On 7 November the European Commission awarded the 2017 European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) prize of €1,000,000 to Paris (France). Tallinn (Estonia) was selected as a runner-up and was awarded with €100,000. Six out of ten finalists were Baltic Sea region cities.

Tallinn was awarded for its initiative to act as a testing ground for potential breakthrough technologies. The municipality fostered the use of self-driving cars, parcel delivery robots and ride-sharing. Tallinn has also implemented an innovative e-Residency system, which enables local citizens and businesses to work closely together with foreign entrepreneurs.

The 2017 European Capital of Innovation award competition was launched in March 2017 for cities with over 100,000 inhabitants from EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon 2020. The winner and the two runners-up have been selected from ten finalists on the basis of new initiatives launched since 1 January 2016. The award criteria focused on cities that are willing to be test-beds for new citizens-driven initiatives to find solutions for their relevant societal challenges.

More information at the Commission's website.