Finnish Russian Infra Net
Funded by Euregio Karelia Neighbourhood Programme 2001-2006

Objective of the project

The goal of the project was to create an extensive environment and energy technology portal in Northwest Russia, which would serve the industry through cooperation, communication, training and education. The intention was that once the portal became well-established, it could also function as a trade location for the environment and energy industries.

Main activities

• Development of the EnergyPlaza portal and the associated E-E-50 Service Shop for the energy and environment industries in Finnish, Russian and English, • Marketing of the developed portal.

Achievements

During the project, the EnergyPlaza portal and the associated E-E-50 Service Shop for the energy and environment industries were developed and implemented in Finnish, Russian and English. The portal is located at www.energyplaza.fi. The portal also contains a section for local news for Northwest Russia, which has become quite popular. Russian regional reporters were utilised in the development work in order to create an end result that would appeal to the target area. The objectives for the monthly number of visitors set for the portal were already exceeded during the project: during December 2004, when the Service Shop was published on the portal, 66,600 search hits were recorded on the site (the goal was 41,700) The portal contains a section for local news for Northwest Russia, which has become quite popular. Developing the portal’s business logic proved to be more challenging than first thought, as the companies’ service and product selection were not completely ready for a new mode of trade – e-commerce. The project did, however, give a nudge to several companies to develop their projects and services to make them more suitable for e-commerce, and the business logic should be realised after the project through the commissions on the products sold by the Service Shop.