Estonia is often cited as a showcase example of what ‘e-government’ should be like
What is the most advanced digital society in the world? America? Britain? Or Germany? No. The answer is a small little-known country in Europe, Estonia.
In fact, Estonia has grabbed a lot of attentions worldwide in recent years, especially after its innovative – perhaps also a little bit controversial to some – digital citizenship initiative to allow everyone in the world has the potential to virtually become an Estonian so people can set up business online more easily, in particular for market entry in Europe Union, of which Estonia is a member nation.
The Estonian e-Governance Academy is launching a twin project in Georgia to support the development the e-Georgia concept and strategy, which is set to bring the country's e-governance and cyber security in line with European Union standards.
The Foreign Ministry in Tallinn said throughout the 18-month project, experts who built up the Estonian e-state and experts from Italy will advise and train employees of the Georgian Data Exchange Agency and other government institutions.
Read more: Estonia to launch e-governance project with Georgia
The e-Residency project is an initiative of the Estonian government to offer every world citizen the possibility to become an e-Resident of Estonia. As a side effect they could solve a number of problems for current Crowdfunding platforms with this government backed e-identity program and boost the industry.
E-Estonia – Frontrunner in e-Government
estonia digital societyThis tiny country with a population of 1,3 million people is one of the frontrunners in e-Government with e-voting, signing a legally binding contract with a digital signature (over 100 million documents signed), starting a business online in 18 minutes (98% of companies registered online) and e-Tax for tax filling(95% filled online). The list of services you can use is growing rapidly within Estonia.
Keeping momentum going is now the challenge facing Estonia's IT education sector.
Over the last few years the number of students in higher education in Estonia has dropped significantly - from 67,600 in 2011 to 55,200 in 2014, according to Statistics Estonia. The fall is largely due to fall in the number of young adults in the country - after the birth boom in the mid to late-1980s, the birth rate dropped drastically in the early 1990s.
The change has put pressure on universities across the country, with competition intensifying for the shrinking student population. ICT, however, has been one of the winners in the fight to attract new students.
Estonian MFA: in deploying a digital single market, Baltic countries can act as a compass for Europe
On September 3rd in Copenhagen, while speaking at the Baltic Development Forum and the ICT development think-tank “Top of Digital Europe” round table about the need for and development of a digital single market, Estonian Foreign Minister Kaljurand emphasized that Baltic Sea countries need to participate in more cooperative work regarding the development of joint cross-border ICT solutions, reports BC Estonian MFA.
“The Baltic Sea countries with their innovation and skills can be a compass for all of Europe regarding the deployment of joint solutions,” Foreign Minister Kaljurand said.