stonia should be creating technologies that support community and the global community needs governments who understand the moral consequences of the impact of technologies on peoples’ lives, Kadi Maria Vooglaid, a PhD candidate in public administration, writes.
In September 2017, something of a minor catastrophe started to unfold in Estonia. The cornerstone of the country’s international reputation as the pioneer of electronic government – the digital identification system – was discovered to exhibit security risks, provoking PR panic in the central government as well as prompting a domestic political (and technological) crisis just in time for local elections. Suddenly, the whole future of the proud Estonian practice of e-voting was brought into question.
Read more: EE: What should be the state’s role in a digital future?
Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas highlighted the construction of the very high-speed 5G internet connection, which brings the internet and self-driving cars into the everyday lives of people, as one of the biggest digital achievements of Estonia's EU presidency in a speech on Thursday in Brussels.
According to Ratas, the payment of value added tax on the cross-border sale of goods will soon become simpler for undertakings. In addition, the European Union reached an agreement on how to update cross-border payment regulations in order to change the situation in which internet businesses only pay income tax in the state in which they are registered, not where they earn their profit.
Read more: Estonian PM: 5G internet connection is digital result of Estonia's EU presidency
Estonia is built on secure state e-systems, so the world was watching when it hit a huge ID-card problem.
For the past two and a half months, Estonia has been facing the biggest security crisis since a wave of cyberattacks hit its banks and critical national infrastructure in 2007.
At the heart of the current debacle is the latest version of its national ID card, which has been a mandatory identification document for citizens of Estonia since 2002 and serves as a cornerstone of Estonia's e-state.
Read more: Estonia's ID card crisis: How e-state's poster child got into and out of trouble
Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas has signed agreements of good will with the African Union and Mauritius for the development of e-governance.
The agreement with the African Union more broadly concerns e-governance cooperation, whereas the agreement with Mauritius focuses more specifically on the creation of a regional e-governance training module. The signing of both agreements took place on the sidelines of European Union -- African Union summit, spokespeople for the Estonian government said.
The Estonian government has backed a plan of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to stage a public competition for building the last mile of the nationwide high-speed internet network, which will provide high-speed internet to low population density areas that the private sector will not invest in on its own.
The terms and conditions of the competition will be determined by Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Urve Palo in collaboration with the Competition Authority and the Technical Regulatory Authority, spokespeople for the government said on Thursday.
Read more: Estonian government in favor of holding public competition for internet last mile