VOLIS (Local government council/government information system - Kohaliku omavalitsuse volikogu/valitsuse infosüsteem, in Estonian) follows the best eGovernment practices and contributes to a simpler and faster processing of services within the local governments. According to the Estonian Minister for Regional Affairs, Mr. Siim Kiisler, the introduction of VOLIS promotes participatory democracy and makes the decision-making process at local government level more open.
Read more: Estonia: VOLIS - Electronic information system for local governments in operation
The Baltic state of 1.3 million people has already helped fellow ex-communist democracies Armenia, Georgia and Moldova, plus a total of 40 states, to implement Internet-based government and services common in Estonia for years, but still not widely available elsewhere.
The €33,000 project, implemented by the Tallinn-based e-Governance Academy includes electronic voting, attendance registration and a speech system, which will be developed and implemented in Afghanistan’s parliament buildings. The system will have speech and voting consoles, user authentication using fingerprints, screens and monitors for displaying information and a supporting information system.
Right, we get it. Twenty years ago, the country shook free of the Soviets and made a strategic decision to invest, heavily, in information technology. The country's President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, put it this way: "We are a small, unassuming European country that's fairly advanced when it comes to Internet applications."
Read more: Why Estonia Is the Poster Child for Cyber-Security
The e-Government Academy will help develop the cross-use of electronic databases in Palestine in order to better administer and provide public services. Estonia’s experiences in organising e-training sessions and in using the information technology in administering the education sector will also be shared with Palestine.
Read more: Estonia to help Palestine in developing e-services