research and development centre

Our story

Who we are and what we do?

FinEst Centre for Smart Cities is an international research and development centre.

We are driven by passion to enhance the quality of life in urban areas. We firmly believe that the future of cities lies in creating smart, human-centric, and resilient environment that empower people to lead happy, fulfilling lives.

At the core of our work are our exceptional research and development teams from Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and Aalto University (Finland). We foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing by organizing engaging events and thought-provoking discussions that bring together researchers, city officials, residents and municipal leaders.

FinEst Centre is an independent organization under Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), founded in 2019 by TalTech, Aalto University, Forum Virium Helsinki and the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

smart city events

Our mission

To develop smarter cities for people through actionable research in Finland and Estonia.

Our goal is to ensure that as cities grow and evolve, they remain centered on the needs and well-being of their residents.

smart city projects

Our ambition

Our 20 novel smart solutions will be developed and implemented in at least 30 European cities by 2030.

Ralf-Martin Soe

Our values

We are ambitious.
We are trustworthy.
We care.

Facts and figures

100+

academic publications published annually by the Centre

15+M€

investments into development and piloting new solutions between 2020
and 2027

8

international projects (volume 1.5M€), dealing notably with security, circular economy, urban air mobility, and biodiversity

10+

pan-European research and innovation projects that we are involved with, mainly financed by the European Commission