The Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) has announced the recipients of the IT sector’s annual awards. The Achievement of the Year 2023 title was awarded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for the decision to establish an Applied Research Center in Estonia.

ITL leader Doris Põld stated that, compared to other countries, it is clear that those which are more successful in applying scientific achievements in business are more globally competitive. “The creation of such a center in Estonia is a significant step that will help make a major leap in better integrating science and business and will allow innovation-oriented companies to increase added value over time by creating more complex and expensive products and services in collaboration.”

According to Sandra Särav, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the vision behind the establishment of the Applied Research Center at AS Metrosert is to pave the way between scientific research and development activities and the business sector, especially industry. “We are deeply grateful to the ITL board for this important recognition. Through the Applied Research Center, we aim to foster collaboration between researchers and companies, focusing mainly on forward-looking areas such as biorefining, drone technologies, autonomous vehicles, hydrogen technologies, and the use of health data. We see the greatest potential for the Estonian economy in these fields, providing a platform that enables the scaling of research results for industrial use. This approach not only promotes a knowledge-based economy but also creates new opportunities for our companies, helping them develop more complex and higher value-added products and services.”

AS Metrosert Chairman Aigar Vaigu welcomed ITL’s decision to recognize the idea of establishing the Applied Research Center and added that the newly created unit at Metrosert strongly supports Metrosert’s overall goal – to enhance the competitiveness of Estonian companies.

Read more about other recognitions on the ITL website.