IT services

Since 2008 the Development Fund has undertaken the information technology foresight EST_IT @ 2018, whose aim is to clarify in which areas and how can information and communication technologies (ICT) contribute the most to economic growth and social development over the next ten years.

More about this can be read here.

Facts about the ICT sector:

• The ICT sector's sales, net profit, as well as a number of employees in the sector account for 4-5% of Estonia's economy.
• The service economy in the context of the ICT sector is important for the hidden growth potential, in particular, the successful implementation of ICT in the knowledge capacity in service areas, such as financial services, health and wellbeing, education, logistics, energy, ICT security systems (e.g. ID card) etc..

The ICT sector value added (such as industrial services) in 2006 totalled 8.4 billion USD, which accounted for 4.4 billion in telecommunications services, and accounted for 1.6 billion in computer services and software development.

Telecommunication services in Estonia has undergone a rapid and vigorous development. However, the increase of users in Estonia has now exhausted itself and the prevailing trend is that the profit margins for telecommunications are falling. This in turn forces the sector to look for other extra services (M-parking etc.) and move to other markets (cable TV etc.).

See also:

• EST_IT@2018 foresight activities can be read about here