Think tank “Top of Digital Europe” was part of the framing of the 9th EU Annual Forum for the BSR BDF had the pleasure to co-organise the EU Annual Forum 4-5 June in Tallinn together with Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of the plenary sessions was dedicated to digitalization in the BSR and how […]
The future is not jobless, but learning intensive
Think tank “Top of Digital Europe” was extensively promoted in Berlin this Summer. In addition to the digital plenary session at BDF Summit, the State of the Digital Region 2016 report also inspired two seminars on “Inclusive Digitalisation” on 14 June 2017 in Berlin, organized by BDF, Nordic Council of Ministers and Nordregio at the […]
“Cities connecting the digital economy in the BSR” is the main theme of the “State of the Digital Region“ report 2016 by ICT think tank Top of Digital Europe. BDF has followed up on the theme by organising discussions with cities, entrepreneurs and policymakers on how cities can help digital start-up communities and ecosystems to […]
On 25th April, the State of the Digital Region Report “Cities connecting the digital economy in the Baltic Sea Region” was presented by co-author Prof. Martin Andersson in the opening session of the Digital North conference. This first Nordic-Baltic ministerial conference on digitalization was organized in Oslo by Nordic Cooperation and the Norwegian Ministry of […]
How can medium sized cities interact across borders to boost an integrated digital labor market? How can cities improve the growth potential of their startup scenes by structured cross-border collaboration? What is the interest and potential for sharing resources, benchmark outcomes and promote joint networks? These are some of the questions addressed in a small […]
Baltic Development Forum and Top of Digital Europe had the pleasure of co-organising the conference “Estonia in a digital Baltic Sea Region” together with the Estonian ICT Association, ITL, in connection to their 17th anniversary. In his keynote address, Flemming Stender, Director of Baltic Development Forum, presented the highlights from the 2016 State of the […]
On 22 March, BDF and Top of Digital Europe had the pleasure to host a roundtable with Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith. In connection to Brad Smith´s visit to Copenhagen. BDF and Top of Digital Europe organized an exclusive round table with some of our partners. The roundtable focused on how to […]
The State of the Digital Region Report 2016 has gained media attention around the Baltic Sea Countries. Norway The Norwegian media highlights that Norway tops the regional league in terms of number of internet users: Only one percent of the population has never used internet. Norway is also in the lead in terms of use […]
Top of Digital Europe has launched a Discussion Paper “Towards a Cross-border Open Data Agenda – A Case for a macro-regional agenda on open government data in the Baltic Sea Region”. The aim is to initiate a debate on the vast potential for open government data across borders in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). It […]
The 2016 State of the Digital Region Report was presented the a seminar “the Baltic Sea area – frontrunner in digitalization”, organised by the informal Baltic Sea group in Brussels on 16 November 2016. The seminar was focusing on experiences, success stories and innovative regional solutions from the Nordic-Baltic region as inspiration for enhanced regional […]
Today in Stockholm, politicians, businesses and civil society are gathering to mark the 18th annual Baltic Development Forum (BDF) Summit and 7th Strategy Forum for the EUSBSR. Since 1999, the BDF Summit has sought to foster cross-sectorial dialogue and find common ground in a rapidly-evolving world. Nowhere is this rapid evolution more noticeable than in […]
On 22nd September, Baltic Development Forum and Region Zealand organised a digitization seminar in Hamburg as part of the Fehmarnbelt Days 2016, a series of events focusing on the cross border collaboration opportunities in the upcoming Fehmarnbelt Region which extends through North Germany – Denmark – South Sweden. The main part of the seminar, “Cross-border […]
Do we recognize our digital talents? How can we design joint ecosystems to foster human capital excellence across the Baltic Sea region? How can we keep talents in the region and compete effectively with global leaders? How to get from brain circulation to building capacity? These were some of the questions discussed by an expert […]
BDF together with Estonia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs organised a workshop on transnational digital collaboration as part of a conference on Smart Specialisation Strategies in Sandviken, Sweden, 27th May 2016. The conference was organised by CPMR Baltic Sea Commission, PA Innovation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and Region Gävleborg. Smart Specialisation […]
On 3rd May 2016, BDF and “Top of Digital Europe” organised a seminar in Stockholm: “The Swedish way to a Digital Single Market in the Baltic Sea Region”. The event was co-organised and hosted by Stockholm Business Region, and gathered national policy makers, ICT industry, academia and experts to discuss the digital strengths and challenges […]
On May 18th, Flemming Stender, Director of Baltic Development Forum, participated in the international conference “Common Digital Space of the Nordic and Baltic States” in Vilnius organised by the Lithuanian Innovation and Technology Institute. The conference gathered representatives from government, international organizations, private companies and experts to discuss ideas for closer cooperation between the Nordic […]
Flemming Stender, Director of Baltic Development Forum, participated in the Baltic Assembly meeting of the Economics, Energy and Innovation Committee on 22 April in Riga. In his key note speech, he presented the latest reports from Top of Digital Europe “State of the Digital Region Report 2015“, and “A Digital Single Market Growing the Baltic […]
BDF and Top of Digital Europe organised an ICT Round Table in Brussels on 4 March 2016. The event was co-organised and hosted by Microsoft, with Vice-President of the European Commission Jyrki Katainen as special guest. Also among the invited participants were also members of the European Parliament, representatives of regions, EU permanent representations, business organizations […]
Top of Digital Europe has a Polish sister! The think tank “Think Tank Digital TTCpl” is a platform for Analysis and debate on the development of digitization of the Polish economy Dialogue between the ICT industry and policy makers The think tank is founded by Microsoft, Facebook, Poczta Polska, UPC and Dirlango. On 24 February […]
BDF and “Top of Digital Europe” was the co-organiser of an ICT Business Round Table in Helsinki on 12 Jan 2016, organized and hosted by Microsoft Finland. Participants were specially invited Finnish parliamentarians, policy makers and ICT industry. The topic for discussion was the potential for a digital single market of the Baltic Sea region: […]
Top of Digital Europe published two new studies of the digital economy at the 17th Baltic Development Forum Summit in Copenhagen on 23 November: The first edition of the “State of the Digital Region” report, an annual updated overview of the region´s achievements and position as a global ICT hub. The second report “A Digital […]
President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, was guest of honor at the Confederation of Danish Industry on 6 November. The Confederation had invited selected partners, including BDF, to an exclusive business round table to discuss digitization and the Digital Single Market with the President. Estonia is well known as a digital frontrunner and President Ilves […]
On 2 Sept BDF had the honor to host a visit by Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Marina Kaljurand. BDF took the opportunity to invite some of our members and partners in the digital sector to an exclusive round table with the minister. The meeting discussed digital strengths and challenges of the Baltic Sea […]
BDF and Top of Digital Europe took part in the 6th Annual Forum for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in Jurmala, Latvia on 15-16 June. The Annual Forum was a great opportunity for networking with many of BDF´s good and close collaboration partners, for inspiration, and for discussion on the future direction […]
Programming in school should be on top of the agenda! That is one of the recommendations in a discussion paper published by “Top of Digital Europe”. The paper, ““Coding the Future – The challenge of meeting future e-skill demands in the Nordic-Baltic ICT hub”, deals with the emerging gap between demand and supply of ICT […]
As a key note speaker in the morning session, Flemming Stender, Director of Baltic Development Forum (BDF), highlighted the need for more regional cooperation among the Nordic and Baltic countries in order to develop world-leading cross-border digital solutions in finance and turn them into growth enablers for the region. He underlined the huge economic potential […]
Baltic Development Forum was invited to introduce an upcoming discussion paper on e-skills at the high-level conference “e-skills for jobs 2015”, organized in Riga on 13 March by the Latvian EU Presidency, the European Commission, the Latvian ICT Association LIKTA, DIGITALEUROPE and others. The paper is being elaborated by Top of Digital Europe as a […]
The Baltic Sea Region is world leading within the digital sectors. If we want to stay competitive in a globalised world, we should continue to stimulate international success in the area of information and communication technology. Therefore we need to strengthen the regional cooperation and remove barriers for growth. If we don’t, then we risk […]
On the 9th December Baltic Development Forum together with the Danish Business Authority gathered around 60 representatives in Copenhagen from across sectors in a one day conference to explore the concept of testbeds as a potential tool for digital growth in the Baltic Sea Region. The event presented participants with an overview of current trends […]
“Top of Digital Europe” is a new Think Tank initiative that will address key topics related to ICT as a driver for growth and competitiveness in the Baltic Sea Region. “Top of Digital Europe” was launched on 3 June 2014 by Baltic Development Forum (BDF) and Microsoft at the 16th BDF Summit in Turku, Finland, […]
Big data can make us stay competitive, to retain and create jobs in the Baltic Sea Region. The challenge is to be first movers in new innovations Talent recruitment, education, and e-health are some exemplary areas with a high potential for cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region Big Data needs story telling! These were […]
“The technology is ready. Nationally we are good but together we are among the best. Why not connect the national systems in cross-border digital solutions in the Nordic/Baltic region?” That was one of the cross-cutting messages at the conference on the Nordic-Baltic ICT Powerhouse 15 April 2013 in Stockholm City Hall, organized by BDF and […]
The Nordic/Baltic region is “the Silicon Valley of Europe” in terms of talents and investments. If these countries can ensure interoperability of their national e-service systems as front runners in e-governance and e-commerce, they will show Europe how ICT can stimulate growth.These were some of the messages at a high level seminar on growth through […]
Cross border barriers in the digital area cost at least 45 billion EUR in the Baltic Sea Region alone, according to estimates in a new report presented at the 14th BDF Summit in Copenhagen. Will the countries in the region be able to develop joint initiatives to release this huge growth potential? Concrete proposals that may […]