Family Physicians' Association of Estonia (Eesti Perearstide Selts) have criticised the implementation of the digital registering of deaths, saying the service does not work.
On Jul. 1 an e-service was introduced so that relatives of the deceased would no longer have to register a death at a government office. Instead, the government office could electronically take the document directly from the health care facility or hospital.
Estonia's president calls on state to develop cyber-security, cryptography capabilities after an earlier ID card crisis put half the population at risk of id theft.
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid has announced that her country must develop its cyber-security and cryptography capabilities to support the development of e-state services, and avoid a repetition of Estonia’s 2017 ID card crisis which has exposed various institutional weaknesses.
Read more: Reliance on e-services has become a security issue in Estonia as it pioneers eGovernment
Key points:
- Estonia was one of the first countries to declare internet access to be a human right
- 99 per cent of government services are available online 24/7
- 50 new AI applications are set to go online within the public sector by 2020
Walking through the fairy-tale streets of Estonia's capital Tallinn, it may seem hard to believe that this tiny nation is home to one of the most advanced e-governance systems in the world.
The small European nation of Estonia is looking to expand its global influence through an "e-residency" programme, allowing anyone worldwide to apply to become an e-resident of the country and set up a company there.
This would mean that people outside the EU could set up an Estonian company over the internet and gain easy access to the European market. E-residents of the Baltic country have access to all the digital government services of a state that prides itself on being a pioneer of e-government.
Ott Velsberg, Estonia’s fresh-faced, 28-year-old chief data officer, is on a mission put AI into every part of the country’s public services, from healthcare to education and job centres.
“The aim is to make government more proactive and responsive to people’s life-events,” says Velsberg. Instead of citizens having to apply for things like driver’s licences and school places, he envisions a system where public bodies can anticipate and preemptively respond to the needs people have at different stages of their life.