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).
The Estonian e-residency programme is opening ID-card collection points in Brazil, South Africa, Singapore and Thailand to accommodate for the increase in the e-residency applicants.
According to the e-residency programme, the new locations are meeting rising demands from local entrepreneurs that are seeking to scale their businesses internationally and expand into the European market.
Read more: Estonia opens new e-resident ID-card collection points in four countries
The Estonian e-Governance Academy and Japanese think tank Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd (MURC) have established a joint venture to provide digital transformation services for governments in Japan and the Asian region. The name of the new enterprise is Digital Governance Academy Asia-Pacific or D-GAP.
The D-GAP will use the knowledge accumulated in Estonia to provide high-quality training, survey and consulting services to meet the diverse needs related to the digital government in Japan and overseas.
Read more: EE: eGA co-founds digital governance academy for Asia-Pacific region
In 2020, companies set up in Estonia by e-residents delivered nearly €17.5 million in taxes, constituting a one-third increase, compared with 2019.
This result marks a record for the annual direct economic impact of the Estonian e-residency programme that was launched in 2014. Over the course of six years, the e-residency programme has cumulatively bolstered the national budget by approximately €54 million, the programme said in a statement.
Read more: Tax revenue from Estonia’s e-residents’ companies grows steadily
The Estonian e-Governance Academy will lead the electronic governance and cybersecurity sections of a European Union project to support Ukrainian digital transformation and harmonization with the EU Digital Single Market.
This month, the European Union launched the EU4DigitalUA project with a financial contribution of €25 million. The Estonian e-Governance Academy will lead the implementation of the electronic governance and cybersecurity tasks of the project, with a total budget of €9.6 million.
Read more: Estonian e-Governance Academy to lead EU Ukrainian digital transformation project