The Estonian capital, Tallinn, succeeds Taoyuan in Taiwan as the “number one intelligent community”.
The “intelligent community” title is handed over annually by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) – a global network of 180 cities, metro regions and counties, with a think tank at its heart. The think tank studies and promotes the best practices of the world’s “intelligent communities” as “they adapt to the new demands” and “seize the opportunities presented by broadband and digital technology”.
Read more: EE: Tallinn named the “2020 Intelligent Community of the Year”
A good digital government is built on good math, not just good people, according to cyberlaw scholar and legal philosopher Helen Eenmaa-Dimitrieva.
Every Estonian citizen has an ID number written on a card they use to communicate with the government. They slip their piece of plastic in a reader or type in a code on their smartphones to sign documents, apply for a driver’s licence, pay taxes, vote in the parliamentary elections, start companies, even name their children. They can do almost anything online except for getting married or buying real estate.
Read more: Algorithms run the Estonian state – and people trust it
Fifteen of 17 "smartovka" murals for Tartu's SmartEnCity smart city project have been completed and the remaining two should be finished next year. ERR News spoke to city council coordinator Raimond Tamm about the ambitious project and its future. SmartEnCity or the Smart Tartu (Tark Tartu) was launched in 2015 and is part of the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program to fund ambitious projects aiming to become more energy efficient, inclusive and smart. Tartu is one of three cities taking part, alongside Victoria-Gasteiz in Spain and Sonderborg in Denmark.
Read more: EE: 15 of Tartu's SmartEnCity 'smartovka' murals have been completed
The Estonian foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, and Bonnie Glick, the deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development on 21 October signed a joint declaration in Tallinn on enhancing bilateral cooperation on the digital transformation in development cooperation partner countries.
According to the joint statement, Estonia and the US plan to share the experiences and good practices from the public and the private sector on digital transformation in the framework of development cooperation. The aim is also to contribute to the development of technological solutions that support a safe and open digital society, the Estonian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Read more: Estonia and the US boost digital transformation in development cooperation
The Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) is launching a multi-year research project to assess the suitability of its e-Government technology in operating a central bank digital currency.
The initiative, in collaboration with the technology companies Guardtime, the long-term blockchain partner of the Estonian government, and The SW7 Group, will focus on a solution based on the KSI Blockchain, a core technology of e-government in Estonia.
Read more: Estonia’s central bank launches research project to assess digital currency