INMA has chosen the Skype birthplace of Tallinn as the location for its 2014 European News Media Conference.

Choice of the Estonian city – which hosts the event from October 8-10 – wasn’t made “by throwing a dart at a map,” European division coordinator Tom Corbett says.

He says Tallinn – where Skype was invented – is already ahead of those who talk about having wi-fi everywhere “in a few years time”.

“You can roam the streets and never lose internet connection.
Corbett says Estonia is one of Europe's most advanced countries in the world in terms of e-government – with voting and tax returns completed online – and a “very competitive” media market.

Five daily newspapers serve the 1.36 million population. A plethora of weekly papers and magazines, nine domestic television channels and over 20 radio stations are available within the 45,000 sq km of Estonia.

The INMA event promises to cover four main topics: Video, Big Data, native advertising and culture change. “These issues will be covered not by futurists predicting what things will look like in five years, but by real-world cases – news media companies who are successful in these domains,” says Corbett.

Details are here.