When the epidemic hit Europe, many EU countries came to a halt, but only Estonia could calmly deal with external challenges and crises, and maintain the daily operations of public and private sectors. Looking into the key factors, it can be attributed to Estonia's digital transformation, starting as early as the early '90s.
The 2021 Taiwan Innovation Expo (TIE) invited Estonia to share the Baltic country's thoughts on promoting digital transformation and development. Fusionmedium served as the media partner of the event. Estonia was once rated as "the world's most advanced digital society" by the well-known technology magazine "WIRED".
Read more: Deciphering Estonia: how does it lead in digital transformation?
In tiny Estonia, babies get digital IDs at birth, tax time is easy, and e-voting is real. But there are lots of reasons why the U.S. can’t follow its lead.
In three decades since regaining independence from the Soviet Union, Estonia has taken government from “click here” to one-click to, in some cases, zero-click operation. Citizens can file their national taxes online in minutes, zip through signing up for services without dealing with paper forms, and even vote online thanks to digital identities created for them within minutes of their birth.
Read more: EE: This country moved its government online. Here’s why that wouldn’t fly in the U.S.
Estonia, a country in the Scandinavian region, is not very well known to the people of the world. You will not find the country in the list of countries that are regularly heard in the international media for various reasons. It may even be that today, for the first time, you find out that there is a country in the world called ‘Estonia’! Whatever it is, even if you don’t know Estonia, there is no harm in it. But in the future, the name of this small country will be heard loudly in the technology dependent world. There are not many days left when Estonia will become a role model for many countries in the world. The success story of a country that started out empty-handed and established itself as one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world today will be much discussed in the days to come. In a small country with more than half of its total area covered by remote jungles, its citizens are shaking up the technology world with the ever-evolving concept of start-ups.
The only thing you cannot do online in the country is get married or get divorced
Estonia will share intel on how to build digital society, says Commissioner General Schaer
Imagine a world where you can buy a house through a digital signature without even having to step into a real estate office – this is how Estonians go about their day in the smart state they call home. Everything under the sky is possible in e-Estonia, says Daniel Schaer, the Commissioner General of Estonia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, save for two things: “You can’t get married and you can’t get divorced online.”
The homeland of Skype and Bolt has Europe’s highest number of technology start-ups per capita
In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we talk about the benefits of e-government and e-residency in Estonia. Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid.
Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Estonia is a northern European country that has risen to become a formidable force in the digital world, both in the public and private sectors. It has the highest number of technology start-ups per capita of any European country, having bred companies such as video communication service Skype and e-hailing platform Bolt (formerly Taxify).