Estonia-Iceland Business Forum

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In cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Business Iceland, we invite you to the Estonia–Iceland Business Forum. The forum takes place on the occasion of the state visit of the President of Iceland to Estonia and will bring together companies, public sector representatives, and industry organisations from both countries.

The aim of the forum is to strengthen economic cooperation between Estonia and Iceland and to create new contacts, particularly in the fields of cybersecurity and health technology.

At the forum, we will explore the role of artificial intelligence in these areas, with a focus on its practical applications in healthcare and cybersecurity.

The business forum will be followed by networking and B2B meetings. See the list of companies in the business delegation HERE

TIME AND PLACE

19. August 2026 at 08.45–14.00 Vabamu, Toompea 8B, Tallinn

Programme overview

08.45Registration and welcome coffee
 Moderator of the day: Mr. Rannar Park, e-Estonia Briefing Centre
09.00Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between AI & Robotics Estonia and New Nordics AI
09.10

Opening remarks 

Mrs. Kristina Kallas, Minister of Education and Research, Republic of Estonia

Mr. Logi Már Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, Republic of Iceland

09.35

Panel discussion: How AI is changing the health information usage

Iceland and Estonia are an example of two small nations that have taken parallel paths to digitizing health care. They have both built comprehensive national health-data systems — processing prescriptions and patient records across hospitals and primary care at population scale.
This panel will focus on how two small nations with outsized health-data assets — Iceland's population-genetic depth and Estonia's national e-health architecture — can each learn from the other's approach to scaling responsibly; how AI is being applied across the life-sciences value chain, and what capital and partnership models can accelerate cross-border collaboration between the two ecosystems. This is a strong opportunity to compare notes on what has worked at scale and to identify concrete openings for pilot projects, data-sharing frameworks, or investment.

Panel moderator: Mr. Ain Aaviksoo, Founder @ Mentastic

Mr. Priit Salumaa, CEO & Founder at Better Medicine

Ms. Arna Hardardottir, CEO of Helix Health

Ms. Svana Gunnarsdottir, Managing Partner at Frumtak Ventures.

10.15

Panel discussion: AI, Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Resilience

As critical infrastructure across Europe becomes an ever more attractive target for threats, Icelandic and Estonian cybersecurity innovators are turning to AI to shift from reactive defence to real-time resilience. This panel brings together companies protecting the systems modern societies depend on. On one side, it means AI-driven detection and response at the speed and scale modern threats demand. On the other, it means protecting the integrity of financial data and transactions themselves — using AI to detect and investigate financial crime that can undermine trust in a system just as thoroughly as a breach, without ever touching a firewall.
Discussion will focus on how these different faces of AI-driven security  are converging under a shared goal of national and institutional resilience, and what it takes to build lasting partnerships between technology providers, critical-infrastructure operators, and the public-sector bodies responsible for critical-infrastructure and system integrity.

Panel moderator: Mr. Oliver Väärtnõu, CEO of Cybernetica, Chairman of the Board of Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Mr. Hallgrimur Bjornsson, CEO of Varist  

Mr. Daniel Palmason, CEO of Lucinity

Mr. Jürgen Erm, Country Managing Director at Neverhack 

11.00

Introduction of the Icelandic business delegation

Ms. Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, Business Iceland

11.30Coffee break
12.00

Fireside Chat: AI for Good

H.E. Mr. Alar Karis, President of the Republic of Estonia

H.E. Ms. Halla Tómasdóttir, President of the Republic of Iceland

12.30Closing remarks
12.45Networking lunch

Who should attend?

  • companies in IT, cybersecurity, and AI
  • health technology and biotechnology companies
  • investors and the startup community
  • representatives of the public sector and development organisations
  • companies interested in cooperation with Icelandic partners

The detailed programme will be published closer to the event.

Member price: FREE
Price: FREE
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