Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences
14th annual Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference (EIC)

Future DRIVE

1st October 2026

Öpiku Conference Center, Ülemiste City, Tallinn, Estonia

The International Conference
Aims and Objectives

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference “Future DRIVE” explores the skills, knowledge, and mindsets that will shape tomorrow’s world — a world driven by Development, Research, Innovation, Venture, and Entrepreneurship (DRIVE). The conference aims to foster collaboration between science and business, generate practical research-based solutions, and build partnerships that contribute to meaningful and sustainable impact in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.

SPEAKERS

MART SAARMA
MART SAARMA

President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences (Estonia)

JACOB SCHNICKEL
JACOB SCHNICKEL

Professor, Center for Language Education and International Programs, Jissen Women's University, Tokyo (Japan)

THOMAS MÖST
THOMAS MÖST

Startup Coach, Projektmanager at GründES! – the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule Esslingen (Germany)

ERKI MÖLDER
ERKI MÖLDER

Founding Partner of Health Founders (Estonia)

LEIDA TEJADA
LEIDA TEJADA

CEO and founder of Azule (Colombia)

KRISTEL OITMAA
KRISTEL OITMAA

Head of Brussels Office, Enterprise Estonia (EIS); Industrial Doctoral Researcher, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) (Estonia)

JOSÉ MACHADO
JOSÉ MACHADO

Deputy Director of the MEtRICs Research Center and Associate Professor with Habilitation at the University of Minho (Portugal)

VIMALA PALANISWAMY
VIMALA PALANISWAMY

Consultant, strateegist and educator, MIT Open Learning (J-WEL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)

ALEXANDER KNAUER
ALEXANDER KNAUER

Professor of Future Technologies and Entrepreneurship, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (Germany)

MARIT KANNELMÄE-GEERTS
MARIT KANNELMÄE-GEERTS

Head of Education at Peaasi.ee and Lecturer at Tallinn University (Estonia)

GEA ASHILEVI
GEA ASHILEVI

Psychologist, trainer, and a collaborator at Peaasi.ee; Doctoral Researcher, Tallinn University (Estonia)

KALEV KAARNA
KALEV KAARNA

Business Development Manager at Metrosert`s Autonomous Vehicles Unit (Estonia)

SILVER KELK
SILVER KELK

Head of Development at Mainor AS (Estonia)

PROGRAM

Moderator Johannes Tralla

9.00–10.00 Registration, morning coffee
10.00–10.20

Conference welcome words

Andrus Pedai, Rector of Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences

Kati Keel, Director of the Economic Policy Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia
10.20–12.30

Keynote Speakers on the topics as follow:

  • Mart Saarma, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences – “From Bench to Bedside – A Bumpy Road”
  • Kristel Oitmaa, Head of Brussels Office, Enterprise Estonia (EIS); Industrial Doctoral Researcher, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) – “What Is Driving Europe’s Innovation Future?”
  • Marit Kannelmäe-Geerts, Head of Education at Peaasi.ee; lecturer at Tallinn University – “The future is human: rethinking the value of social-emotional skills”
  • Jacob Schnickel, Professor, Center for Language Education and International Programs, Jissen Women’s University – “Putting Partnership into Practice: Social Entrepreneurship at a Japanese Women’s University”
12.30–13.00 Lunch
13.00–14.15

Presentations of scientific papers:

  • José Machado – “Driving Innovation from Research to Industrial Impact”, University of Minho, Minho (Portugal)
  • Gea Ashilevi – “Evidence Based Practice or Practice Based Evidence?”, Peaasi.ee, Tallinn (Estonia)
  • Thomas Möst  – “Entrepreneurship Centre GründES! – Local & Regional Ecosystem”, GründES! – the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule Esslingen, Esslingen (Germany)
14.15–14.30 Coffee break
14.30–15.30

Keynote Speakers on the topic as follows / Case study presentations:

  • Kalev Kaarna, Business Development Manager at Metrosert’s Autonomous Vehicles Unit – “Finding Super Happy Customers for Deep Tech Products in the AI Era”
  • Vimala Palaniswamy, consultant, strateegist and educator, MIT Open Learning (J-WEL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology – “The Building Blocks of Organizational Innovation Pipelines”
15.30–16.20

PANEL DISCUSSION

“Future Driven or Driving the Future?”
Panel of elected representatives from companies and universities

  • Erki Mölder – Founding Partner, Health Founders (Estonia)
  • Silver Kelk – Head of Development, Mainor AS (Estonia)
  • Leida Tejada – CEO and founder of Azule (Colombia)
  • Alexander Knauer – Professor of Future Technologies and Entrepreneurship, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
16.30 Closing of the Conference

 

VENUE

The Conference will be held at Öpiku Conference Centre (Valukoja 8), Ülemiste City, Tallinn, Estonia.

Ülemiste City is The Place where future happens. It’s the largest Smart City in the Baltics and the biggest privately-owned business campus in Northern Europe.

The airport is a 10-minute walk, and the bus stop is a 15-minute walk from the venue. The nearest hotel, Tallinn by Mercure, is just 10 minutes away on foot. Downtown and the Medieval Old Town are a 15-minute drive away. Ülemiste City is accessible by buses 7, 13, 15, 45, 49 and 64, as well as by trams T2 and T4. Interactive transportation and parking guides are available online.