In the year of the green capital, Tallinn wants to introduce our city to experts in the field and the wider world as a favourable test environment for green innovation and as a competence centre at the European level, where promoters and specialists of the city development and sustainable management model work.

Tallinn has developed the Test in Tallinn measure, which aims to show Tallinn as an environment for smart solutions. The measure will be introduced this Friday, January 27, and you can join the press conference online: https://youtu.be/XNOjTBoIGMI

Innovation and its promotion, including science and technology-based activities, which are also oriented to the demand of international markets, play an important role in increasing the competitiveness of the region and companies.

The strength of Estonia and Tallinn is it’s smallness, flexibility and the technological openness of society, which favors the development and implementation of innovative solutions (including testing prototypes that have passed trials in a real-life environment on a smaller scale and, if successful, flexible amplification of solutions). In Tallinn, testing opportunities have been used in different formats:

– campus-based pilot projects in innovation centers (Tehnopol Science and Business Park, Ülemiste City) in cooperation with campus owners;
– regional pilot projects in urban environments (e.g. testing AuveTech self-driving buses in city districts) in cooperation with district governments and city organisations;
– piloting the products/services in an urban environment of the winners of the Tallinnovation competition organized in cooperation with the city and Tehnopol (e.g. Thinnect’s smart community solution in Kalamaja, which provides the community with an overview of the traffic situation and noise level in the area, while also helping to improve road safety);
– bilateral agreements between the city and private companies to test products and provide services (goodwill agreement with companies that rent electric scooters (Bolt, Tuul), who can use bicycle parking spaces in the city center for free);
– provision of digital services testing opportunities by the state (Digital Testbed Framework), which invites everyone to build or try their new ideas, prototypes, products or completely new digital services in the state.

Taking into account the above experience, Tallinn has taken on the ambition to make the capital an attractive business environment where various (green) technologies can be tested, with the aim of helping both domestic and foreign companies to reach other urban environments globally with their products and services.

The main test areas of the title year are urban mobility and energy efficiency, chosen by the city as the areas with the greatest impact and legislative readiness, and where today’s cooperation between the city and local entrepreneurs has been the most effective.

European companies, clusters and public sector organisations can visit the Tehnopol Greentech Cluster, find out about the Tehnopol test city, and meet directly with representatives of Tallinn as the European Green Capital 2023 within the GreenTech 2.0 ClusterXchange programme.
The GreenTech 2.0 ClusterXchange programme will give all visits 335 euros of support. Registration is open until 31 January 2023. For more see: https://www.greentech-project.eu/clusterxchange-programme
Further information from: [email protected]