A round table was held between Prime Minister Kallas and the technology sector

This time it was attended by the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL), Estonian Founders Society, Startup Estonia, Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN), Estonian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EstVCA), Estonian Human Resource Management Association PARE and many entrepreneurs. Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Kristjan Järvan also participated in the discussion.

The representatives of the technology sector proposed solutions that could be done jointly in Estonia in order to keep the imago of our e-Estonia and increase the productivity and added value of companies. “Our main message as technology entrepreneurs is that a strong economy is a guarantee of security for Estonia,” explained Juhan-Madis Pukk, the President of ITL. “The added value of our workforce per employee is 84.7% of the European Union average. If we continue at the current pace, we will not reach 100% of the EU before 2046. We have to be more efficient, as a country, we must be innovative and cooperative and systematically deal with measures that will help us deal with the labor shortage. The keywords are efficiency, openness and smartness, and cooperation between the private and public sectors.”

The representatives of the sector pointed out the importance of supporting innovation and R&D activities, the need for additional funding for higher education to ensure high-quality education and the increase of doctoral students, and the need for applied research that would support the delivery of research results to the Estonian economy. Threats to Estonia’s competitiveness on the global talent market were also highlighted.

“We discussed how Estonia, with its ever-increasing labor shortage, could better compete on the global labor market,” said Estonian Founders Society representative and entrepreneur Martin Villig. “Thousands of growing companies want to hire top specialists, and in addition, many countries compete with each other for jobs. Estonia has a good image as a digital country and a solid ground for start-up companies, but it is important to continue to maintain and develop it further.”

We are grateful for the meeting, because such a tradition of a round table has not only highlighted areas of concern, but also contributed to the implementation of several important changes for the sector.

ITL, October 12th 2022