News

The need for chips will skyrocket in the coming decade and experts are seeing opportunities opening up for Estonian businesses in chip design and verification and the testing of the security of chips, the brief report “Embedded Systems and Chip Technologies: The State of Play and Prospects” by the Foresight Centre reveals.

Hydrogen technology which is waiting for a global breakthrough offers numerous opportunities to Estonia. Estonia has a strong potential in hydrogen production as well as in hydrogen technology research and development and the application of the technology, the Foresight Centre points out in its brief report “The State of Play and Prospects for Hydrogen Technology”.

Estonia’s future economic success depends on the development of green technologies and yet the volume of green investments in Estonia is currently about half of what it should be, concludes the Foresight Centre in its recent report “Green Transition Trends and Scenarios in Estonia”.

In order to enhance the competitiveness of Estonian economy and ensure sustainable development, we need to increase our investments into developing green technologies. Estonia’s weak point is that the state support for research and development in local businesses is inadequate and erratic, shows the Foresight Centre report “Green Transition Trends and Scenarios in Estonia”.

Wood-based bio-products could come to replace oil-based ones, and Estonia has a strong economic potential in bio-refining, both in the stage of research and development as well as production, says the Foresight Centre brief report “Biorefining Wood: Today and in the Future”.

Producing and consuming cultured meat could dramatically reduce the environmental footprint of food production and help improve public health. The research and development linked to the production of meat substitutes offers a massive economic opportunity for Estonia, says Foresight Centre in its brief report “Cultured Meat and Other Meat Substitutes: Today and in the Future”.

Teachers in Estonia prefer to work in schools with a good management culture, and salary is not the only deciding factor. According to the recently published brief report of the Foresight Centre “The Reputation of the Teaching Profession in Estonia and Its Development Prospects”, the quality of management and a healthy working culture in schools have a key role in shaping the reputation of the teaching profession.

The average environmental footprint of an Estonian resident exceeds the planetary boundary by 3.8 times but depends greatly on the individual’s place of residence and income, shows the Foresight Centre report “Environmental footprint of Estonian residents by social groups and regions”.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 32,000 people have registered their residence in Estonia and war refugees make up around 2.2% of the Estonian population. According to the Foresight Centre brief report “The Burden of Municipalities in Hosting Ukrainian War Refugees”, the share of refugees in the population and the burden relating to hosting them varies considerably from one municipality to another.

The average salaries of teachers have grown faster than the average salaries overall in Estonia; if the current trend continues, these would reach 120% of the national average in 2024. However, higher salaries often include overtime or extra work, which means that Estonian teachers are overburdened, shows the Foresight Centre report “Teachers’ salaries”.