The fastest internet connection in the 3Seas region can be found in the Baltic states. With one notable exception.
Recently, the digital and tech sectors have grown exponentially across the CEE. With the pandemic accelerating the transition, the region stands to gain EUR 200 billion in GDP by 2030 from these industries. Yet, pursuing this revolution might not be as easy as it seems.
Printify has spearheaded the quickly growing print-on-demand market, helping regular people to become merchants selling unique products while avoiding storage costs and risks associated with unsold inventory.
Is hearing the only way one can enjoy sound? No. Latvian startup Stapes is working on a sophisticated piece of tech to allow people to feel it through their bones. This multi-sensory experience brings deep relaxation.
Out of the progress and development that came out of Slovakia during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Q-Vent portable ventilator has caught the attention of many. It has since been further developed and put to use in a remote region of Kenya.
Pixel Federation is a game developer and publisher of free-to-play mobile games. The company has been one of the biggest in the gaming industry, producing several games that have attracted 140 million gamers worldwide.
In order to develop, Central Europe needs nothing more than innovation. Countries of the region are more and more aware of that.
This past May, something big happened at a sleepy airport in Balchik, in northeastern Bulgaria. Dronamics, a Bulgarian drone developer dubbed "The World's First Cargo Drone Airline," successfully completed the first flight of the Black Swan, its unmanned aircraft.
Family-run Diplomat Dental isn't just your run-of-the-mill dental equipment manufacturer. Quite the contrary, they are using their vast experience to push the boundaries of innovation when it comes to production processes and creating some unexpected partnerships in the meantime.
"Hi, you have given me life, and now my role is to represent you like a mirror!" echoed across Romania's Government chambers. This came not from a movie but from the introduction of the government's new honorary assistant, named ION, which is a not-so-simple AI system tasked with gathering data from citizens and voicing their thoughts.
The most promising resource of Belarus is rapidly and dramatically shrinking. Already, tens of thousands of Belarusian specialists, IT professionals, and programmers have applied for visas under Poland's Business Harbor program.
No restriction plaques here. Interactive and futuristic, the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw is a paradise for science enthusiasts, kids, and adults alike! Increasingly popular, it provides direct contact with scientific achievements.
It seems that flying drones have reached their optimal shape when it comes to the control and the propulsion systems consisting of four or more rotors. Is there anything else that could be invented in this regard?
Flying cars might seem like the stuff of dreams - or science fiction movies. However, the reality of seeing one in the skies near you is far closer that you might imagine.
While appearing discreet from the outside, Černopolní Street Number 45 is a breathtaking engineering jewel of the 20th Century and is considered the first smart home. It even is on the UNESCO list!
In the second half of the 20th century, Poland was an IT rarity in the Eastern Bloc. Under the conditions of a centrally planned economy, Polish engineers created successive generations of industrial and personal computers from scratch.
For a long time, little was known about the Slovak inventor of the parachute, whose life reveals a fascinating story almost forgotten.
Romania is the neighbor with such fast Wi-Fi you wish you could borrow their password. Ironically, it's also still a country overly reliant on actual paperwork due to a lack of digital enterprises and services.
We've all had that moment on an open stretch of highway when the speed starts creeping up. Luckily, these days we've got handy speedometers to help us avoid awkward meetings with the local police officers. You can thank Croatian inventor Josip Belušić for that.
What do you get when you gather a team of students from Czech Technical University who are passionate about autonomous systems, speed, and innovation? Electrically powered autonomous Formula.
Speedtests don't lie. Bulgaria is considered a pioneer in 5G availability and median download speeds in Central and Eastern Europe.
Latvian startup Aerones has taken on the challenge of introducing robotic solutions to servicing wind turbines, which constitute an important renewable solution for the future. The product has gained widespread attention.
Have you ever forgotten your Facebook password? You probably changed it via SMS confirmation using the service created by Infobip. How did this Croatian start-up become a unicorn in digital communication?
The revolution against the Soviets took different and unique forms in each country in the Eastern Bloc. In Estonia - it took the form of choirs.
The biotech industry has always been one of the most promising fields in the Lithuanian economy. But the growth it has experienced in the last decade was unexpected for everyone. Since 2010 it has grown tenfold and now contributes around 2.5% to the country's GDP.
The American-Slovak startup Tachyum is developing the world's first Universal Processor, which promises to speed up data processing and AI learning and help construct a new supercomputer in Slovakia.
Lithuanian lasers are very well-known worldwide, with an estimated 10% of world scientific lasers made in the country. This is the story of how a small country has become a powerhouse in innovative laser technology.
Active mainly in Vienna and Bratislava, this 18th-century sculptor left an unusual oeuvre of marble busts depicting distorted facial expressions. His inspiration could have been mental illness or belief in the paranormal.
If only camping trips weren’t so challenging… Latvia’s BeTriton has a solution! Their amphibious electric vehicle allows crossing terrain and water at ease and eliminates the need to pitch a tent at night.
A tragic accident left a 15-year-old girl with no arms, but Romanian doctors succeeded in reattaching both, performing a rare, almost impossible 20-hour surgery - the first bilateral arm reattachment surgery in Romania.
This may come as a surprise, but Bulgaria was once a computer superpower. Well, at least behind the Iron Curtain. It was all thanks to the genius of Ivan Marangozov, a flute player turned computer engineer credited with the creation of Pravetz, Bulgaria’s first computer.
Cyberpunk 2077, a Triple-A class title, created by Polish company CD Project Red, has become a worldwide success with over 14 million copies sold. It’s only one of a number of titles created by companies in the 3Seas region taking the world by storm.
Organs-on-a-chip are not a thing of nightmares. Quite the contrary, Latvian startup, Cellbox Labs, is pioneering a way for this smart technology to revolutionize drug discovery.
One of the most ambitious geopolitical projects of our time is getting closer to completion. Investment in communications infrastructure, which is the very foundation of the development of the Three Seas Initiative, is gaining the highest priority.
It started innocently enough. The first presentations of an autonomous land drone designed by the Estonian company Milrem showed a vehicle capable of carrying wounded and supplies. Meanwhile, THeMIS grew claws and saw real combat.
Saving lives since 2016, Záchranka started as a bachelor's thesis idea and became a fully-functional mobile app interconnected with rescue service systems.
Poland is taking steps to position Central Eastern Europe in pole position ahead of the coming competition for market shares in a new sector of the economy.
Yes, there is a way to measure it - many, actually, depending on who is doing the assessment. For many years now, whenever standards of living are measured, Vienna has managed to snag one of the top spots.
Optimatik, a startup from Wrocław, aims to make the most out of the logistics industry’s transition to smart solutions. Its product is aimed at helping coordination between human and robot-run devices in facilities by tracking their movement through a 5G network.
The Czech Republic stands at a critical crossroads for the future of train transport. While some dream of high-speed rail, others fear for the survival of trains. Will the Czechs get their TGV?
Important inventions in military weapons are often created during wars, but the Croatian invention of the torpedo has a different story, one of the desire to defend. How did the torpedo revolutionize sea warfare?
The digitalization and development of the Internet have created a new operational domain – cyberspace, vulnerable to hostile actions that only a few countries are prepared to repel. One of them is Estonia.
Slovakia has a tradition of constructing self-propelled Howitzers mounted on car wheels. The current model, Zuzana 2, is an upgrade to a 50-year-old tradition of Howitzer-making and is one of the most modern of its kind in the world currently in use.
A group of scientists from Brno has made a revolutionary discovery. What sounds like science fiction is within reach: light without electricity!
For the last three years, two driverless buses have been operating on the outskirts of Vienna. The project has so far been a success and a source of inspiration for other potential models in the 3 Seas region, as well as elsewhere.
An innovative student project aimed to bring Brno online, and it succeeded. Not only can you roam the city, but you can also build in it! All thanks to a group of students and Minecraft.
Estonia is currently testing an online writing tool to speed up the transcription of court sessions. Available to both in-person and online sessions, Salme can accurately write down who said what in the courtroom. Its potential is promising.
God created man; Sam Colt made them equal. Now, the legendary American Colt manufacturer belongs to a Czech company. With this acquisition, Czechs are currently at the global top of gun manufacturing.
For 50 years, the Polish company Melex has been creating EVs, which sell like hot cakes all over the world - long before electric vehicles became fashionable.
An Austrian company has created a GPS tracker that can be placed on the collars of cats and dogs to bring more safety to pet owners. The smart design of the product switches between satellite and WiFi connection to provide a constant location online.
In less than 30 years, the blind population of the world is expected to increase to over 100 million. dotLumen aims to provide solutions to accommodate, empower, and enable the visually impaired to live life to the fullest.
There are only a handful of countries around the world where Coca-Cola does not reign supreme. Czechia and Slovakia are among them. Meet Kofola, the socialist Coke alternative introduced in the 60s, still holding strong and topping the soft-drink market.
Many most critically acclaimed games were developed in 2022 by Central and Eastern European GameDev studios. What makes them unique are the ideas, the audio-visual design, the technology, and the fresh, inspiring touch.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. And sometimes, it literally takes a mother to invent an ingenious prop that makes parenting that little bit easier and goes viral. Meet Szumisie.
Before becoming a genius physicist, Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a Polish language teacher and a national-democratic activist.
A corpse found on the border between Austria and Italy seemed so fresh that the tourists who found it called the police. But it was archeologists would eventually dispute the nationality of the ice man.
Carebot is on the way to implementing AI suggestions into CXS and MMG screenings in hospitals in Czechia. Led by two young enthusiasts, it stepped in at a crucial time to account for the need for innovations in healthcare with an offer of promising conduct.
The Witcher - a successful Netflix series, a mind-boggling game, and… a musical. All of these are spin-offs of a highly witty fantasy saga. So where did it all begin?
Some of Riga's wooden buildings date as far back as the 18th century. Witnesses of wars, power struggles, and transformation, the sturdy structures are a living archive. What is their status today?
Enthusiasm for nuclear energy in Poland is not waning. In addition to the full-size Korean and American reactors, another one will be built. The National Center for Nuclear Research, with the help of Japanese specialists, will design a new experimental reactor.
An experiment in testing a fourth brake light in the front of the car, in between lights, is currently underway. The aim is to increase traffic and pedestrian safety to decrease casualties of pedestrians and drivers.
Most of the Three Seas Countries are considered to be emerging innovators by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). Which ones are they, and what does it mean? Are there any strong innovators among us?
The Hungarian-born startup Colossyan has been developing AI-generated media production, run by AI and machine learning, in a less well-known field of innovation. Its product offers the use of clients’ avatars in video footage.
Three Seas countries are attractive investment destinations for global corporations. Can it also result from the fact that people in the region can work longer hours than their Western European counterparts?
At almost 650 meters tall, the radio mast in Konstantynów was the tallest structure of its time. Although it toppled in 1991, it held the record until the completion of Burj Khalifa in 2008.
At only 91 years old, it is not the oldest Zoo in Europe. However, Prague Zoo is repeatedly ranked as one of the best zoological gardens worldwide. Let us give you a virtual tour.
The “Romanian SUV” took over the world in the mid-90s. What followed was a success story that made a hit around the globe and put Romania on the map of the automobile world, only to disappear into thin air less than 50 years later.
Warsaw-based startup Tylko has been promoting its D2C (direct-to-consumer) model in the furniture industry. The model is supported by software that allows for a virtual fitting of the desired furniture into existing rooms and facilities.
Amanita Design’s hit series Samorost, “Machinarium”, and the slightly lesser known “Botanicula” draw from multiple sources of inspiration, including Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades. But they also capture the spirit of Eastern Bloc cartoons, such as “The Little Mole” and “The Tales of Moss and Fern”.
DeepL Translator is known as a widely used online translating service web page and app. However, little is said about its background story and mysterious AI technology, as well as the key protagonist behind the success.
The 20th century: a time when everyone wanted to touch the sky, but few were thinking about the dangers. Apart from one whose work was centered around the question of, “How can one survive if things go wrong?”
The Czech Republic has often been crowned the most atheistic country in Europe, sometimes even the world. Is it so that all Czechs are non-believers, or is it a bit more complicated?
Czechia is an aviation superpower. It's one of a handful of countries worldwide that can manufacture an entire airplane – from nose to tail. And Czech aviators and pilots are mighty proud of it.
Flying to Bulgaria is easy, but that is not exactly the case when it comes to flying within the country. But work is underway to add six much-needed small facilities to Bulgaria’s minuscule airport network.
Every winter, Estonians can take a shortcut to their islands through the frozen surface of the sea. The roads are even officially recognized by authorities.
Contrary to popular belief, the Airbnb travel model wasn’t invented in the 2000s. Examples of it can be found 60 years earlier with Balkantourist, travel agent in communist Bulgaria.
The original traveler-storyteller is thought to have been born not in Venice but on the Croatian island of Korčula.
2022 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the word “robot,” brought to you by famous Czech science-fiction author Karel Čapek. However, the term, actually coined by his brother, has deep historical ties to centuries of feudal economics.
The issue of atomic energy for Poland is accelerating. Three major players – reactors manufacturers - were fighting for the contract to build Poland's first power plant. The showdown between them was as if modeled on the Game of Thrones intrigues.
A UFO-like set of discs sits atop a mountain peak on the Czechia-Poland border. However, its inhabitants are not extraterrestrials, rather meteorologists who come from far and wide for the unique weather.
There’s a fierce fight brewing between three competitors vying to build the fifth nuclear reactor of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in Czechia. Who is most likely to win?
Wherever you are flying with Czech Airlines, it will always be OK. Why? Because OK is the Czech Airlines callsign. Let us tell you the story of the fifth-oldest airline in the world.
How modern gardening gave the beginning of the Bulgarian community in Hungary?
Polish startup Vasco Electronics has been actively improving upon its technology for the past 10 years. Its device translates conversation, text, and speech into more than 70 languages and is sold all around the world.
The architecture MasterPrize award is open for entries from architects at every stage of their careers. It is considered the second most important out of the five leading international awards in architecture. This year, Poles were among the winners.
A Slovenian-based high-tech startup has been developing a complex and self-learning driving test simulator with the aim of measuring conscious and unconscious driver behavior features to make driving safer and more inclusive.
The Ruse-Varna railway line, the original final stretch of Europe’s Orient Express, is about to be modernized, benefiting Bulgaria, the EU, and the Three Seas Initiative.
The history of sugar is not as straightforward as a mere ingredient for sweetening your tea or cakes. At various points in history, it has been used as medicine, a spice, and even a symbol of both royalty and oppression. The invention of the sugar cube only adds to the story.
While Bulgaria hasn't exactly been the first country to come to mind when one thinks about the most fertile ground for startups, that is all about to change.
Created in 1766, Vienna’s Prater is one of the oldest public leisure spots on the continent. The amusement park in the center of Prater began operations in the 18th century.
Matsuko is a Slovak startup that offers a unique experience of communicating through holograms. The application they developed creates holograms of actual persons who can communicate in a virtual space and encounter each other as if it was real.
A massive level of inflation in Hungary created the need to issue the highest-nominated banknote ever.
The unique technological project of a garbage disposal ship offers a new solution to ocean pollution.
The Lithuanian medical startup Oxipit has harnessed AI and Machine Learning into radiology. By scanning and analyzing chest radiographs (CXRs), ChestEye and ChestLink, the apps detect pulmonary module signs of pneumothorax and other lung diseases.
Czech scientists are tirelessly working on creating an artificial Sun that will help Czechia, Europe, and the whole world access unlimited energy.
Doesn’t it seem that whenever you get sick, there never are any appointments available? Doctor.One, a Polish start-up, developed a unique solution to this problem. So much so that it is heavily invested in, and its future is painted in bright colors.
Next year, Czechia will celebrate 45 years since the first Czech entered space. Even though the country is not a space superpower, it has plans for a base on the Moon. And a lot more!
Born Idek Trzmiel in Łódź, Poland, Jack Tramiel was the creator of the Commodore 64, the computer that holds a Guinness World Record for being the best-selling machine of its kind.
Hungarian-American startup SignAll has been intensely working for over a decade to invent the SignAll Lab tool, which translates American Sign Language (ASL) into American English.
The Hungarian startup SEON Technologies, currently based in London, has introduced an app that determines the risk of online internet profiles. The product became very popular among companies and casual users as the world went online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ivo Boscarol is a Slovenian entrepreneur and aircraft designer with a great success story. Throughout his continuing success, he has remained true to his birthplace and dedicated a lot of made money to local causes.
Polish citizens, who found themselves under a foreign rule for 123 years, were often forced to leave their native lands in pursuit of opportunities unavailable to them under new rulers. Collectively, they are referred to as Polonia.
In the past, people were grateful if there was a qualified doctor in their town or village. These days, it is doctors who are grateful for 5-star reviews.
Computer games are much more than just a childish pleasure. In the case of Czechia, it is a 250-million-Euro industry making the country famous worldwide.
It is neither a museum nor a theme park. Opened in 1977, this Northern Slovakian village is a unique merger of tourism and folklore studies.
Have you ever seen a drone? People use them for taking photos, videotaping, or just for the simple fun of flying. But how about a drone postman or drone firefighter? Just Czech inventions.
Did you know that you are probably a proud user of the same app as Barack Obama’s barber and Beyonce’s hairstylist?
A new Slovak startup, DNA ERA, generates unique insights from DNA saliva extracts. Whereas most businesses that conduct DNA analysis offer information about family history, DNA ERA looks at hereditary diseases, physical aptitudes, optimal nutrition, and other clues stored in our DNA.
There are many types of capitals - like business capital (London, UK), love capital (Paris, France), or food capital (San Sebastian, Spain). Such flashy tags are bound to attract tourists from all over the world. Do conventional capitals stand a chance?
Koffeco, a sustainably-minded science-based startup from Latvia, sees spent coffee grounds as a resource. The team transforms organic waste into new products, contributing to a circular economy.
The Czech family-run startup Ullmanna is one of few to have developed an AI machine for agriculture. The flagship product, an intra-row weeding machine called NEWMAN, removes weeds manually faster than you can even spot them.
Central European countries were the first to experience the shock of neighboring an open, full-scale war. But watching their reaction also shows that they will be the first to adapt to the new reality.
Eponymous with both luxury supercars and the designer of the Beetle, the most renowned democratic car of the first half of the 20th century, Ferdinand Porsche is the most important Czech-Austrian contribution to automotive history.
For the past eight years, a Polish inventor, Łukasz Koźlik, has been fulfilling his dream of building a robot that he hopes will eventually become our best housework buddy.
Born in Piaski Szlacheckie, an inconspicuous village near Lublin, Poland, Antoni Patek made his name as part of the most prestigious brand in the history of watchmaking. A true trailblazer in the industry.
In October 2022, Russian forces held a sham vote on annexing parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia. In response, the Czechs invented a claim to the Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea. Its basis was simple: Kaliningrad, formerly known as Königsberg, was named after the Bohemian king.
His ideas have been used by the world's biggest car companies. The dashing Bulgarian inventor and entrepreneur Roumen Antonov made waves in the automotive world with his avant-garde ideas and daring technical solutions.
This anti-virus service has been leading the cybersecurity market for over 21 years – and I bet you had no idea it was a Romanian company that provided it. Bitdefender was Romania’s first ever IT start-up and the world’s leader in cybersecurity. And it all started by accident.
Scientists around the world are sounding alarm bells about the dwindling number of bees. With this in mind, Latvian startup BeeSage has created a monitoring system to give beekeepers the tools and information they need to ensure their hives can thrive.
Lithuanians brag about the mildness of their native language. So in order to keep it clean, they simply use either Russian or English whenever they want to say something particularly naughty.
History has its way of creeping into the present as it is fused with certain images, sounds, gestures, or customs. For locals, they’re quite obvious (or culturally embedded), but they may not be as clear to those visiting.
Commonly known as a "Maluch” (Eng: "the little one”), the Fiat 126p was a car that Poles dreamed of for decades. Even though it's been out of production for years, it is still attracting unexpected admirers. Like Tom Hanks (yes - that one).
George of Poděbrady, the king of Bohemia in the 15th Century, came up with a crazy idea. He dreamed of creating an organization to include all European nations. They would hold important meetings on an international level and vote on topics in a parliament-like manner. Crazy right?
Standing on the street corner, you see a car pass next to you on the road. With a glance, you see a winged arrow logo - a clear sign of a car manufactured by Škoda, an automotive company based in Czechia, which sells cars across the globe.
Have you ever wondered why there is the same word for a tourist bus and a person who trains athletes? There is a good reason, and it comes straight from a small village in Hungary.
The iconic Palace of Culture and Science is a monumental skyscraper in Warsaw's city center, now considered somewhat controversial due to its Stalinist genesis. Even so, it turns out that Varsovians now have a soft spot for this cultural landmark and do not want to see it demolished.
Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu built this holy place as a place of worship. Today, it is a UNESCO world heritage site that stands tall not just as a meaningful clerical site but also as Romania’s most emblematic piece of Brancovan architecture.
In one scene of "Return of the Jedi," a protocolar android addresses a person in Polish. Was Jabba the Hut's servant a Socialist economic migrant, or did American producers just want to impress viewers with an exotic language?
Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death, according to WHO (2020). Powerful Medical, a new Slovak startup, hopes to reduce these deaths by introducing an AI-based diagnostic tool that detects cardiovascular conditions and provides recommendations tailored to patients' needs.
The old Slavic custom of celebrating the harvest is still holding on strong in Poland. Dożynki, as it is called, is celebrated nationwide and provides a great way for villages to remind the city dwellers of the richness hidden in the countryside.
Every now and again, a genius is born. A person of so many talents that during their lifetime they come to invent several everyday items later generations cannot imagine their lives without. One of such people came from Croatia.
For three years now, residents of the small municipality of Stamboliyski in Southern Bulgaria have been using public transport for free. While the idea introduced by Mayor Georgi Maradzhiev is hardly new, Stamboliyski remains Bulgaria’s only town boasting free public transportation.
People, goods, and mail were moved by air for the first time at the beginning of the 20th century. And the first regular route for long-distance air travel was between European cities in Austria-Hungary.
With 240 sunny days a year, Bulgaria is well-positioned to harness the full potential of solar energy. So what is missing?
Slovenia is literally flowing with honey. Since the 11th century, beekeeping has been an essential part of Slovenian culture, an inspiration for art and design, and the backbone of local tourism. Professional beekeeping is so rooted in Slovenia that one in two hundred Slovenes is a beekeeper.
When Austrian and Polish soldiers captured Turkish positions after the Battle of Vienna, they thought that the tiny, brown seeds they found were horse fodder. However, soon enough, they were all enjoying a new kind of brew that was exported across Europe.
It would be an understatement to say that Polish company Creotech Instruments has been moving at light speed since its founding in 2012. The company has grown from startup to space giant in a mere decade, with plans to go public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange this summer.
Seeking answers to personal questions with the help of psychics and fortune-tellers is hardly a novelty. But in Bulgaria, these services continue to be wildly popular three decades after their onset. Why?
Thanks to a combination of the Eastern Bloc’s economic structure, effective export deals, and last but not least, great products, Hungarian bus manufacturer Ikarus was able to dominate the Eastern Bloc’s transportation business - and even some of the West’s, too.
Czechia is known around the world for its gorgeous landscape, tasty food, and... beer(!), but a not-quite-as-obvious fact is that Czechs have been blazing trails in science for centuries. We've picked four innovative achievements with Czech origins that deserve recognition.
The RPG game “This War of Mine” about civilian life in under-siege Sarajevo was the first videogame in the world to ever make it into school curriculum.
What to do with an overgrown piece of land in a bustling capital city whose residents live mostly in apartments? One active community in Riga founded urban gardens, illustrating the potential of transforming derelict plots into added value for a city.
Are you looking for sunny skies and sandy beaches? There's a gem hiding in plain sight in a spot you might not have thought to look. And the best part: fewer tourists. For now, at least.
For many years, post-communist Central Europe could only watch other regions of the world prospering thanks to the rapid development of the digital market. Oh, how times have changed.
A NASA engineer and inventor who developed heart-monitoring equipment and originated the first-ever digital wristwatch. These are just some of the accomplishments used to describe Bulgarian inventor Petar Petroff. But, before becoming one of the twentieth century's most productive inventors, Petroff led an eventful and adventurous life that few know about.
A new exhibition in Sofia is taking a closer look at six examples of post-war architecture in Bulgaria, from a kindergarten to a planned neighborhood and an airport, with the hope of providing answers and maybe, a whole new perspective.
The video game developer, famous for its series, “The Witcher," has single-handedly turned the Polish gaming industry into a high-tech powerhouse and a global tool of cultural influence.
Energy prices are rising with no sign of stopping. Economic sanctions against Russia have closed off one of the largest sources of European energy. Now begins the debate over what to do. The answer is simple, and it comes from Czechia: Small Modular Reactors.
With grocery stores overflowing with produce from the other side of the world and “all-natural” products in plastic packaging at every turn, it’s no wonder that even the savviest consumers find it hard to make sustainable choices. Austrian startup Inoqo aims to make that a little easier.
We all know the success stories of companies that started in garages. Průša Research's story is similar to those of other multimillion-dollar companies. From humble garage beginnings in 2012 to the second-largest 3D printer manufacturer in the world.
Thanks to massive advancements in technology, distance is becoming less and less important. In April 2021, a group of doctors from Lublin became the first in Europe to bring surgery to a realm so far only imagined in science-fiction novels.
The beginning of the war in Ukraine overlapped with the annual seasonal increase in gas consumption and the diminishing amount of gas in storage. Could a lack of supply of this valuable natural resource mean an unusually cold winter for millions of Europeans?
Laser beams from a small Central Eastern European country are beginning to reach the farthest corners of the world. How did Lithuania become a giant in the laser industry, and how have their lasers become such an export hit, playing a significant in their economy?
It seemed that the European Bison was one of those extinct species that used to live also in Slovakia. However, it has recently been successfully reintroduced to the Poloniny National Park, which makes it one of few places in Europe where it lives in the wild today.
Veriff, the company founded in 2015 by the 27-year-old prodigy Kaarel Kotkas, provides technology that enables online identification through a simple selfie and is quickly taking over new markets.
Spanning an impressive 249 meters, Ventas Rumba is the widest waterfall on the Old Continent. This width makes up for its relatively modest 2-meter height. Each year on midsummer's eve, the waterfall is the setting for a stark sight - as in a stark naked one - as revelers streak across the nearby bridge in the moonlight.
Hungarian company Tresorit grabbed the world's attention in 2013 when it offered hackers a $50,000 prize to the person who could break the layers of defenses protecting their startup. After a year and a half, nobody had cracked the new end-to-end encryption service.
No more dependency on Russia for vessels crossing the Vistula Spit.
It’s always good to know your neighbor. This is almost certainly the case in the village of Hum, Croatia, which boasts fewer than 30 current residents. Besides its tiny size, its other claim to fame is a secret recipe supposedly passed down by Celtic Druids some two thousand years ago.
If grabbing a to-go cup of coffee at your local café is your daily ritual, you’re not alone. One company in Bulgaria wants to make that habit as sustainable as possible with their edible, biodegradable wafer cups.
After joining the Réseau Art Nouveau Network in 2012, Oradea, Romania, received the title of Best Art Nouveau Destination within just ten years. How did it achieve this? And more importantly, why is everyone falling in love with this small city on the river?
Quantum physics is not the most intuitive of scientific disciplines. The group of people who can grasp its essence is quite elite and includes a large proportion of Polish scientists. Will Polish scientists trigger a long-awaited quantum revolution?
While cars made in the Soviet Union were often mocked by westerners, communist Bulgaria had a hidden gem - an electric vehicle with far superior capabilities to similar projects developed at the time by Ford and Hitachi.
Can consumers and businesses in Bulgaria come together and join forces in fighting food waste? Is it possible to eat delicious food, save money, and eat with a cause? The answer to all of this is yes - because FoodoBox is making it happen.
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are the most dependent on coal-fired energy production among the countries of the European Union. How can this weakness be turned into an opportunity?
Against a background of consumer inflation already on the rise, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has only added more fuel to the fire, driving inflation sharply higher.
The Baltic states are building Rail Baltica - a high-speed railway that will finally connect them to the rest of the EU. It is set to be completed by 2030 and will allow travel across Baltic countries in less than four hours.
Famed Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban has created a novel solution to grant refugees dignity and privacy. His work has been successfully introduced in Poland during the Russian war on Ukraine.
By combining lessons learned from his time in Sweden and Japan, Péter Árvai returned to Hungary and took the position as CEO of what would become one of the world’s largest visual communications software companies.
In just three years, Romanian cyber-security start-up TypingDNA took over the world and was listed by FinTechGlobal in their CyberTech100 ranking - twice. Who are they, what do they do, and how do they do it?
Creating telecommunication connections and innovative digital solutions is the key to the success of the 3 Seas Initiative (3SI) - the most important geopolitical project of our times. Latvia's rotating chairmanship of the 3SI begins in 2022. And this is a good thing.
Jaan Tallinn did not just create Kazaa and Skype; he could also save humanity from terminators.
Central Europe is, well… central, but different countries claim to be more central than others. This is where you can look for the most central place in Central Europe.
Romania’s richest man and his company, UiPath, envision a future in which every person has a virtual robot.
One of Uber’s main rivals started off modestly, but quickly turned its creator into Europe’s youngest founder of a billion-dollar company.
The construction of the BRUA gas pipeline has received another permit, making it more likely that Europe will be able to increase the diversification of its energy supplies.
As you walk along the seaside in Zadar, Croatia, the air is filled with the melancholic sounds of the sea. The notes might not mirror any type of classical composition, but they nonetheless create a sound that is in perfect in its harmony.
With the use of curved graphene, Skeleton Technologies is able to build better ultracapacitors than the world has ever seen.
The digitalization of battlefields has already become a reality. To conduct effective operations, every army needs situational awareness on both strategic and tactical levels. What if we could also monitor soldiers' medical condition in the middle of battle?
Croatian car manufacturer Rimac Automobili launched in 2009 intending to make the world’s fastest cars and has been leaving the competition in the dust ever since. The wunderkind behind the company, Mate Rimac, has no intention of slowing down now.
Works are in full swing on a High-Speed Rail Network in the heart of Europe.
If you’ve ever sat wondering just how far it is from the Skellige Archipelago to Cintra, you’re not the only one! Lucky for us, a team of scientists have created the most detailed map yet of the world of The Witcher to keep us on track.
The number of startups-turned-unicorns from behind the former Iron Curtain is exploding.
COVID has created chaos in global supply chains - but Central Eastern Europe can paradoxically profit.
The success of Polish eCommerce delivery provider InPost has rewritten the map for deliveries in Poland and beyond, with Automated Parcel Machines becoming the go-to choice for people who want to be able to receive packages at all times and without having to pay a fortune.
The Three Seas Initiative project will be crucial to the integration of 5G communication in the region.
Railway transport was a key component of Polish-Romanian interwar cooperation and is now making a grand comeback.
In 2024, a two-year construction project for a Polish wind farm in the Baltic Sea will begin, comprising 70 turbines, which will generate over 1 GW of power. Located 22 km offshore, these new turbines will generate more power than a recently-commissioned Danish farm with 72 turbines.