On March 30, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves welcomed the heads of European science parks of the International Association of Science Parks who are meeting in Tallinn.

“Science parks play an important role in technological development, which Europe needs today to remain competitive at a global level,” said President Ilves in his welcoming speech. According to the Head of State, production may be simpler and cheaper in Asia; however, innovative ideas could come from us, from Europe.

President Ilves encouraged the European science parks to look towards macro-regional politics: “The Baltic Sea Strategy and the Danube Strategy serve as good examples of countries from the same region working together to achieve shared goals.“

“If we want to avoid Europe becoming a nice museum, we must be capable of maintaining our leading position in the sphere of research and technology development,” President Ilves emphasised. “For that we need fruitful co-operation between science parks all over Europe in order to link valuable academic ideas with the best technological solutions.“

Background information:
The meeting of the European IASP leaders in Tallinn was organised by Tehnopol - Tallinn Technology Park. IASP joins approximately 400 science parks, where more than 200,000 innovative enterprises are operating. Tehnopol has been a member of IASO since 2003.


Office of the President
Public Relations Department

Märkmed: