The Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg (ARIC) and the Estonian business development company Enterprise Estonia want to work more closely together in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitization. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the government of Estonia support the cooperation.
Hamburg and Estonia will work even more closely together on the topics of artificial intelligence and digitization. Sigrid Harjo (Head of Enterprise Estonia), Riina Leminsky (Director Germany, Enterprise Estonia) and Alois signed as part of the seminar “AI, Government and Society – Towards an Estonian German Partnership on AI”, which took place on Tuesday at the ARIC in Hamburg’s Dockland Krtil (managing director ARIC) the letter of intent. Marten Kaevats, Chief Digital Officer of the Republic of Estonia, and Corinna Nienstedt, Head of the State Office of the Senate Chancellery of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, signed the cooperation agreement as official representatives.
The cooperation between ARIC Hamburg and the Estonian business development enterprise Enterprise Estonia aims to strengthen the economic and scientific exchange between the Hanseatic city and the Baltic state. High-ranking representatives from politics and business also took part in the seminar under the leadership of the Estonian State Secretary for Economic Affairs Ando Leppiman.
Christian Pfromm, Chief Digital Officer of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, welcomes the closer cooperation: “Estonia is a global pioneer who shows how digital technologies can be used for the benefit of the citizens. We are pleased that the Estonian and Hamburg AI communities will cooperate more closely in the future and that everyone involved will be able to benefit from each other’s know-how. This is a great opportunity to identify suitable areas of application for artificial intelligence and to bring the technology into use in a targeted manner in business and science. ”
The cooperation between ARIC Hamburg and Enterprise Estonia is intended to serve as a bridge between the two countries and support companies, universities and institutions in their work around AI and digital solutions, with contacts, resources, expertise and a network. In addition to the declaration of intent, further collaborations between Hamburg actors and Estonia are planned. There will be further joint projects at the two Hamburg trade fairs SMM 2020 (Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology) and ITS 2021 (Intelligent Transport Systems). In addition, a Hamburg business delegation will visit the Latitude59 technology and start-up conference in the Estonian capital Tallinn in May.
“I am pleased that the city of Hamburg has decided on an adaptable administrative architecture and wants to use AI for it. Because in times of great change it is crucial to create an administration that offers sufficient flexibility to keep pace with new challenges, “explains Marten Kaevats, CDO of the Republic of Estonia.
Estonia – Northern European technology hub Estonia is one of the most progressive countries in Europe and ranked eighth in the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index in 2019. Digitization has also reached the population. Citizens can already access 99 percent of all government services online and 98 percent of them submit their tax returns digitally. Last year, Estonia took the next step and published a strategy for the use of artificial intelligence. There are already many AI solutions that are used in the public sector, for example to suggest suitable positions to job seekers or to predict the best treatment method for chronically ill people.
