Six years ago, I knew nothing about Estonia. I could find it on a map, sure, but I didn't know much beyond the fact that it had been occupied by the Soviet Union.
Five years ago, I read an article saying that in Estonia, Internet access was a human right. As a curious technology journalist, I had to see if this was true.
I arrived in Tallinn Airport for the first time in March 2005 -- I didn’t know what to expect, besides the intense cold weather. Fortunately I had an informal Estonian ambassador, Veljo Haamer, waiting to pick me up from the airport. We drove to downtown Tallinn, where along the way he pointed out his WiFi.ee signs at the gas stations.
We parked and stopped in for a coffee at Kohvik Moskva (Café Moscow) on the Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square). This was a trendy, capitalist, modern café with free WiFi for all, just a few meters away from a horrific Soviet bombing site -- the irony couldn't be more apparent.
As I spent my 10 days in Estonia, I was paraded around both the city and the country, stopping in Tartu en route to learn about Estonia’s Forest Brothers (Metsavennad) in Mõniste. Returning back to Tallinn, we stopped in Viljandi and countless other small towns along the way. At every stop, without fail, Veljo would proudly point to his WiFi stickers or signs -- even in the most remote places.
Since then, I have been fortunate to be able to return back to Estonia four more times. I have made many Estonian friends, and have learned of Estonia's prowess in innovation in domains besides WiFi: e-government, digital ID cards, e-voting, Skype, and most recently, cybersecurity and cyberdefense.
What impresses me about Estonia’s history is that it is the ultimate underdog. American President Barack Obama has called America an “unlikely story”. However, Estonia is an even more unlikely story! America is blessed with vast territory, a large population, and today, military, economic and political power unparalleled anywhere else.
Estonia, meanwhile, throughout its history, has been occupied by nearly all of its neighbors, and most brutally by the Soviet Union. Its population has been nearly decimated on many occasions. And yet, the Estonian people, language and culture continue to persevere, even though the entire Estonian population would be considered a small city in the United States.
Now that Estonia has found its rightful place in NATO and the European Union, Estonian technological progress and prowess has propelled Estonia onto the world stage in ways that would have been unimaginable even just a handful of years ago.
Therefore, it's been my deep honor as a foreign journalist to tell this story to my fellow Americans and honor the Estonian legacy. I have covered both the bad (the Cyberattacks of 2007) and the good (the “Let's Do It” cleanup campaign of 2008) and have met Estonians from Kärdla to Mustvee. No matter where I go, this country never ceases to impress me.
It is for this reason that I am proud to call myself a “Eesti sõber”, a friend of Estonia.
The way a modern society exercises its right to free internet in daily life can be admired in Estonia. Cafés, museums, petrol stations and parks all have a free Wi-Fi connection. Since just about every Estonian has access to the Internet, they run their daily errands sitting at the computer, too. They lodge tax returns online, parents check their children’s homework from school pages, and two years ago the first online elections took place. 98% of Estonia has Internet coverage – a lot for such a sparsely populated country. (Das Parlament, 27.7)
US President Barack Obama has promised to select America’s first chief technology officer. One country whose e-government leadership has caught the eye of U.S. experts as they look for models is Estonia. After gaining its independence, the country quickly created an e-government infrastructure. Today, Estonians can vote and pay taxes online. An ID card can be used to encrypt documents, to add a digital signature, and to access almost any e-service portal, including those of banks, utility companies, and the state’s own portal. Also plugged into the virtual environment are the Estonian police and the school systems. Every police car is equipped with a computer and has Internet access; police officers can access files on car registry, traffic insurance and other relevant information. The school systems have moved from paper to the e-school, where parents, students, teachers and school administrators can connect via the Internet. By combining all day-to-day transactions and processes into one e-government infrastructure, Estonia stands as a prime example as to how smoothly a country can run. For President Obama and his new team, Estonia stands as a valuable case study in how to protect oneself from the tender grace of technology, and also how beneficial it would be to have a system that’s easy to use and productive. (ohmygov.com, 13.2)
The U.S. may be the first country to have a CTO, that doesn’t mean other countries have not put in place effective tech leadership. Even tiny countries like Estonia have emerged from years behind the Iron Curtain to quickly create e-government infrastructures that would shame the U.S. bureaucracy today. Estonia has become an exemplar of e-government, where everyone votes and pays taxes online, not to mention pays parking tickets via mobile phones. The cyber attack targeting Estonia in spring 2007, however, showed that a deeply interconnected technical network is as valuable as it is vulnerable. Thus Estonia is a good case study in how to protect oneself from the susceptibility of technology. (BusinessWeek, 13.1)
Freedom House carried out a survey in 15 countries concerning access to the Internet, controlling it, and the infringement of Internet users’ rights. Based on the results, the countries were divided into three: free, partly free and not free countries. Estonia takes the lead among free countries, followed by the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Kenya, India, Georgia, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt and Russia ranked as partly free; and Iran, China, Tunisia and Cuba as not free. As shown in the survey, Estonia ranks among the most wired and technologically advanced countries in the world. The first Internet connections were introduced here in 1992. (PR Web, 30.4)
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds Estonia in high regard as a model of a state successfully implementing technological innovations. Russia itself keeps a low profile in terms of innovations; the share of companies implementing innovative technologies stands at 9.4% while the respective figure for Estonia is 47%. (Альянс Медиа, 16.6)
The government and telecom companies have announced the 6 billion kroon (374 million dollar) initiative EstWin to provide access to a 100Mb network to every single household in six years, making it possible to quicken the economy and to create new jobs. The venture is being co-funded by the European Union, and if this starts off well, don’t be shocked to see other EU countries following suit. (Hot Hardware, 25.4)
Estonia wants to become the location of the EU’s planned IT agency. In the future the agency should administer personal data for the entire EU. Austria’s foreign minister Michael Spindelegger supported Estonia’s efforts during his visit to the country, saying it has done “impressive spadework”. (Der Standard, 25.8)
Tallinn was named as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2009 by the ICF, Intelligent Community Forum, during its annual conference. Tallinn was chosen for the third time already and shares this honour side by side with such cities as Bristol in Virginia, USA, Stockholm in Sweden, and Issy-les-Moulineaux in France. Tallinn has made creative use of people and funding by computerising its schools and deployed widespread Wi-Fi. In addition, e-government and smart ID card systems are up and running. (PR Web, 18.2)
The seven most intelligent communities were chosen from among 400 cities. Most of the top scorers were typically from the richest countries in the world, such as the USA, Sweden, Canada and France. However, despite the talk about the freezing economy in Eastern Europe and the Baltic, Tallinn came out as one of the winners. Major contributions to the Estonian capital’s success were high-tech institutions like Ülemiste City Technology Park, the NATO Cyber Defence Centre, and the fact that public e-services are currently on the rise. (Travel Video News, 28.7)
The first company in Estonian business history was created in the Company Registration Portal using a Finnish ID card. Owing to this option, the founders of the company didn’t even have to leave their desks to get the company officially registered in Estonia. The co-operation between Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Belgium and Lithuania is factually the first instance where the register of one country officially accepts the national ID cards and their digital signatures from other countries. The e-Commercial Register portal is unique in Europe for the speed and convenience of founding a company. (Financial Mirror, 13.5)
By comparison with Estonia, Finland is lagging behind in digitalising its services, says Matti Vanhanen, the Prime Minister of Finland. According to Vanhanen, a Finn can register a company in Estonia online, but his Estonian counterpart can not do the same in Finland. Finland’s IT systems are rusty, while Estonia launches its e-services from scratch. Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Korea are the flagships in public services digitalisation. (Kauppalehti, 26.11)
Innovative ideas
Despite its English name, the cradle of free Internet phone Skype lies in the northernmost of the Baltic states, Estonia. Estonia is a technology pioneer of the 21st century. The country is one of the “Baltic Tigers”, built on the booming economy of the last years, the principles of democracy and market economy. Estonia’s biggest asset, however, is its lead in developing new technologies. On par with Finland’s Nokia, Skype today symbolises Estonia’s achievements in new technology. (Regard sur l’Est, 1.6)
In May 2008 the Let’s Do It Campaign called upon Estonians to rid the entire country of illegal garbage in a single day. On the clean-up day, 50 000 volunteers showed up and collected more than 10 000 tons of waste found and mapped in advance. In just one day. It would probably have taken the government three years and 22.5 million euros to accomplish the same task. Instead it was performed for half a million euros. The Let’s Do It team now wants to share the garbage-mapping technology with other countries around the globe. Lithuania and Latvia have already followed Estonia’s lead. Portugal is catching the wave with its clean-up day booked for March of 2010. Who will be next? (Tonic, 24.10)
A new bank was established in Estonia, with the aim in mind of creating a revolution on the country’s banking scene. Unlike other banks, the Bank of Happiness (Õnnepank) exists in the virtual world and it only takes a mouse click to become its client. Its uniqueness lies in the new way of thinking that emerged during the crisis: good deeds are the commodities one trades with. The bank aims to promote non-monetary values. A requirement for the bank to function is people in need of help and those providing it, well-doers. Registered users describe on their account what they are ready to contribute to help others. The list of good deeds available includes babysitting, walking a dog, fixing a tap, cleaning windows, sewing, help with creating a CV … Clients are identified by using an ID card or via banks, and those with no access to the Internet can use the help of a local Chief of Happiness. The initiative is based on mutual trust and goodwill. The Bank’s services are free of charge. It does have its own currency, though – Star of Gratitude – one good deed equalling one Star of Gratitude. A Star of Gratitude millionaire has good reason to consider himself extremely honourable. But the holder of a single Star of Gratitude should also know he’s done something special and worthy. Collecting Stars of Gratitude is a way to raise personal reputation capital, a currency that is never devaluated. (Grande Europe, oktoober)
As of 28 May, Estonian citizens can cast online votes for the European Parliament elections. Just log on to the National Electoral Committee’s website. Casting a ballot has been made especially simple for PC owners – as the country has free Wi-Fi connection, you can vote anywhere. The Internet is used for many errands in Estonia. The state has made extensive investments in IT over the past ten years and now considers itself a flagship with the e-government and online services in place. Cabinet meetings are paperless as members can follow the agenda from their PCs. Drafts discussed at the sessions are uploaded to the intranet, preparation of documents carried out online. Government PR representatives publish information about approved decisions in real time, often making valuable information available before the end of the meeting. Some weeks ago they started using Twitter. Citizens are following the lead: 92% of tax returns are filled out online and as much as 98% of bank transactions are conducted online as well. Many administrative procedures have been made very simple through smart IT solutions. Online voting seems no revolution in this setting. E-elections are one of many applications of the ID card. The system should even be secure enough to withstand a potential cyber attack. (Le Monde, 3.6)
Estonians can use Internet voting for the EU Parliament elections on 7 June. Electronic voting was used by 30 000 voters already during the Estonian parliamentary elections in 2007 and no votes got lost in cyberspace. One of the strengths of e-voting is that during the preliminary elections you can cast a vote regardless of your whereabouts. The digital identification system developed in Estonia is among the most advanced in the world. A number of public services can be accessed using the PIN code of a bank, digital ID card or a mobile ID. (Kauppalehti, 19.5)
The first online vote during the preliminary voting for the European Parliament was cast in Brussels by Estonian Vahur Orrin. Orrin voted one second after the virtual polling station opened and become the first person in EU history to vote online. The moment was captured on video for the YouTube website. (EU Observer, 28.5)
For the European elections, 58 669 people of 909 326 eligible to vote have voted via Internet ... in Estonia. Estonia started developing the online voting system in 2002. It was tested for the first time during the local elections in 2005. In 2007 Estonia was the first country in the world to use e-voting for general elections. The e-voting is actually only meant to supplement the traditional ways of voting; the idea is to give voters the possibility to vote from a location of their choice. An e-vote can only be cast during the preliminary elections and the procedure itself takes no more than 2 minutes. (EU Inside, 22.6)
Estonia has based its democracy-building model on modern technologies. As much as 9.5% of voters cast their vote online during the previous local elections. It takes a smart ID card and two secret passkeys. The next stage of implementing e-democracy – voting via mobile phones – should be technically feasible as of 2011. (Le Télégramme, 15.11)
Cyrus Farivar
Freelance Technology Journalist
My Estonian Odyssey
Six years ago, I knew nothing about Estonia. I could find it on a map, sure, but I didn't know much beyond the fact that it had been occupied by the Soviet Union.
Five years ago, I read an article saying that in Estonia, Internet access was a human right. As a curious technology journalist, I had to see if this was true.
I arrived in Tallinn Airport for the first time in March 2005 -- I didn’t know what to expect, besides the intense cold weather. Fortunately I had an informal Estonian ambassador, Veljo Haamer, waiting to pick me up from the airport. We drove to downtown Tallinn, where along the way he pointed out his WiFi.ee signs at the gas stations.
We parked and stopped in for a coffee at Kohvik Moskva (Café Moscow) on the Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square). This was a trendy, capitalist, modern café with free WiFi for all, just a few meters away from a horrific Soviet bombing site -- the irony couldn't be more apparent.
As I spent my 10 days in Estonia, I was paraded around both the city and the country, stopping in Tartu en route to learn about Estonia’s Forest Brothers (Metsavennad) in Mõniste. Returning back to Tallinn, we stopped in Viljandi and countless other small towns along the way. At every stop, without fail, Veljo would proudly point to his WiFi stickers or signs -- even in the most remote places.
Since then, I have been fortunate to be able to return back to Estonia four more times. I have made many Estonian friends, and have learned of Estonia's prowess in innovation in domains besides WiFi: e-government, digital ID cards, e-voting, Skype, and most recently, cybersecurity and cyberdefense.
What impresses me about Estonia’s history is that it is the ultimate underdog. American President Barack Obama has called America an “unlikely story”. However, Estonia is an even more unlikely story! America is blessed with vast territory, a large population, and today, military, economic and political power unparalleled anywhere else.
Estonia, meanwhile, throughout its history, has been occupied by nearly all of its neighbors, and most brutally by the Soviet Union. Its population has been nearly decimated on many occasions. And yet, the Estonian people, language and culture continue to persevere, even though the entire Estonian population would be considered a small city in the United States.
Now that Estonia has found its rightful place in NATO and the European Union, Estonian technological progress and prowess has propelled Estonia onto the world stage in ways that would have been unimaginable even just a handful of years ago.
Therefore, it's been my deep honor as a foreign journalist to tell this story to my fellow Americans and honor the Estonian legacy. I have covered both the bad (the Cyberattacks of 2007) and the good (the “Let's Do It” cleanup campaign of 2008) and have met Estonians from Kärdla to Mustvee. No matter where I go, this country never ceases to impress me.
It is for this reason that I am proud to call myself a “Eesti sõber”, a friend of Estonia.
The way a modern society exercises its right to free internet in daily life can be admired in Estonia. Cafés, museums, petrol stations and parks all have a free Wi-Fi connection. Since just about every Estonian has access to the Internet, they run their daily errands sitting at the computer, too. They lodge tax returns online, parents check their children’s homework from school pages, and two years ago the first online elections took place. 98% of Estonia has Internet coverage – a lot for such a sparsely populated country. (Das Parlament, 27.7)
US President Barack Obama has promised to select America’s first chief technology officer. One country whose e-government leadership has caught the eye of U.S. experts as they look for models is Estonia. After gaining its independence, the country quickly created an e-government infrastructure. Today, Estonians can vote and pay taxes online. An ID card can be used to encrypt documents, to add a digital signature, and to access almost any e-service portal, including those of banks, utility companies, and the state’s own portal. Also plugged into the virtual environment are the Estonian police and the school systems. Every police car is equipped with a computer and has Internet access; police officers can access files on car registry, traffic insurance and other relevant information. The school systems have moved from paper to the e-school, where parents, students, teachers and school administrators can connect via the Internet. By combining all day-to-day transactions and processes into one e-government infrastructure, Estonia stands as a prime example as to how smoothly a country can run. For President Obama and his new team, Estonia stands as a valuable case study in how to protect oneself from the tender grace of technology, and also how beneficial it would be to have a system that’s easy to use and productive. (ohmygov.com, 13.2)
The U.S. may be the first country to have a CTO, that doesn’t mean other countries have not put in place effective tech leadership. Even tiny countries like Estonia have emerged from years behind the Iron Curtain to quickly create e-government infrastructures that would shame the U.S. bureaucracy today. Estonia has become an exemplar of e-government, where everyone votes and pays taxes online, not to mention pays parking tickets via mobile phones. The cyber attack targeting Estonia in spring 2007, however, showed that a deeply interconnected technical network is as valuable as it is vulnerable. Thus Estonia is a good case study in how to protect oneself from the susceptibility of technology. (BusinessWeek, 13.1)
Freedom House carried out a survey in 15 countries concerning access to the Internet, controlling it, and the infringement of Internet users’ rights. Based on the results, the countries were divided into three: free, partly free and not free countries. Estonia takes the lead among free countries, followed by the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Kenya, India, Georgia, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt and Russia ranked as partly free; and Iran, China, Tunisia and Cuba as not free. As shown in the survey, Estonia ranks among the most wired and technologically advanced countries in the world. The first Internet connections were introduced here in 1992. (PR Web, 30.4)
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds Estonia in high regard as a model of a state successfully implementing technological innovations. Russia itself keeps a low profile in terms of innovations; the share of companies implementing innovative technologies stands at 9.4% while the respective figure for Estonia is 47%. (Альянс Медиа, 16.6)
The government and telecom companies have announced the 6 billion kroon (374 million dollar) initiative EstWin to provide access to a 100Mb network to every single household in six years, making it possible to quicken the economy and to create new jobs. The venture is being co-funded by the European Union, and if this starts off well, don’t be shocked to see other EU countries following suit. (Hot Hardware, 25.4)
Estonia wants to become the location of the EU’s planned IT agency. In the future the agency should administer personal data for the entire EU. Austria’s foreign minister Michael Spindelegger supported Estonia’s efforts during his visit to the country, saying it has done “impressive spadework”. (Der Standard, 25.8)
Tallinn was named as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2009 by the ICF, Intelligent Community Forum, during its annual conference. Tallinn was chosen for the third time already and shares this honour side by side with such cities as Bristol in Virginia, USA, Stockholm in Sweden, and Issy-les-Moulineaux in France. Tallinn has made creative use of people and funding by computerising its schools and deployed widespread Wi-Fi. In addition, e-government and smart ID card systems are up and running. (PR Web, 18.2)
The seven most intelligent communities were chosen from among 400 cities. Most of the top scorers were typically from the richest countries in the world, such as the USA, Sweden, Canada and France. However, despite the talk about the freezing economy in Eastern Europe and the Baltic, Tallinn came out as one of the winners. Major contributions to the Estonian capital’s success were high-tech institutions like Ülemiste City Technology Park, the NATO Cyber Defence Centre, and the fact that public e-services are currently on the rise. (Travel Video News, 28.7)
The first company in Estonian business history was created in the Company Registration Portal using a Finnish ID card. Owing to this option, the founders of the company didn’t even have to leave their desks to get the company officially registered in Estonia. The co-operation between Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Belgium and Lithuania is factually the first instance where the register of one country officially accepts the national ID cards and their digital signatures from other countries. The e-Commercial Register portal is unique in Europe for the speed and convenience of founding a company. (Financial Mirror, 13.5)
By comparison with Estonia, Finland is lagging behind in digitalising its services, says Matti Vanhanen, the Prime Minister of Finland. According to Vanhanen, a Finn can register a company in Estonia online, but his Estonian counterpart can not do the same in Finland. Finland’s IT systems are rusty, while Estonia launches its e-services from scratch. Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Korea are the flagships in public services digitalisation. (Kauppalehti, 26.11)
Innovative ideas
Despite its English name, the cradle of free Internet phone Skype lies in the northernmost of the Baltic states, Estonia. Estonia is a technology pioneer of the 21st century. The country is one of the “Baltic Tigers”, built on the booming economy of the last years, the principles of democracy and market economy. Estonia’s biggest asset, however, is its lead in developing new technologies. On par with Finland’s Nokia, Skype today symbolises Estonia’s achievements in new technology. (Regard sur l’Est, 1.6)
In May 2008 the Let’s Do It Campaign called upon Estonians to rid the entire country of illegal garbage in a single day. On the clean-up day, 50 000 volunteers showed up and collected more than 10 000 tons of waste found and mapped in advance. In just one day. It would probably have taken the government three years and 22.5 million euros to accomplish the same task. Instead it was performed for half a million euros. The Let’s Do It team now wants to share the garbage-mapping technology with other countries around the globe. Lithuania and Latvia have already followed Estonia’s lead. Portugal is catching the wave with its clean-up day booked for March of 2010. Who will be next? (Tonic, 24.10)
A new bank was established in Estonia, with the aim in mind of creating a revolution on the country’s banking scene. Unlike other banks, the Bank of Happiness (Õnnepank) exists in the virtual world and it only takes a mouse click to become its client. Its uniqueness lies in the new way of thinking that emerged during the crisis: good deeds are the commodities one trades with. The bank aims to promote non-monetary values. A requirement for the bank to function is people in need of help and those providing it, well-doers. Registered users describe on their account what they are ready to contribute to help others. The list of good deeds available includes babysitting, walking a dog, fixing a tap, cleaning windows, sewing, help with creating a CV … Clients are identified by using an ID card or via banks, and those with no access to the Internet can use the help of a local Chief of Happiness. The initiative is based on mutual trust and goodwill. The Bank’s services are free of charge. It does have its own currency, though – Star of Gratitude – one good deed equalling one Star of Gratitude. A Star of Gratitude millionaire has good reason to consider himself extremely honourable. But the holder of a single Star of Gratitude should also know he’s done something special and worthy. Collecting Stars of Gratitude is a way to raise personal reputation capital, a currency that is never devaluated. (Grande Europe, oktoober)
As of 28 May, Estonian citizens can cast online votes for the European Parliament elections. Just log on to the National Electoral Committee’s website. Casting a ballot has been made especially simple for PC owners – as the country has free Wi-Fi connection, you can vote anywhere. The Internet is used for many errands in Estonia. The state has made extensive investments in IT over the past ten years and now considers itself a flagship with the e-government and online services in place. Cabinet meetings are paperless as members can follow the agenda from their PCs. Drafts discussed at the sessions are uploaded to the intranet, preparation of documents carried out online. Government PR representatives publish information about approved decisions in real time, often making valuable information available before the end of the meeting. Some weeks ago they started using Twitter. Citizens are following the lead: 92% of tax returns are filled out online and as much as 98% of bank transactions are conducted online as well. Many administrative procedures have been made very simple through smart IT solutions. Online voting seems no revolution in this setting. E-elections are one of many applications of the ID card. The system should even be secure enough to withstand a potential cyber attack. (Le Monde, 3.6)
Estonians can use Internet voting for the EU Parliament elections on 7 June. Electronic voting was used by 30 000 voters already during the Estonian parliamentary elections in 2007 and no votes got lost in cyberspace. One of the strengths of e-voting is that during the preliminary elections you can cast a vote regardless of your whereabouts. The digital identification system developed in Estonia is among the most advanced in the world. A number of public services can be accessed using the PIN code of a bank, digital ID card or a mobile ID. (Kauppalehti, 19.5)
The first online vote during the preliminary voting for the European Parliament was cast in Brussels by Estonian Vahur Orrin. Orrin voted one second after the virtual polling station opened and become the first person in EU history to vote online. The moment was captured on video for the YouTube website. (EU Observer, 28.5)
For the European elections, 58 669 people of 909 326 eligible to vote have voted via Internet ... in Estonia. Estonia started developing the online voting system in 2002. It was tested for the first time during the local elections in 2005. In 2007 Estonia was the first country in the world to use e-voting for general elections. The e-voting is actually only meant to supplement the traditional ways of voting; the idea is to give voters the possibility to vote from a location of their choice. An e-vote can only be cast during the preliminary elections and the procedure itself takes no more than 2 minutes. (EU Inside, 22.6)
Estonia has based its democracy-building model on modern technologies. As much as 9.5% of voters cast their vote online during the previous local elections. It takes a smart ID card and two secret passkeys. The next stage of implementing e-democracy – voting via mobile phones – should be technically feasible as of 2011. (Le Télégramme, 15.11)
Estonia, a distinguished IT nation, wishes to host the Europe’s IT systems agency. “Estonia hopes the IT agency will be established here,” the Foreign Minister Mr Urmas Paet confirmed after the meeting with Alexander Alvaro, shadow rapporteur of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, on June 4th. (Media+, 07.06)
Paet assured Estonia’s readiness to be the host of the IT agency to Alvaro. Estonia is prepared to invest €20 million into setting up the agency. Urmas Paet confirmed that if the agency will be set here, they are ready to cooperate with France. (La Lettre, 08.06)
Clearly Estonia is hoping for a peaceful solution with France, the only other contender in the race to host a new European Union agency for the management of police databases. Estonia’s Interior Minister Marko Pomerants said Thursday (7 October) that the IT agency is meant for Estonia as a state – they have the right environment for it, it’s their everyday life – doing it all online. In Tallinn you can “smell” IT in the air, says the Minister. Mr Pomerants says his country is trying to find “common ground” with France and avoid a vote in the EU Council of Ministers, which would divide countries into two camps over the matter. France is bidding because two European databases are already located in Strasbourg. But the Estonians point to the fact that a third one, Eurodac, is based in Luxembourg and that many companies such as Microsoft or Google have servers and databases scattered all over the world. The Estonian Government has also set aside around €17 million for the new agency’s headquarters and support team. As for now, it is still too early to speak about an agreement between France and Estonia. (Euobserver, 11.10)
Tiny IT-titan Estonia is exporting its e-government technology and expertise across the globe, currently preparing new projects for the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan and Haiti. The Baltic state of 1.3 million people has already helped fellow ex-communist democracies Armenia and Georgia to implement Internet-based government and services common in Estonia for years, but still not widely available elsewhere. “It’s common to use Internet-based solutions in Estonia, everywhere on the level of central government, the municipalities and of course business,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said, as he showed off the oval cabinet table equipped with a laptop for each minister to a group of foreign journalists. Estonia is keen to export its e-government savvy and associated transparency around the globe with a special focus on developing democracies. ”We are very grateful for the help Estonia has provided for Palestine. Estonia has been a true success story in this area and we would like to be one day a similar success story in our region,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said during a recent visit to Estonia. (Ladero Sun, 29.06)
Afghanistan women useing internet. Estonia is preparing to export new e-services projects to Afghanistan
Photo: DELFI (Andres Putting)
E-government was born in the 1980s, when many countries sought to break down the walls that separate the government from the governed. Many nations are looking to Estonia for leadership. It is exporting its digital-democracy technology through its e-Governance Academy, which has trained bureaucrats from 36 countries, including Sri Lanka, Senegal, Pakistan, Namibia, and Tajikistan. (Newsweek, 16.08)
As all bureaucracy is taken online, the only place you can find paper, will soon be the toilet. At least this seems to be the case for Estonia, an IT pioneer. The county is the birthplace of Skype – a computer communication tool enabling you to call anywhere in the world. In Estonia all personal data and patient’s medical records are digital. People can use the ID-card to pay for parking, a bus ride and to vote in the elections. By 2015 they plan to complete the fibre optic network covering the whole country. Ministries and public offices share a database – confidential, of course. People have the privilege, though, to access information concerning them. Many Frenchmen would not even dream of something similar. The local culture must have contributed to the high internet use as Estonians spend much time indoors and are not known for being overly social. And doesn’t the Internet give you almost everything you need! (La Voix du Nord, 17.06)
Estonia one of the most successful countries in the world for offering e-services
Photo: DELFI (Andres Putting)
Skip the lines, forget about bribes. E-gov gives anyone with a web connection direct access to public services. Had Franz Kafka been born in 21st-century Tallinn, instead of 19th-century Prague, some of the gems of modernist literature might never have been written. The man in his short story, who spends years trying to get past an implacable gatekeeper, would only need a government-issued electronic ID-card in Estonia. He could go online or stick the bar-coded ID into a card reader and, moments later, sign a contract with an international corporate partner, pay a traffic fine, and file his taxes. No lines, no bribes, no forms in triplicate, and no need to plead his case “with one doorkeeper after another, each more powerful than the last,” as in Kafka’s hellish vision. Such is the promise of electronic government, or using technology to deliver public services. (Newsweek, 16.08)
The Korea Times gives a good reason why Estonia is much closer to Koreans than most think, that is, many here benefit from Estonia-made services almost every day when they use Skype. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in an interview to The Korea Times in Soul that Korea and Estonia can share experiences in IT sector. What is the secret behind Estonia’s success in IT? The Minister said the country allows people room to experiment. “Our society is very open, so it is easy for young people to try new things and get results," Paet said talking about the reasons for the country to become the birthplace of Skype and other technologies. (The Korea Times, 14.01)
Juho Rahkonen, a doctor of social sciences and market research fellow, continues on the same note in the Finnish media, saying that although Estonia is not a technology-developing mega power, the use of new technologies is encouraged. Quite contrary to Finland. What would it feel like to have a say in a public debate while on the train to work or to cast your vote via mobile phone from the comfort of your living room? It might seem utopian but it should be real in Estonia next year. No wonder Estonia is one of the savviest information societies. As early as 2005 the Estonians could cast their votes online, being the first in the world. By the next 2011 Parliamentary elections, they probably carry the voting tool around in their pockets. The author finds that both mobile and internet voting could raise the voter turnout and believes that this should eliminate the “Election Day weather factor”. (Aamulehti, 18.02)
Although Estonia has been keen on leading the way in the field of IT, the Finnish daily Kaleva points at several drawbacks the IT activist has lately suffered. The most recent was the chaos concerning a new system of digital prescriptions launched at the break of this year. According to Kaleva the first IT mishap took place in autumn last year when the Ministry of Social Affairs introduced some incomplete IT solutions to update the user program of the Estonia’s smart ID card. As the developer was a few days late with delivery, the state terminated the contract. The developer took the case to court but it’s put on hold. However, the daily finds that despite these stumbling blocks there are also success stories, e.g. the digital tax return form or e-elections. (Kaleva, 24.04)
Estonia differs from others for the courage to test new technologies
Photo: DELFI (Ester Vaitmaa)
International media, too, has faith in the future of Estonian technology companies as the list of ten promising European young technology companies published in The Wall Street Journal late 2010 included an Estonian company ERPLY. The enterprise software company is founded by Kristian Hiiemaa and Kristjan Randma and focusing on retail and point-of-sale technology that would normally be out of reach for SME-s. It won the Seedcamp competition in London in 2009 and was called “the Skype of business software”. The company is already profitable and is acquiring a larger client base. (The Wall Street Journal 08.12)
Starbucks recently started giving out something for free – free wireless Internet access. Well, Starbucks might make a big deal out of this, but in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, free public Wi-Fi access is pretty much expected. And that's largely due to one man, Veljo Haamer. Having visited places offering free Wi-Fi in New York City he decided to take this idea to Tallinn and the entire country. Many cafes and bars in Tallinn thought it was a great idea, and these days, Veljo reckons, free Wi-Fi is set up in about 75% of the bars and cafes in Tallinn’s Old Town. Now there is free Wi-Fi also on long distance bus lines, one from Tallinn to Riga, Latvia, and on another from Tallinn to St. Petersburg, Russia. He’s also teamed up with a local cellular provider to pilot test a 4G data service. (Discovery News, 11.07)
For internet connection You don´t necessarily need cabels
Photo: Kaarel Mikkin
On top of the list of Tallinn’s tourist attractions is free Wi-Fi. You can surf the Web in cafes, department stores, sushi-restaurants, bars or even nightclubs. The city is almost entirely blanketed with free Wi-Fi coverage. Convenient, indeed, for a tourist – to check the opening hours of a museum, find the closest ATM or a taxi number. You can do it in Helsinki, too, but not to the same extent as in Tallinn. You simply cannot escape Wi-Fi in Tallinn. The leading Finnish newspaper adds that every now and then, if not daily, Estonia makes Finland and the Western countries look like developing nations. Besides free Wi-Fi, the opening hours of shops in the Baltic countries are a step ahead of the others, too. (Helsingin Sanomat, 18.01)
Years-long tradition of song festivals is something Estonia is known for and now the first online festival will take place. On August 20th an Internet song festival will be held, enabling choirs from more than a hundred locations to sing the same songs together in real time. Estonians have held song festivals since 1869. In every five years almost 24,000 singers gather for two days to form a single choir. The digital festival, however, is the first of its kind. The event marks the 19th anniversary of Estonia’s regained independence and joins two facets Estonia is known for abroad – the tradition of song festivals and IT innovations. Everyone looking to join the choir can register online . (Le Figaro, 16.08)
Choirs from 100 locations across Estonia will be able to link up in cyberspace on August 20, with singers at the main venue in central Estonia. “We will be happy with 10,000 to 100,000 singers participating in the digital song festival and any number above it will be miracle,” festival organiser and TV producer Artur Talvik said. Choirs are to sing eight songs beloved by Estonians at traditional song festivals. (Yahoo News, 17.08)
Estonia, a distinguished IT nation, wishes to host the Europe’s IT systems agency. “Estonia hopes the IT agency will be established here,” the Foreign Minister Mr Urmas Paet confirmed after the meeting with Alexander Alvaro, shadow rapporteur of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, on June 4th. (Media+, 07.06)
Paet assured Estonia’s readiness to be the host of the IT agency to Alvaro. Estonia is prepared to invest €20 million into setting up the agency. Urmas Paet confirmed that if the agency will be set here, they are ready to cooperate with France. (La Lettre, 08.06)
Clearly Estonia is hoping for a peaceful solution with France, the only other contender in the race to host a new European Union agency for the management of police databases. Estonia’s Interior Minister Marko Pomerants said Thursday (7 October) that the IT agency is meant for Estonia as a state – they have the right environment for it, it’s their everyday life – doing it all online. In Tallinn you can “smell” IT in the air, says the Minister. Mr Pomerants says his country is trying to find “common ground” with France and avoid a vote in the EU Council of Ministers, which would divide countries into two camps over the matter. France is bidding because two European databases are already located in Strasbourg. But the Estonians point to the fact that a third one, Eurodac, is based in Luxembourg and that many companies such as Microsoft or Google have servers and databases scattered all over the world. The Estonian Government has also set aside around €17 million for the new agency’s headquarters and support team. As for now, it is still too early to speak about an agreement between France and Estonia. (Euobserver, 11.10)
Tiny IT-titan Estonia is exporting its e-government technology and expertise across the globe, currently preparing new projects for the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan and Haiti. The Baltic state of 1.3 million people has already helped fellow ex-communist democracies Armenia and Georgia to implement Internet-based government and services common in Estonia for years, but still not widely available elsewhere. “It’s common to use Internet-based solutions in Estonia, everywhere on the level of central government, the municipalities and of course business,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said, as he showed off the oval cabinet table equipped with a laptop for each minister to a group of foreign journalists. Estonia is keen to export its e-government savvy and associated transparency around the globe with a special focus on developing democracies. ”We are very grateful for the help Estonia has provided for Palestine. Estonia has been a true success story in this area and we would like to be one day a similar success story in our region,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said during a recent visit to Estonia. (Ladero Sun, 29.06)
Afghanistan women useing internet. Estonia is preparing to export new e-services projects to Afghanistan
Photo: DELFI (Andres Putting)
E-government was born in the 1980s, when many countries sought to break down the walls that separate the government from the governed. Many nations are looking to Estonia for leadership. It is exporting its digital-democracy technology through its e-Governance Academy, which has trained bureaucrats from 36 countries, including Sri Lanka, Senegal, Pakistan, Namibia, and Tajikistan. (Newsweek, 16.08)
As all bureaucracy is taken online, the only place you can find paper, will soon be the toilet. At least this seems to be the case for Estonia, an IT pioneer. The county is the birthplace of Skype – a computer communication tool enabling you to call anywhere in the world. In Estonia all personal data and patient’s medical records are digital. People can use the ID-card to pay for parking, a bus ride and to vote in the elections. By 2015 they plan to complete the fibre optic network covering the whole country. Ministries and public offices share a database – confidential, of course. People have the privilege, though, to access information concerning them. Many Frenchmen would not even dream of something similar. The local culture must have contributed to the high internet use as Estonians spend much time indoors and are not known for being overly social. And doesn’t the Internet give you almost everything you need! (La Voix du Nord, 17.06)
Estonia one of the most successful countries in the world for offering e-services
Photo: DELFI (Andres Putting)
Skip the lines, forget about bribes. E-gov gives anyone with a web connection direct access to public services. Had Franz Kafka been born in 21st-century Tallinn, instead of 19th-century Prague, some of the gems of modernist literature might never have been written. The man in his short story, who spends years trying to get past an implacable gatekeeper, would only need a government-issued electronic ID-card in Estonia. He could go online or stick the bar-coded ID into a card reader and, moments later, sign a contract with an international corporate partner, pay a traffic fine, and file his taxes. No lines, no bribes, no forms in triplicate, and no need to plead his case “with one doorkeeper after another, each more powerful than the last,” as in Kafka’s hellish vision. Such is the promise of electronic government, or using technology to deliver public services. (Newsweek, 16.08)
The Korea Times gives a good reason why Estonia is much closer to Koreans than most think, that is, many here benefit from Estonia-made services almost every day when they use Skype. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in an interview to The Korea Times in Soul that Korea and Estonia can share experiences in IT sector. What is the secret behind Estonia’s success in IT? The Minister said the country allows people room to experiment. “Our society is very open, so it is easy for young people to try new things and get results," Paet said talking about the reasons for the country to become the birthplace of Skype and other technologies. (The Korea Times, 14.01)
Juho Rahkonen, a doctor of social sciences and market research fellow, continues on the same note in the Finnish media, saying that although Estonia is not a technology-developing mega power, the use of new technologies is encouraged. Quite contrary to Finland. What would it feel like to have a say in a public debate while on the train to work or to cast your vote via mobile phone from the comfort of your living room? It might seem utopian but it should be real in Estonia next year. No wonder Estonia is one of the savviest information societies. As early as 2005 the Estonians could cast their votes online, being the first in the world. By the next 2011 Parliamentary elections, they probably carry the voting tool around in their pockets. The author finds that both mobile and internet voting could raise the voter turnout and believes that this should eliminate the “Election Day weather factor”. (Aamulehti, 18.02)
Although Estonia has been keen on leading the way in the field of IT, the Finnish daily Kaleva points at several drawbacks the IT activist has lately suffered. The most recent was the chaos concerning a new system of digital prescriptions launched at the break of this year. According to Kaleva the first IT mishap took place in autumn last year when the Ministry of Social Affairs introduced some incomplete IT solutions to update the user program of the Estonia’s smart ID card. As the developer was a few days late with delivery, the state terminated the contract. The developer took the case to court but it’s put on hold. However, the daily finds that despite these stumbling blocks there are also success stories, e.g. the digital tax return form or e-elections. (Kaleva, 24.04)
Estonia differs from others for the courage to test new technologies
Photo: DELFI (Ester Vaitmaa)
International media, too, has faith in the future of Estonian technology companies as the list of ten promising European young technology companies published in The Wall Street Journal late 2010 included an Estonian company ERPLY. The enterprise software company is founded by Kristian Hiiemaa and Kristjan Randma and focusing on retail and point-of-sale technology that would normally be out of reach for SME-s. It won the Seedcamp competition in London in 2009 and was called “the Skype of business software”. The company is already profitable and is acquiring a larger client base. (The Wall Street Journal 08.12)
Starbucks recently started giving out something for free – free wireless Internet access. Well, Starbucks might make a big deal out of this, but in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, free public Wi-Fi access is pretty much expected. And that's largely due to one man, Veljo Haamer. Having visited places offering free Wi-Fi in New York City he decided to take this idea to Tallinn and the entire country. Many cafes and bars in Tallinn thought it was a great idea, and these days, Veljo reckons, free Wi-Fi is set up in about 75% of the bars and cafes in Tallinn’s Old Town. Now there is free Wi-Fi also on long distance bus lines, one from Tallinn to Riga, Latvia, and on another from Tallinn to St. Petersburg, Russia. He’s also teamed up with a local cellular provider to pilot test a 4G data service. (Discovery News, 11.07)
For internet connection You don´t necessarily need cabels
Photo: Kaarel Mikkin
On top of the list of Tallinn’s tourist attractions is free Wi-Fi. You can surf the Web in cafes, department stores, sushi-restaurants, bars or even nightclubs. The city is almost entirely blanketed with free Wi-Fi coverage. Convenient, indeed, for a tourist – to check the opening hours of a museum, find the closest ATM or a taxi number. You can do it in Helsinki, too, but not to the same extent as in Tallinn. You simply cannot escape Wi-Fi in Tallinn. The leading Finnish newspaper adds that every now and then, if not daily, Estonia makes Finland and the Western countries look like developing nations. Besides free Wi-Fi, the opening hours of shops in the Baltic countries are a step ahead of the others, too. (Helsingin Sanomat, 18.01)
Years-long tradition of song festivals is something Estonia is known for and now the first online festival will take place. On August 20th an Internet song festival will be held, enabling choirs from more than a hundred locations to sing the same songs together in real time. Estonians have held song festivals since 1869. In every five years almost 24,000 singers gather for two days to form a single choir. The digital festival, however, is the first of its kind. The event marks the 19th anniversary of Estonia’s regained independence and joins two facets Estonia is known for abroad – the tradition of song festivals and IT innovations. Everyone looking to join the choir can register online . (Le Figaro, 16.08)
Choirs from 100 locations across Estonia will be able to link up in cyberspace on August 20, with singers at the main venue in central Estonia. “We will be happy with 10,000 to 100,000 singers participating in the digital song festival and any number above it will be miracle,” festival organiser and TV producer Artur Talvik said. Choirs are to sing eight songs beloved by Estonians at traditional song festivals. (Yahoo News, 17.08)
