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.
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.
E-residency rapidly gaining popularity Almost double the initial estimated amount of people have signed up to become e-residents of Estonia since the programme’s launch at the end of 2014.
According to figures released by Ministry of Economic Affairs, as of July, 3,816 applications have been submitted by people wishing to claim e-residency in the country. This is almost double the initial target of 2,000 officials hoped would sign up before the end of 2015.
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.
Estonian State Information System Office (RIA) announced a tender to find a partner for information activities on the e-residency project in the USA, Estonian economy and communications ministry announced LETA.
This is a pilot campaign, as the result of which Enterprise Estonia (EAS) wants to introduce e-residency to United States mainstream media channels and U.S. technology media channels with widespread distribution. The cost of the contract is up to 160,000 euros, inclusive of all taxes. The campaign will take place in the spring in 2016.