cooperation network of Estonia’s universities and research and development institutions. With the help of Adapter, an entrepreneur can quickly get in touch with research institutions belonging to the network, to find a cooperation partner.
Cooperation with the Univresity of Tartu – Mart Loog, Professor, University of Tartu
Cooperation with the Estonian University of Life Sciences – Ahto Kangur, Professor, Estonian University of Life Sciences
Cooperation with TalTech – Heikko Kallakas, TalTech researcher
Information on international research can be found in the PatSnap Discovery database (Enterprise Estonia holds the right of use), which brings together in a single place business intelligence, technology intelligence, opportunity discovery, etc. Basically, it allows you to conduct a keyword search from a single location for important companies, the best researchers, investors/investments, technology offers, and funding opportunities in Europe and the United States, etc., in a given field. If an entrepreneur has an idea that they would like to research the background of, whether it has already been patented, which R&D institutions in the world are working on it, whether there have been venture capital investments in the field, what the current patent situation is, etc., then the contact at Enterprise Estonia is Relika Alliksaar Williams, relika.williams@eas.ee Database is unavailable
A Green Technologies Virtual Centre for the development of Estonia’s economy is currently being created. The aim of the Centre is to contribute to the successful implementation of the Green Transition in Estonia through cooperation with businesses, thereby supporting Estonia’s economic development and strengthening the competences and capabilities of universities.
The working group is chaired by Ivar Dembovski, member of the management board of the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association ivar.dembovski@raitwood.ee with activities co-ordinated by development advisor Pille Meier pille.meier@empl.ee.
