From Espresso Macchiato to unicorn squad, why Estonia is the capital of cool
If one makes his way to the Baltic nation of Estonia these days, chances are he will be told about 'Espresso Macchiato'. The quirky, foot-tapping number by Estonian rapper and new-age artist Tommy Cash was Estonia's entry in the recent Eurovision 2025 contest. Not only did it go viral, it also got Europe jivving and even saw some Italian Senators throw a hissy fit over perceived mocking of Italian culture – for the record, most Italians found Cash's performance funny and not offensive at all.
Cash's performance was actually ranked third at Eurovision, a big deal for Estonia, whether or not you agree it represents Estonian culture in the classical sense. Nonetheless, it is cool and embodies youthful creativity. And this is why the peppy number is exactly what an ageing, laidback Europe that is looking for change needed.
Cash is one of the many reasons why Estonia is emerging as the 'Capital of Cool' in Europe. It is the most digitally advanced country on the continent – arguably even in the world. Innovation is coded into the Estonian DNA as exemplified by the significant number of Estonian start-ups and unicorns. It is also at the forefront of conservation and green tech. But of course what makes Estonia cool are Estonians themselves.
Take, for example, Taavi Kotka, CEO of Jio Estonia who is on a mission to get more young girls into engineering and coding. His mission, which is not directly funded by Jio, was sparked because his daughter was left out of a robotics club due to downsizing.
Taavi then took it upon himself to address three issues – the huge skew in favour of boys in clubs or classes involving robotics or engineering, the inability of traditional schooling to provide such classes due to costs, and giving girls the opportunity to be involved with early learning in engineering and coding so that they have the option to take it up as a career later on.
Thus, HK Unicorn Squad was born, an NGO that aims to promote technology education among girls. The idea is very very simple. Create tech boxes with gadgets and gizmos like a drone kit, provide detailed video instructions on how to assemble the box, and create a clear task objective. 'For girls the task has to be meaningful. For example, imagine a forest full of foxes and you have to assemble a drone to take pretend medicine to those foxes. So the girls dig into our tech box, follow instructions to assmble the drone, write short codes and complete the task,' says Taavi.
The tech boxes are then packed up and sent to the next destination where another Unicorn Squad of girls is waiting. And voila! Almost 4,000 girls from all over Estonia have been partipating in Unicorn Squad tech classes. Needless to say, this creates a solid pipeline for future women coders and engineers. And that further solidifies Estonia's status as a digital-tech pathbreaker. Estonian ICT industry already has 22% women in its workforce. Imagine if that number can approach 50%. It would have a huge transformational impact.
There is no reason we can't replicate a similar model for girls' tech education in India. India's population is 1,000 times bigger than Estonia's. Exactly 1,000 times in fact. But we can learn much from this European 'Capital of Cool'.
Note: Dear readers, I will resume my weekly wrap, My Take 5, very soon. A lot has happened over the last couple of weeks since the execution of Operation Sindoor. I thought it wouldn't be fair to analyse the events without deep reflection. So, My Take 5 will be back ASAP.
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