The French Institute of Estonia hosted the Responsible Digital Future event at Cinamon T1 in Tallinn.
The evening featured keynote speeches and round table discussion with experts like Nele Leosk, Estonian Ambassador for Digital, Luukas Ilves, former CIO of the Estonian government, Caroline Zorn, Vice-President of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, Marc Sztulman, Occitanie region councillor.
Highlights included the presentations of innovative ideas developed by the students who won the “Franco-Estonian competition for responsible innovations”: Hilda Laidmets, Lou Xambeu, Domenik Djatsuk, Arthur Fertier. Their projects offered solutions to enhance both environmental and political awareness through applications.
The project by Hilda Laidmets and Arthur Fertier, Verteka app, is designed for those who care about the environment but don’t know how to act. The app helps increase awareness and become more eco-friendly by tracking your habits and suggesting improvements in real-time. For example, you can monitor your water and electricity consumption, receiving reports and recommendations based on this data. Verteka also offers eco-shopping, marking eco-friendly and second-hand stores on a map. Additionally, the app helps plan routes, comparing them by time, cost, and eco-friendliness. Finally, Verteka assists with waste sorting: if you don’t know where to dispose of something, simply attach a photo, and the app will explain everything.
The project by Lou Xambeu and Dominik Djatsuk, Sinu Arvamus, aims to increase awareness and participation in political life. In France, in 2023 was created the “Pol” app, which allows users to follow parliamentary discussions in real-time and vote on proposed questions, either for or against. Similarly, they plan to develop a comparable app for Estonians, where people can vote for or against proposals, view information on the topic, and see which party voted for what. Additionally, there will be a section where users can deepen their knowledge about the establishment of the parliament in Estonia. Key factors for this app include: it will be free to ensure everyone can be politically active, and the possibility to ask questions directly to Members of Parliament.