Estonia has earned a reputation as the world's most advanced digital society, with over 99 percent of its public services now available online.
Estonia has earned a reputation as the world's most advanced digital society, with over 99 percent of its public services now available online.
Read more: How Estonia set a global benchmark for e-government
Expats voted Estonia to the top of their digital life quality list in a new survey.
InterNations, a social network for expats, recently conducted a global survey to gauge the perception of digital lives enjoyed by those living in a foreign country. 68 countries were featured. Although most of the findings confirmed the conventional wisdom, the report also threw up a couple of surprises.
Read more: Estonia is best digital home away from home, report says
When the international media talks about Estonia, they often start the story at the collapse of the Soviet Union, likening our country to a phoenix that arose from the ashes. The history of Estonia is actually way older – and we would be more than happy to make it better known worldwide – but this narrative allows us to show this incredible journey that has been the building of our digital society. 100 years after our independence and less than 30 years after regaining this independence from the Soviet occupation, Estonia is now often described as the world’s most advanced digital society. I don’t know if this is true – other countries are very digitally innovative as well – however Estonians have legitimate reasons to be proud of it.
Read more: Estonia shows the way to an inclusive digital society
In a situation of rapid digitalisation of public and private sector services the methods for digital identity verification and authentication are also becoming increasingly important for citizens. E-residency is a form of digital authentication, which gives remote access to digital services without the need to actually live in the country.
The e-residency research group from TalTech Ragnar Nurkse Deparment of Innovation and Governance led by Professor Anu Masso recently published the article "Transnational Digital Identity as an Instrument for Global Digital Citizenship: The Case of Estonia's E-Residency". The article examines the aspects concerning the digital opportunities and digital inequalities related to e-residency by analysing the links between the individual motives to apply for a digital identity and the level of e-government development in the country of origin.
Finnish digital prescriptions are now valid in neighboring Estonia, thanks to an EU health data initiative.
After a two-hour ferry ride to the capital of southern neighbor Estonia, any Finnish traveler who forgets to bring vital prescription drugs now doesn't need to panic and buy an early ticket home.
They can just head to the nearest pharmacy in the tiny Baltic state's capital of Tallinn and, using their ID-card, obtain the drugs that had been prescribed in Finland.