Estonian Democenter promotes, prepares for Expo 2010 in Shanghai

TALLINN - The Estonian Democenter (Demokeskus) is located in Ulemiste City, quietly promoting Estonia’s information and communications technology to visitors from as far away as Rwanda.  Last week, it was visited by the president of Azerbaijan, a former United States deputy secretary of state and a former secretary general of both the Council of the European Union and the European Union.

Demokeskus was founded by 7 private Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies, opening its doors on Jan. 29, 2009. The goals of this collaborative effort are to stimulate co-operation between Estonia’s ICT sector companies, to join forces in export activities and to encourage society to use ICT widely. Its purpose is to benefit the entire Estonian ICT industry, as well as to promote Estonian enterprise and business abroad. The Democenter is a not-for-profit enterprise that works closely with Estonian and European Union government entities to promote public-private partnerships. Their motto is ‘Made in Estonia. Made for the World.’ Up to 250 technologies and solutions are exhibited at the Democenter. 

Many of them are virtual. Some are hands-on demonstrations of Estonian innovations, such as the mobile parking exhibit, which allows visitors to see how parking fees for parking spaces throughout the city can be paid by using a mobile phone.  As Estonia has made great strides in technological innovation in the past two decades, other working solutions, such as e-signature capabilities and e-governance, including e-voting, can be virtually toured and explored. The Democenter is open to the public by appointment. A guided tour is given, with explanations and opportunities to try out the hands-on exhibits.

The success of the Democenter, and its popularity with visitors, has inspired ideas for expansion. Indrek Vimberg, the center’s managing director, envisions similar centers worldwide.
Although the Democenter does not advertise, and is located far from the city center where a casual visitor may find access difficult, it is nonetheless a very popular destination. In the eleven months that the center was open in 2009, there were approximately 3,000 visitors. The Democenter’s five full-time employees promote it, with assistance from partner firms and the Estonian government entities such as Enterprise Estonia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2010, Vimberg expects about 4,000 visitors. A varied and diverse group, the Democenter visitors come from Estonia as well as abroad, and are school children, university students, business people, prospective members, government ministers, foreign dignitaries, diplomats, and presidents.

Last week, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, briefly toured the center. Like many visitors, Aliyev was particularly interested in and impressed by the security, and citizen’s faith in the safety, of the ID-cards. On April 8, the Democenter was visited by Strobe Talbott and Javier Solana. Solana served as the ninth secretary general of NATO, from 1995 to 1999, and as High Representative for High Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (CFSP), from October 1999 till December 2009, and as the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union and the European Union from (1999-2009). Talbott is an American foreign policy analyst associated with Yale University and the Brookings Institution, a former journalist associated with Time magazine and diplomat who served as the deputy secretary of state from 1994 to 2001. Both were visiting the Democenter to learn about the Estonian ICT industry, and after a pleasant visit and discussion of Estonia’s success with ID-card services and e-governance, left very impressed with the technological progress. The IT minister from St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to visit this week.

In addition to hosting visitors, an ongoing project of the center involves the Democenter ICT Export Cluster. A collaboration of two universities and 22 private firms, the Cluster aims to increase the partners’ export turnover by 50 percent by 2013. When asked if this is an overly ambitious goal given the current economic state, Vimberg disagreed, explaining that a large consortium of experts have been working together to develop a strategy to achieve this goal.
This optimism and active pursuit of new markets is the reason for the Democenter’s involvement in Estonia’s participation at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China, which will be held from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2010, and is a scheduled World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions.

The theme of the exposition will be “Better City - Better Life” and signifies Shanghai’s new status in the 21st century as a major economic and cultural center. More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organizations have registered to participate in the Shanghai World Expo. China expects to receive almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world to come and visit the World Expo. Seventy million visitors are expected, the largest in history. The Estonian Expo team is working closely with the Democenter on ICT presentations, exhibits, and public relations for this exciting event.