To what extent has the pressure to address societal, environmental, and changing economic issues become an inseparable part of modern business, EBS has set its goal to focus on digitalisation and sustainable development in education, research, investments, and other areas. The school's aim is to develop EBS into a leading platform for education and business collaboration, thereby helping Estonian companies to create business models that operate in the new world.
One way to achieve this goal is through the unique practical doctoral programme in management, launched in 2022. Known in EBS as Applied and Experimental Track, this PhD programme integrates academic knowledge with business activities to link research with the real needs of organisations. EBS Chancellor Mart Habakuk states: "In the future, at least a quarter of the graduates from the Doctorate in Entrepreneurship should be either founders or option holders in new science-based companies. Additionally, we are cultivating good lecturers for Estonia, with experience in both research and business."
Continuing on the theme of the connections between education and business, it is worth mentioning that Ants Lauteri Street has long been home not only to educational and research activities. Increasingly, incubators and accelerators are finding their place here, ensuring that new ideas, services, and products reach the real world. For example, the EBS building houses Startup Wise Guys, founded in 2012, and the Beamline Accelerator, established a few years later. Cleantech Estonia also operates under the EBS roof, and soon, so will kood/Jõhvi. Mart Habakuk hopes that cooperation between EBS and business accelerators will eventually lead to the creation of around a hundred new companies per year: "We still have some way to go to reach this goal, but I am confident that this journey will be extraordinarily exciting, as many startups and researchers are seeking solutions to problems that no one has yet been able to solve or implement effectively. Great things are born out of collaboration. An important part of Estonia's new entrepreneurial success stories is related to the creation of innovative digital platforms and services. Meaningful companies are born and grow when entrepreneurs, developers, and designers with shared values come together. An entrepreneur doesn't have to be a developer, and a developer doesn't have to be an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur must be able to work together with developers, designers, and increasingly with scientists. This is what we are learning and teaching at EBS with our partners every day. I believe that this collaboration will start making a significant contribution to Estonian entrepreneurship and the continuation of the digital success story in the coming years."
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