Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Railways, Transport

Press photo.

The “Futurism Conference”, organized by the British Embassy in Tallinn and Department for International Trade, invites to take the drivers seat in creating the future. The centrepiece of the entire conference are future technologies, cyber security and new business models in transportation and logistics. These and many other topics are discussed today by international and innovative organizations and giants of innovation - RB RAIL, Hyperloop, Uber, Starship, Cybernetica and other industry pioneers willing to change the way we think about mobility and cyber security. The event brings together transport experts from United Kingdom, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and other countries.

Baiba Rubesa pointed out that “the Rail Baltica - the largest Baltic-region infrastructure project in the last 100 years will not only integrate the Baltic States into the European railway network, but also will act as a new value platform for digitalization and innovation in the region. “Rail Baltica is a greenfield project thus having the opportunity to develop a smart, digital railway from the outset by deploying latest cost-efficient technologies. The project is a platform for innovation and involvement of the Baltic-Nordic start-up community and educational institutions to develop new digital solutions on the backbone of Rail Baltica – both on the infrastructure and the user side,” says B. Rubesa.

B. Rubesa also noted the importance of keeping an open mind and forecast what technologies will be commonplace after 10-15 years and design the infrastructure accordingly. At the same time a cost-efficient approach must be adopted to ensure a balance between value added from these innovations and a life-cycle cost perspective.

RB RAIL AS is a multi-national joint venture of the Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which has been established to implement Rail Baltica – the first pan-Baltic infrastructure project of its kind. RB RAIL is the central coordinator for the Rail Baltica project. Its main business is the design, construction and marketing of the railway. The project involves the construction of a high-speed rail line infrastructure from Tallinn to the Lithuanian/Polish border.