On April 17th, a consortium consisting of AS Metrosert, the Enterprise and Innovation Foundation (EIS), and the Estonian Electronics Industry Association (EETL) launched a highly important chip center with the development of local technology companies in mind.
The chip center is a strategically important project for Estonia, aimed at supporting companies and startups in developing their design capabilities and enhancing skills in chip technology. The chip center’s budget for the next four years is 2.4 million euros, funded equally by the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
The chip center, established under Metrosert’s applied research center, will provide support for chip design and pilot production organization, focusing on three main areas: hardware security, chip testing and safety, and functional verification.
According to Minister of Economy and Industry Erkki Keldo, establishing the chip center is an important step for developing high-tech manufacturing and increasing economic competitiveness.
“Today’s life is hard to imagine without microchips – they can be found in everything from phones and cars to toothbrushes and refrigerators. If we want competitive products to be developed in Estonia and want to increase the share of high-tech industry, we need to enhance entrepreneurs’ chip technology competence and provide them with necessary services. This is exactly what the chip center enables,” said Minister Keldo.
Relevant experts will be hired to consult companies and provide technical support. Together with universities, courses will also be organized for engineers interested in chip technology. Additionally, relationships will be developed within the chip industry and help will be provided in finding investment opportunities. Support will also be offered for software and hardware capabilities and testing.
Metrosert board member and head of the applied research center Indrek Tulp noted that chip technology development is crucial both for companies’ product development and international competitiveness. “Chip technology is a field with intense international competition, and it’s extremely important for Estonian companies to have the necessary development opportunities and competencies. The chip center being created will help fill the existing gap, providing companies with support in implementing knowledge-intensive product development and enabling them to stay at the forefront of technological advancement,” said Tulp.
The chip center will more broadly develop Estonia’s electronics and defense industry. The combination of EIS services and development support with Metrosert’s chip technology capabilities will help advance the field significantly, raising the international competitiveness of both industry and end-product developers. EETL’s knowledge and good connection with its membership ensures broad impact across the entire sector.
“Chip capability gives Estonian technology companies, including the defense industry, tools to create more cost-effective electronic systems. This affects product parameters such as performance, energy consumption, security, dimensions, weight, and in the case of mass products, also price. This is clearly central and strategic know-how on which every country’s technological sovereignty and competitiveness is based,” said Jaan Raik, coordinator of EIS’s chip technologies and design center.
The chip center is part of a European Union initiative that creates similar centers in every member state, forming a pan-European network that gives Estonian companies access to other countries’ competencies and best practices. Companies can contact project coordinator Jaan Raik (jaan.raik@eis.ee) regarding chip center-related matters.