ICT in Estonia
A study trip to Tallinn and Tartu, 14–17 May 2014

The Estonian Association of Science Journalists and the Estonian Research Council are inviting fifteen European Union of Science Journalists‘ Associations (“EUSJA”) science journalists to a study trip to explore Estonian computer science and e-society systems, from 14–17 May 2014.

On the two-and-a-half days of the trip, journalists will meet with outstanding information and communication technology (“ICT”) researchers in Estonian universities, visit successful ICT businesses and get acquainted with Estonia’s unique e-government solutions.

Did you know that

• Tallinn is home to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of
Excellence and a seat of the EU Agency for Large-Scale IT systems?
• The country’s implementation of e-cabinet, e-tax, e-customs, e-
registers and e-voting systems has revolutionised accessibility and
quality of government services for its citizens?
• Estonia has launched a nationwide scheme to teach school kids
from the age of seven to 19 how to write code?
• Skype was developed in Estonia? (You must have heard at least
about this one ˘)
Programme Itinerary At-a-Glance

• Wednesday, 14 May: Arrival in Tallinn and Welcome Dinner
• Thursday, 15 May: Tallinn University, Tallinn University of Technology, and ICT business representatives
• Friday, 16 May: University of Tartu
• Saturday, 17 May: E-society systems & Departure

Programme Highlights

Free calls @ Skype. Developed in Estonia and now owned by Microsoft, Skype allows peer-topeer communication by voice, video and instant messaging over the Internet. In 2013, Skype users
spent more than 400,000 years, cumulatively, on international Skype-to-Skype calls.

Wise transfers @ TransferWise. Created by some of the same people who built Skype, this company is poised to spark a financial revolution that waves goodbye to the unfair exchange rates
of the old banking system by offering a clever new way to send money abroad.

Analysing secrets @ Cybernetica AS. An R&D intensive ICT company for top-notch security solutions. Team leader Dan Bogdanov will present Sharemind, a data analysis system for securely processing confidential information.

Speech technology @ Tallinn University of Technology. Speech recognition and synthesis have reached an impressive level for major languages such as English. But Einar Meister and his team
are busy helping to get speech technologies for Estonian, a language of just a million speakers, up to speed.

Bioinformatics @ University of Tartu. Bioinformatics, the application of computational tools to biological or health data, is a young science in Estonia – as it is elsewhere. Jaak Vilo is a founder and leader of the approach in this country.

Social positioning @ University of Tartu. The ubiquitous mobile device, characteristic of the information age, is used by scientists to get valuable information on the movement of people, helping to make sense of social patterns. Human geographer Rein Ahas’s team has created a positioning method that yields usable data, yet respects privacy.

E-Estonia @ ICT Demo Center. A non-profit organisation showcasing Estonia’s ICT solutions (ebanking, e-school, e-voting, e-police, e-health, the digital signature etc.).

Practical information

Accommodation for three nights (May 14–17), meals, and transportation during the trip will be covered by the organisers. However, participants are responsible for their travel expenses to and from Tallinn, including airport transfer.

The programme will end at 2 p.m. Estonian Summer Time (CEST+1) on Saturday, May 17.

Please send applications via national associations by, at the latest, April 7, 2014 to Priit Ennet

The application should identify the journal or newspaper you will represent during the study trip.

A more detailed programme with logistical information is to follow.

For any inquiries please contact:

Marina – huzvarova@ssc.cas.cz