Projects

The aim of the Project “Development of universal data model and continuity of care processes based on international standards for new generation health information systems” is to find appropriate model for digital health care data that could be used for data collection and storage in new generation TIS with the feasibility to implement the same model in other large scale Electronic Health Records (EHR). This data model will be foundation for health care professionals to use digital decision support systems in context of Electronic Medical Record. The definition of data model would lead to the development of EHR processes where minimal set of health status summaries are defined for each specialty/health issue to make evidence-based decision possible. In turn, defined health status summaries are needed for development of continuity of care processes and training of artificial intelligence and development of intuitive Electronic Medical Records.

STP15 "Work Worth Doing? The Value of Platform Work in Estonia" was a short 20-month project aimed at helping a returning scientist establish a thriving research stream and network in Estonia. I am pleased to report that the project has successfully achieved this goal. During its duration, I mentored a master's student who is now continuing as an early-stage (PhD) researcher under my supervision. Together, we are involved in a follow-up grant application in collaboration with the University of Tallinn and the University of Tartu. Consequently, the project continues to progress and, with the support of university co-funding, promises to have long-term impact on the future of sustainable platform work in Estonia. In addition to fostering the development of the next generation of researchers, the project has yielded significant results in terms of publications, dissemination, and follow-up grant applications: (1) Publication of Master's thesis: Toikka, A. (2023). "Worth of Platform-Based Gig Work from the Point of View of Employees and Society." School of Business and Governance, TalTech. (2) Opinion piece in Estonian media: Toikka, A. & Stein, M-K. (2023). "TTÜ Teadlased: Platvormitöötajate Alaväärtustamine Varjutab Ükssarviku Edulugu." Novaator. (English version: Researchers: Undervaluing Platform Workers Tarnishes Unicorn Success Story). (3) Participation in grant application: RITA-PLATV2 2024 "Impacts and Future Directions of Platform Work in Estonia." These outcomes are primarily focused on constructively shaping public discourse around platform work and its participants in Estonia. Given that A. Toikka is continuing this research as a PhD candidate, we have decided to extend our data collection beyond the project's duration to aim for publication in top-tier journals. Preliminary results from the project were presented for feedback at the pre-ECIS (European Conference of Information Systems) Changing Nature of Work workshop (2023) in Kristiansand, Norway.

Digital transformation through development of digital readiness is one of the main objectives of this project proposal by developing a platform through which educators along their students will be able to access STEM LABs remotely through the internet. Therefore ReSTELA project aims to strengthen digital skills , through remotely accessible STEM Labs for vulnerable groups such as people (students educators) living in rural areas, or other groups that don’t have the financial capacity or knowledge to setup such systems and at the same time emphasizing on promoting new and improved learning methods.

The WaveTwin project aims to further develop a digital twin for estimating the wave state in the Baltic Sea from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Previous methods for SAR data are not successful enough for enclosed water bodies where steep wind waves are dominating. It is apparent that the Baltic Sea also cannot be covered fully with wave buoys to measure the energy spectrum, i.e. the distribution of wave energy by frequency. The use of SAR data allows us to effectively evaluate the wave spectrum over the entire Baltic Sea, skipping the high costs of installing and operating wave buoys. To achieve this goal, the team will use their expertise in the application of deep learning techniques to estimate wave spectra based on SAR images. Environmental protection and navigation at sea (e.g. for the construction and maintenance of wind farms) are two of the most important application areas. A growing interest in such problems is also evident in the field of situational awareness systems.

Georgia produces about 70 thousand tonnes of mandarins annually, 50% of which gets exported. Local fruit juice industry utilizes most of the mandarins left in the country to produce mandarin juice. However, the leftover mandarin pomace causes serious environmental issues as the piled up pomace waste leaches acidic decomposting products as well as essential oils into the environment. Mandarin pomace is a rich source of fine chemicals and the project will develop environmentally friendly technologies to extrat those chemicals from the waste.

Developing, testing and validating a fully automated AI fish counting system of 20+ freshwater fish species using more than 23 Mio. videos with fish, fish swarms and changing environmental conditions.

Field study of risk of fish injury and mortality at two large hydropower plants in Norway and two in Sweden.

With this project, we demonstrate the efficiency of a novel biotechnological process on a pilot scale, which converts wood industry residues (pre-processed sawdust) into healthy feed and food additives. A life cycle analysis is performed on the process, quantitatively demonstrating the advantages of the circular economic process, and a platform is created for the effective development of industrial biotechnology processes on various sustainable commodities such as food waste, by-products of the food industry and agriculture.

Catching-Up along the global value chain: business models, determinants and policy implications in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a project built on a multidisciplinary and multi-sectorial exchange program focused on unravelling the process of Catching-Up from different sectorial perspectives at a country level. It analyses the role of business models (BMs) in entering, learning and upgrading the Global Value Chain (GVC), aiming at recognising the determinants and challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in tackling the process of upgrading in a globalising economy. The outcome of the project will be the definition of policy tools and frameworks to support effective policy-making actions in the implementation of Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3), with respect to the new agenda of Europe 2020, mainly for low-income EU countries.

The proposed project ‘BoostEuroTeQ’ aims at strengthening the research and innovation dimension of the EuroTeQ Engineering University. It strongly builds on synergies with its education-focused activities (funded by Erasmus +) to reinforce institutional change towards responsible research and innovation. It aims, in particular, at enabling individuals in technology value creation to interact with stakeholders of the wider society to ensure desirable and socially robust pathways for societal transformation. The work plan set out in BoostEuroTeQ strengthens and complements core parts of the EuroTeQ Engineering University. In a first pillar, the project will develop a concept for training learning professionals at universities and position them as key actors facilitating knowledge transfer and co-creative innovation between the university and the wider ecosystem. By defining a EuroTeQ upskilling strategy it will help establish the partner institutions as constant companions in the lifelong learning journeys of engineers in Europe. This will enable the consortium to develop and implement an improved strategy for strengthening human capital and will re-inforce the cooperation with non-academic actors. In a second pillar, the project will analyse the EuroTeQ partners’ needs in terms of institutional strategies for reflexivity and develop a “EuroTeQ manifesto” for institutionalization. It will investigate how universities can engage with their surroundings by developing “learning networks” and will design an approach to evaluate the impact of co-creative education for innovation and understand its scalability. With that, BoostEuroTeQ will reinforce the impact of university research and innovation and build sustainable involvement and engagement with citizens and civil society. In sum, this complementary project will strengthen the EuroTeQ Engineering University’s role as change maker and role model for institutional transformation in Europe.