e-Estonia
When Estonia started building up the country after re-gaining independence in 1991, information technology was seen as a key to building up new, contemporary governance systems with hardly any resources (link).
As a part of this, in 1996 a decision was made to invest heavily into expanding the computer and network infrastructure in the education system. The programme was called Tiigrihüpe or the Tiger Leap. In partnership between schools, universities, local authorities, private enterprise, public authorities and the third sector schools all over the country were provided with internet access and equipped with computer labs. Thanks to the programme’s success and spill-over effect to all the other areas of the society, Tiger Leap has been considered the most important tech-related decision Estonia has ever made (link).
Over the next decades Estonian has become a success story of innovative digital solutions and the work is ongoing to. At the same time, construction sector has globally for long been the least digitalized sector. As an effort to tackle that, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has launched the e-building platform (see below), that combines state registries and private service providers, to aid the flow of information and decision making about the built environment. Through an API companies can link their service with the platform.
European recovery and resilience facility
In response to the covid crisis, the European Committee decided in 2021 to make an investment unprecedented in its size, in order to build Europe back stronger and more resilient (link). Part of the 750 billion euro Next Generation EU programme is the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which brings approximately 863 million euros in investment directly to Estonia (link).
e-Construction Platform
Partially funded by the recovery facility, Estonia has been developing a central platform for all construction-related activities (www.ehr.ee). It combines data on the built environment from several national databases and already does or soon will offer a digital twin of all the buildings, BIM-based automated inspections of construction projects, implementation of automated design recommendations, regulatory guidance with reference and search system, digital spatial planning system automation of energy simulations, display of the energy use and occupancy profile of the housing stock, services supporting the circular economy, etc.
e-Leap in Construction
From the recovery and resilience facility’s funds for digital transformation in enterprises 4,5 million euros will be invested in digitalizing the Estonian construction sector.
Under the name ehituse e-hüpe / e-leap in construction the funding programme is aimed at Estonian companies and institutions working in or with the construction sector, in order to develop or use digital tools and to expand the services offered on the Estonian e-construction platform.
The programme is managed by Estonian Ministry of Economy together with the State Shared Service Centre.
We welcome all projects that contribute to the expansion of the services offered on the e-construction platform and other innovative projects that help the applicants reach a new level in digitalization.
Key facts about the programme
| Total sum of the programme | 4,5 million euros from the European recovery facility Next Generation EU |
| Who can apply | Estonian companies and institutions of all sizes that are active in the construction sector (i.e. building companies, architects, planners, real estate developers) or provide services for the construction sector (i.e. software developers). |
| What for | Prototyping, development and use of services that draw on the e-construction platform or contribute to the digitalization of the construction sector. |
| Supported activities | Software development, process and organisation innovation, training, consultation, and research activities |
| Supported expenses | If the grant is paid as de minimis aid, permitted are all expenses that are necessary for reaching the goal of the project and are not excempt by the programme Decree (see legal framework below); if the grant is paid as state aid, allowed expenses are listed in the articles 18, 25, 29 and 31 of the state aid regulation of the European Commission. |
| Grant size | Max 200 000€ per application |
| Application | Two times a year through open calls. Last call will take place in the middle of 2025. |
| Self-financing by the applicant | 50%-85%, depending on whether the grant is paid as state aid or de minimis aid. |
| Time frame | Projects need to be finished by the end of 2025. |
| Decision process | Money allocation will be decided by an independent jury. They will assess, is the project aligned with the goals of the programme; is there a need for such a project; are the planned results, activities, budget and timeline justified and realistic. |
| Legal framework | The funding programme is regulated by a Decree of the Minister of Economy “Ehituse e-HÜPE toetuse andmise tingimused ja kord” (in Estonian). As the programme is financed by public resources, the grants can be paid as de minimis aid or as state aid. Which it will be, depends on the applicant. |
e-Leap in Construction
The first call for applications will be announced in autumn 2022. If you’d like to recieve information about it (in Estonian), please subscribe to our newsletter under the contact page.
The application can be submitted at the platform etoetus.ee (in Estonian) that is managed by the State Support Services Centre. You will need either the Estonian ID card or Mobile ID for that.
In case of any questions, please contact us.
