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Capital: Tallinn
Area: 45,227 km2
Population: 1,340,000
Internet users: 74%
Country Calling Code: 372
Currency: Eesti kroon (EEK)
Currency rate: EUR 1 = EEK 15.65

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 CONTENTS
E-SOCIETY E-STATE
Introduction 5 e-Government and e-Parliament 12
The Whole Human Lifecycle and an e-Elections 13
e-Society 6 The e-Citizen’s Electronical ID Card 14
“Tiger Leap” 7 Digital Signature 15
e-Empowered Citizens 7 The X-road 15
E-EDUCATION Secure e- and Legal Environments 15
e-School 8 TECHNOLOGY AND
University Via Internet 8 ACCESSIBILITY
Broad-based IT-Education 8 Connections Abroad 16
E-SERVICES Connection and User Statistics 16
The State Portal eesti.ee 9 Mobile Signals and Wireless Internet 17
The e-Business Register and e-Land Register 9 Mobile Applications 17
The e-Tax Board and Income Declarations 9 EstWin 17
e-Healthcare 10 CONCLUSION 18
e-Police 10
e-Banking 11
e-Ticket 11
Nature Online 11
Historical Heritage 11

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4

E-SOCIETY
Were the internet to have a postal address, it would most likely
be here in Estonia. We have reason to be proud of our highly-
developed telecommunications network. Estonia is a place
you can take your laptop into the deepest forest and still hook
up to the internet. It is no accident that Skype was born here.
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
President of the Republic of Estonia
These words of Estonia’s President Toomas
Hendrik Ilves characterize well the noteworthy
achievements of Estonia in its transition from a
Soviet society into one of Europe’s most modern
states.
5
During the last 20 years, Estonia has developed
a complete, well functioning, and secure
e-state. For citizens of Estonia, e-services have
a vigorous self-defence.
become routine: e-elections, e-taxes, e-police,
e-healthcare, e-banking, and e-school. The “e”
prefix for services has almost become trite in
the sense that it is truly standard. Most Estonians
would not even consider doing things the old-
fashioned way by physically visiting an office.
The e-state gives people freedom – to spend
time in the forest, countryside, in our countless
bogs, or even in Tallinn’s famous Old Town
which rests beside the modern city. Almost any
activity can be taken care of with a few clicks via
the internet.
These modern city office buildings are
increasingly used by IT companies which seek
an innovative, highly-educated, cost-effective
workforce. One example of many: From its
development centre in Tallinn, Skype creates
a large part of the software used by its loyal
customer base of 500 million people.
Thanks to its small size, Estonia is an ideal place
for testing new solutions. The implementation
and feedback processes move very quickly.
Many solutions engineered in Estonia have been
later exported, including e-elections, e-school,
and m-parking (the “m” means “mobile”).
It may also be of interest that Estonia is the only
nation in the world which has survived a full-on
cyberattack, emerging unscathed by mounting
Skype has become an international word
recognized everywhere. Almost 10% of
international calling minutes throughout the
entire world are made using Skype. This free
internet calling program was developed in
Estonia. Skype’s development centre is located
in Tallinn. Skype’s experience has been that
in Estonia it is easy to develop innovative
infrastructure, due to the presence of
technological competence in an environment
favourable to IT development.
Skype’s Chief Evangelist and General Manager
of the Tallinn office, Sten Tamkivi, is fond
of relating the simple equation of Skype’s
original success: “Four guys in a room for six
months and the result was one million users
two months after launch.” The strength of
Skype — and perhaps the strength of Estonian
IT — is that its hallmark is simple efficiency.
It is not burdened with layers of cumbersome
management or formalities. “Before I came to
Skype,” says Tamkivi, “I used to bid against a lot
of Western European companies for jobs. They
would offer a three-layer project organization
with complicated reporting structures. We’d
put four guys in a room and get the job done.”
 The Whole Human
Lifecycle and an
e-Society
In Estonia, it is understood that the value of
an IT solution is greater the more useful it is
in everyday life. For this reason, the state has
supported the development of e-solutions for
every stage of an individual’s life. e-solutions are
available for child subsidies, school applications,
for ordering theatre tickets, seeking employ-
ment, booking doctors’ appointments, and
applying for pensions. In the works is a plan to
enable marriage registrations via internet or, in
less unhappier situations, divorces.
The majority of forms and applications from
state institutions are available in electronic form
and may be submitted electronically. Citizens
are not required to visit state institutions, freeing
time which may be devoted to other pursuits.
Estonians are so accustomed to e-services that
they always first ask for the institution’s web
address, instead of the telephone number.
Only if it transpires that an Estonian can’t find
an institution’s or business’ web service link or
electronic registration system will he pick up
the telephone. Every citizen is encouraged to
offer proposals for new e-services or present
questions via the e-participation portal, osale.ee.
Thanks to this process, the state’s actions serve
the actual needs of the citizens.

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“Tiger Leap“
Estonia did not become an e-state by accident.
One of the most significant steps on this
road was the 1997 decision to bring people,
computers, and the e-world together at the
earliest age and begin the nationwide project
by equipping schools with the most modern
computers and internet connections. Thanks to
a program named Tiger Leap, computer skills
spread quickly through society.
7
e-Empowered
Citizens
While the Tiger Leap program was to provide a
broadbased computer education for students
and teachers, the program Vaata Maailma (“Look
at the World”) was targeted at the society as a
whole who wished to develop along with the
information society. The program continues
to offer free computer and internet training
courses throughout Estonia. Vaata Maailma’s
goal was to reduce the digital gap and bring
an active e-life to those who, because of their
age or other reasons, might have otherwise
remained behind. Thanks to the Vaata Maailma
program, IT-savvy pensioners are not a rare sight
in Estonia. Many actively handle their affairs via
the internet.
Initiated and supported by President Lennart
Meri in 1996, the Tiger Leap program gave
Estonian IT a strong kickstart through the
program’s ability to produce IT-savvy students
from every Estonian school in one fell swoop.
This sparked the creation of IT jobs but also
created a demand for e-services.
The Tiger Leap program continues today, and
the education it provides is free for students and
teachers alike.
www.tiigrihype.ee
 E-EDUCATION and every high school graduate may retrieve
them through the state portal eesti.ee, or may
opt to receive the results via text message to
e-School a mobile telephone. Upon completing high
school, students may submit applications for
One of the most widely used e-services is
university admittance via the state’s internet-
e-school, which serves families with school-
based application system. The system unites
age children. This service is useful to everyone:
the higher-education databases with the
students, teachers, and parents. Parents are able
students’ exam results, thus greatly simplifying
to register their children in school and monitor a
the exchange of information between the user
child’s academic performance. Teachers may plan
and the university.
lessons and enter information about subjects
covered in class. Students are able to keep an www.sais.ee
eye on lesson plans and class schedules.
e-school enables the anticipation of problems,
the source of which are often caused by lack
Broad-based IT
of information whether from the school or the Education
home. With the help of e-school, families are
A quickly-developing information society needs
constantly informed concerning matters related
specialists with broad-based knowledge and
to their children and school. For the student it is
practical experience concerning information
also easier, since dependency on paper diaries
system security. That’s why almost every
is eliminated, and lesson plans and homework
university in Estonia offers a higher education in
may be accessed at any time.
some aspect of IT. Some of Estonia’s IT-degrees
are unique in the world – for example, a master’s
www.ekool.eu degree in cyberdefence born at Tallinn Technical
University and Tartu University.

University Via Internet

At the end of high school, all Estonian students www.tu.ee
are required to take state exams. Exam results www.ttu.ee
www.itcollege.ee
are input directly into the information system,

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E-SERVICES
The State Portal
eesti.ee
E-services are not useful if the citizenry is
unaware of them, or if the services are difficult
to locate. The state portal eesti.ee gathers all
the state’s e-services in one place. Through this
portal, the citizen may enter the e-tax system,
make application to universities, check his data
in the land register, and much more. A citizen
may download, for example, a variety of official
forms. Whether seeking a pension application
or presenting a claim to the labour dispute
commission, it’s all in one place. In addition,
access to all e-services are provided via internet
banking sites, which makes new services
available to all internet banking customers.
The portal also shows the citizen what
information the state has about him. In the
interest of security, the portal is not a single, large
database, but rather a secure channel to collect
information from separate official databases
during a single e-service session. Currently, the
state portal uses approximately 60 databases
and offers 600 different services.
The e-Business
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Register and e-Land Both registers have received extensive
international recognition, including honours at
Register the European e-Government Awards 2009, the
European Enterprise Awards, and others.
The basis for a strong economy is citizens
actively engaged in business. An entrepreneur
may form a company in Estonia through a
completely bureaucracy-free process directly The e-Tax Board and
at his personal computer. The e-business
portal’s record for the set-up and registration of
Income Declarations
Before the e-Tax Board, every taxpayer had to
a company is 18 minutes. In most instances, it
manually calculate his income. Now, the same
would be impossible to even carry documents
calculations are automatically made from
from one official to another in 18 minutes. To
information collected from employers. A citizen
create a company via the internet requires
now must only enter the e-tax system using
only an Estonian ID card, but the system also
his ID card or internet bank, log on, check the
recognizes ID cards from Belgium, Portugal,
information automatically assembled, make
Lithuania, and Finland, and work is currently
additions or changes (if necessary), and approve
underway to enable increasing numbers of
the declaration. Not a single document must
other nations’ citizens to electronically register
be printed. And waiting in queues during office
businesses in Estonia.
hours is completely eliminated—the e-Tax Board
is open around the clock every day of the week.
www
ww w rik.
w.ri
w.rikk.e
ri k eee
ee/e
/e-a
-ari
rire
reg
re gister
gist
terr The e-tax system has proved to be Estonia’s
most popular e-service: in 2010, over 92% of tax
declarations were filed via the internet.
The e-land register is an internet-based
electronic land information system, which www.emta.ee
enables searches concerning real estate for a
nominal charge.
www.rik.ee/land_register
 e-Healthcare
e-Hea Additionally, victims of crimes are not required
to visit the police station. Crime reports may be
Although iit’s not possible to heal via the
submitted electronically and signed digitally.
internet, life can be made much easier thanks
to it. Estonia
Eston uses digital prescriptions which
are not printed
prin on paper. This is doubly useful:
a patient isn’t
isn required to keep track of a paper
prescription, and digital prescriptions cannot be
prescription
improperly used.
forged or im Cyber Defence
e-patient system enables people to book,
The e-patie The idea for a NATO’s “The Cooperative Cyber
change or ccancel appointments with physicians, Defence Centre of Excellence” (CCD COE)
includes a feature to generate reminder
and include originated in 2004 in Estonia. Thanks to Estonian
messages sso appointments are not forgotten. developments in the IT sphere, Estonia was
patient may view additions to his file
Also, the pa designated as the centre’s home. The centre is a
made by th the physician, and doctors may access collection of international experts and provides
data and analysis
ana about the patient made by other NATO member states throughout the world with
physicians. the necessary expertise in the ever-changing field
of cyberdefence.
www.etervis.ee
The centre also serves to provide expert training
and consultation for partner nations and to
research and develop solutions to manage
e-Police risks and lessen dangers in the IT field. NATO
cyberdefence centre is Estonia’s contribution to
If you see a police car aglow from the light of its
international cybersecurity, and thanks to this
onboard computer, it’s not because the officers
Estonia’s experience and expertise in the sector is
are surfing the web. They’re actually working.
shared with many other nations.
The police have access to online databases (the
Schengen Zone information system) to determine
www.ccdcoe.org
whether the individual they’ve stopped is wanted,
or whether the car he’s driving is stolen. This
enables the police to make operative decisions
without exchanging information with a dispatcher.
The only thing it makes complicated is the life of
the lawbreaker.

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 e-Banking
Citizens accustomed to the e-state also demand
paperless solutions from the private sector.
One of the best examples of this is banking.
The expression “going to the bank” has all
but disappeared from the Estonian language.
Instead, an Estonian tends to “log in” to his bank.
For ten years now, Estonians have not been
required to physically visit the bank. To most, it
is not a question what time the bank opens or
closes or where it’s located, since the internet
bank is open 24 hours a day. Currently, 98% of
banking transactions are conducted via the
internet. With every bank account comes the
option to use internet banking.
Internet banking is safe, since identification
is verified via an ID card or the aid of a mobile
telephone-ID system, both many times more
secure than the popular password card system,
which Estonia still currently has in parallel use.
e-Ticket
Only tourists buy paper tickets on Estonia’s
capital city’s public transportation system. Locals
buy their bus tickets via the internet and their
virtual ticket is registered in their personal ID
card, which can be checked with a reader carried
by conductors.
ct Paper tickets
ets have
h been almost
b
completely
commpletelyy cconsigned dustbin of history.
signed to the du
Nature Online
It isn’t only state bureaus which are accessible via
the web: nature is, as well. Web cameras placed
at the feeding sites of wild animals eating or at
nesting locations of birds are extremely popular.
In addition to bringing nature closer to city
dwellers, the cameras have helped apprehend
“nature hooligans” who enter the forest for the
purpose of disturbing animals and birds.
www.looduskalender.ee
Historical Heritage
Estonia doesn’t limit the preservation of its
cultural heritage by simply digitally scanning
newspapers. For years now, state museums have
digitally registered their inventory. Also, church
books dating to the 18th century have been
digitized so that everyone with an interest may
trace his genealogy up to the Middle Ages. State
archive materials are also available via the web,
which means that serious investigative work
doesn’t require a trip to the capital. Thanks to
the internet, cultural heritage is also accessible
24 hours a day.
www.ra.ee

www.pil
w
www.pilet.ee
wwww

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E-STATE
e-Government and
e-Parliament
Estonians have always been practical people.
Why waste paper when you can go without? This
practicality is the root of the electronic aspects
of Estonia’s government. An information system
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for sessions of government has functioned
since 2000, and since that time it has not been
necessary for ministers to arrive with multiple
satchels stuffed with documents. The system
aids more than ministers, of course. Officials
have access to databases in order to familiarize
themselves with material, as well as to offer
their opinions before an active session. This has
reduced the formal decision-making process
from the original four or five hours, to only 30
to 90 minutes, leaving the ministers much more
time for the discussion of critical issues. Via the
database, decisions are recorded in writing and
may be followed in real time.
Much of parliament’s work has moved to
the internet, as well. Parliament sessions can
be followed in real time on the parliament’s
homepage, and stenographic minutes are
posted the next day, at latest. The parliament’s
homepage and commission minutes match
 exactly. Through the e-justice information
system, bills may be viewed in all their earlier
forms as they move through the ministries. Via
the internet, an interested party can very closely
follow the process of creating laws.
In Estonia, state institutions’ document registers
are also open. This provides transparency
in government and aids in the reduction
of corruption, since every move leaves a
documented mark.
Also, Tallinn’s City Council works along the same
lines as parliament – all council sessions can be
followed online, and city legislation and other
documents are available on the homepage.
www.valitsus.ee
www.riigikogu.ee
e-Elections
Since 2005, everyone in Estonia has had the
opportunity to vote electronically via the internet.
Using an ID card, a voter may cast his vote from
his home or even while travelling abroad. Held
a few days before the paper balloting process,
e-voting is the most comfortable way to vote.
An ID card and PIN code establish the voter’s
identity, but the vote remains anonymous, since
immediately after voting the vote is separated
from the voter’s connecting digital signature. In
the pre-election stage, the voter is entitled to
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change his vote in the voting commission, by
voting in the traditional manner.
In the 2009 local elections, 104,413 voters used
the e-voting system, with 15.7% of votes cast
via internet. The number of e-votes and voter
turnout in recent elections indicates a positive
effect of the e-voting system on general voter
turnout.“
www.valimised.ee
The e-Citizen’s
e Citizen s
The e-Gover-
nance Academy
The e-Governance Academy is a non-profit
information society, development- and analysis
centre, with the goal to share Estonia’s experience
in the areas of e-government, e-democracy, and
information technology education. More than
700 individuals from 36 different nations have
come to learn, including representatives from
Canada, Japan, Georgia, India, Namibia, and
Pakistan.
Estonian experience and knowledge have
aided many nations to make their election
processes more transparent, democratic, and
less encumbered by bureaucracy.
www.ega.ee
 Electronical ID Card proven security, the state is able to provide so
many e-services.
The key to almost every innovative e-service
The presence of a united, national electronic
in Estonia is the electronical ID card — the
identification system facilitates an increasing
obligatory identification document which offers
number of e-services, since developers are
a wide range of uses. Inside this small document
not required to create a new authentication
is a chip, which holds information not only about
systems.
the card’s owner, but also two certificates, one
In addition to the ID card, the mobile ID is
of which is used to authenticate identity and
gaining popularity among users. The mobile ID
the second to render a digital signature. Thanks
uses the same infrastructure and is indeed an
to its security, the card is used in many web
extension of the mobile telephone world. To
environments where ID verification is needed.
use e-services, it is no longer necessary to carry
Internet banking, participation in e-elections,
plastic cards — PIN codes can be input directly
buying public transportation tickets, and
from a mobile telephone.
much more can be accomplished using the
electronical ID card.
The ID card is secure, since PIN codes are also
required for the card’s operation. The ID card
www.id.ee
meets the security requirements set by the
United States Department of Defence, and
similar technologies are used in banks and
other entities where identification is of critical The Estonian company GuardTime developed
importance. the solution which ensures digital documents
In Estonia, the ID card is the key to electronic cannot be altered via special codes impossible
communication between the state and the to forge. Their solution is being used in several
citizen. State services are obtainable through international organizations.
the help of the ID card, and thanks to the card’s

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 Digital Signature emergence of development monopolies,
since the state is not dependent on any single
A completely paper-free work culture is
developer. This improves competition within
predicated on the ability to sign documents
the country but also guarantees the existence
digitally. This is done with the aid of the ID card.
of multiple, high-capability IT companies in the
Legally speaking, a digital signature does not
country.
differ from a signature on paper and both carry
the same judicial weight.
For example, when forming a company, all
Secure e- and Legal
documents can be signed digitally. It is not Environments
possible to copy a digital signature, and a stolen Estonia’s e-services are regulated by legislation
digital signature is invalid without the correct and are in accordance with database security
codes. regulations. Estonian laws give e-transactions
equal status with paper transactions. A digital
The X-road signature is legally identical to one on paper.
The abuse of electronic identity is punishable
The majority who use ID cards on the internet
by law. The protection of personal data in the
are unaware that the transaction is connected
fulfilment of doing work in the public sphere
to multiple databases — it appears as a single
and other e-government directives have been
database for the sake of user comfort. Since the
carried into Estonian law.
beginning, Estonia has had the goal of avoiding
The keeping of electronic information and
the creation of a single nationwide mammoth
its use are regulated by several different laws.
database. In place of this, a technology called
State institutional use of databases is carefully
the X-road has been developed, which enables
monitored via a log book which records public
cross-usage of different institutions’ databases in
officials entering the database, as well as the
a single portal.
information they accessed, which helps in the
This modular construction is effective, since
evaluation of whether the search was justified.
no single critical point exists which might
compromise the entire system. A breach in one
system does not endanger others.
The X-road also helps Estonia avoid the

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TECHNOLOGY
AND
ACCESSIBILITY
Connections Abroad
Estonia’s location at the crossroads of
Scandinavia, Europe, and Russia is favourable
not only logistically, but also when it comes
to information technology. Estonian service
providers are directly connected to many
16
European and Scandinavian states, and despite
its small size, the complete paralysis of Estonia’s
internet connection is virtually impossible due to
multiple duplication of access channels. Estonia
has equally fast connections to Scandinavia,
Russia, and the rest of Europe.
Connection and User
Statistics
The internet is an obvious tool that every
Estonian recognises. Of the population aged 16-
74, a full 74% take advantage of it, and 63% of
Estonian homes have connections. Only 2% of
internet users use dial-up connections. Internet
is available in all schools and libraries. 97% of
businesses use computers on a daily basis, and
99% of these use the internet. 66% of businesses
have a homepage. 40% of businesses choose to
 receive e-invoices, and 30% of businesses issue
them. The GPS-based digital mapping system produced
In Estonia, there is not a significant difference in by the company Regio is in use in both western
internet users’ sex, education, place of dwelling. and eastern Europe. Services provided under the
Whether in the countryside or city, two-thirds name Reach-U are used by many nation’s mobile
service providers.
of men and women use the internet. More
than 60% of new companies are created via the
e-business register on the internet.

Mobile Applications
Mobile Signals and Use of electronic services does not always require

Wireless Internet a computer. A mobile telephone often suffices.

M-parking is popular, and registration and
Estonia is completely covered by three mobile payment may be done via a mobile telephone.
network service providers. All the operators The m-ticket service enables the purchase
offer internet connections, and in larger towns of tickets on public transport without cash.
and cities at least a 3G connection is available. Through a mobile phone it’s possible to buy
Additionally, internet via radio frequencies is theatre tickets and pay at the grocery store.
available throughout the country. Of Estonia’s m-services developed in Estonia have been
45,000 square kilometres, there are more than successfully applied in other countries, as well.
1,140 publicly registered wireless internet
points, most of which are available without cost.
It is difficult to find a cafe or restaurant without EstWin
free, wireless internet, and the majority of local The state-funded development project EstWin’s
governments are also covered by wireless. It’s
g goal is to build a new generation broadband
difficult
cult to find
cu find a place
plac
p in Estonia where the network which would reach every Estonian
internet
inter rnet does
d not reach. Even
E en under
Eve un the most resident by the year 2015 with connection
extreme
exxtre
reme circumstances
c it’s only
o a few hundred speeds up to 100Mbit/s.
metres
met
m etres to signal.
o the nearest signa al.

www.wifi.ee
w
ww www.elasa.ee

17

CONCLUSION
Many important
imp and fundamental innovations
in e-Estonia
e-Esto have already been accomplished,
but easin
easing up after establishing momentum is
out of the
th question. In an information society,
everythin
everything changes so quickly that a bystander
is quickly trailing in the dust. Significant projects
continue, including EstWin, a commitment to
provide eevery person and every institution in
the count
country with an internet connection of 100
Mbit/s by the year 2015. Also in the works is the
full applic
application of our digital healthcare system.
And there is the daily work of keeping the existing
system o of e-services up-to-date, simplifying it,
and makin
making it increasingly user-friendly.
Now is the time to raise the important question –
what is the role of the state and local governments
in Estonia’s e-universe? Can and should we change
the state’s administrative system as a whole, in
order to take the e-state to a new level?
Or how far, in general, should we allow e-features
to enter our lives? Should every freezer be
equipped with a device that sends the owner a
text message when the food’s “best by” date has
expired? Or should we attach a transmitter to
every Estonian tree and animal to offer the world’s
scientists a unique opportunity to monitor via
internet the condition of one country’s natural
environment? Or should Estonia be the first
nation in the world where pensioners and high-
18
risk patients are fitted with online-transmitters,
where doctors automatically receive bulletins
about their patients’ well being, omitting the
need for patients to spend a day queuing at the
clinic? Perhaps Estonia could be the first nation in
the world to rid itself of thousands of kilograms of
textbooks, and replace them with a lightweight
e-reader such as an Apple iPad, or one of its
successors?
This is all in the future, and Estonia intends to be
at the vanguard of developments in every case.
It is Estonia’s policy to continue as an innovative
and fast-developing nation. Businesses, whose
goal is to find new, innovative solutions and new
approaches to old problems, will find Estonia
an attractive place. Like Skype Estonia’s chief
Sten Tamkivi has said, we already possess the
technological competence and IT-favourable
environment, and our only intention is to improve
them.
Why not come to Estonia and, together with
us, bring progressive plans to fruition. We offer
ideas, experience, a highly-educated, ambitious
workforce, and a government and society which
embrace innovation at every level.
Welcome to e
e-Estonia!
Eston
nia!
ia!
Estonian Association of Information Techno-
logy and Telecommunications
www.itl.ee
www.wifi
w ww.wi
w.wiifi.e
.ee
ee
19
 CONTACT
Enterprise Estonia
Lasnamäe 2, Tallinn 11412, Estonia
Telephone: +372 6279700
Fax: +372 6279701
info@eas.ee

www.estonia.eu
www.investinestonia.com
www.tradewithestonia.com
www.visitestonia.com

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