About

Top of Digital Europe is the Baltic Sea Region’s leading ICT think tank. A joint initiative between Baltic Development Forum and Microsoft, Top of Digital Europe works to:

Conduct research and analyses of the Baltic Sea Region’s ICT achievements, trends & potentials
Facilitate cross border dialogue between public & private ICT stakeholders
Promote & strengthen the Baltic Sea Region’s profile in the global ICT industry

Top of Digital Europe is an independent, non-profit initiative.

About Top of Digital Europe

The Nordic/Baltic region is one of the world’s leading ICT powerhouses. The last decade Microsoft has invested more deeply in the this region than in any other part of the world because we invest where we find great people and technology. However, the region is also facing some challenges. I am convinced that ”Top of Digital Europe” will be a source of inspiration to overcome the challenges together.

Nanna-Louise Wildfang LindeAssistant General Counsel - Microsoft, Central & Eastern Europe

The Nordic region continues to be the trendsetter and the pioneer in what will be the future economy. We saw it already in the 1980s when the Nordic countries were the first to develop their mobile networks. Today, when we look at the use of information and communication technology in governments as well as businesses, we can see that the Nordic countries are still the trendsetters, more than any other region of Europe.

Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia

ICT is one of the future key growth drivers in the region. We need to focus on jobs and growth in our cooperation and the ICT sector is crucial to all of us. We need to work hard to keep our digital and ICT leadership in Europe and in the world. With Top of Digital Europe we hope to inspire regional cooperation.

Lene EspersenChairman of Baltic Development Forum

Advisory Group

Jørgen Abild Andersen, Former Chair of OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy
Adam Lebech, Director, DI Digital, Confederation of Danish Industry
Joakim Wernberg, PhD, Research Scientist, Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum
Knud Erik Skouby, Professor, Centre for Communication, Media and IT, Aalborg University, Denmark
Linnar Viik, Co-Founder and member of the Board, Pocopay, Estonia
Morten Klitgaard Friis, Partner, CIO Advisory, KPMG

Martin Andersson, Professor of Industrial Economics at Blekinge Institute of Technology and Professor of innovation studies at Lund University.
Pauli Kuosmanen, Dean, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Pär Nygårds, Public Affairs Expert, Swedish IT & Telecom Industries, Sweden
Signe Bāliņa, Chairman of Board, Latvian ICT Association LIKTA
Vinay Venkatraman, CEO & Founder, Leapcraft, Denmark
Anders Thomsen, Government Affairs Director, Microsoft Denmark and Sweden
Rene Summer, Director Government and Industry Relations, Ericsson, Sweden

Baltic Development Forum (BDF) is the leading think-tank and network for high-level decision makers from business, politics, academia and media in the Baltic Sea Region. BDF provides platforms that brings together actors from diverse sectors, regions, and levels of decision-making to advance growth and competitiveness in the Baltic Sea Region. www.bdforum.org

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services, and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses and support a wide range of products and services related to computing – from the operation system Windows, to servers, to the gaming console Xbox. www.microsoft.eu