Digital Government podcast: Recent Episodes
e-Governance Academy
Welcome to e-Governance Academy’s podcast to discover the future of governance. e-Governance Academy has assisted digital transformation globally in more than 130 countries. Our experts will share their insights and worldwide examples on how digital technology could benefit every society. Tune in for the digital government podcast every Wednesday!
At this year's Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School, one question kept coming up: how can international cyber agreements move beyond diplomatic language and translate into real action?
The question is particularly timely as the United Nations Global Mechanism prepares for its upcoming meeting in New York this July, an important milestone for the permanent UN process on responsible state behaviour in cyberspace.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, recorded during the Summer School, Patryk Pawlak speaks with H.E. Ambassador Egriselda López, Chair of the UN Global Mechanism, about what comes next for cyber diplomacy at the United Nations.
Together, they discuss how implementation can become more action-oriented, why capacity building is essential for meaningful ownership, and how governments, experts, and technical communities can work together to make the mechanism effective in practice.
Listen to the episode to learn why turning commitments into action matters now more than ever.
The last time Ott Velsberg appeared on this podcast was early 2022. Popular LLMs had not yet been released. The conversation was about how AI could support data-driven decision-making in government – a topic that felt, at the time, more prospective than operational.
Four years on, with Estonia counting over 220 public sector AI use cases and close to 60 million euros in estimated annual impact, the frame has shifted. So, it is now less about what AI in government could look like and more about what it has taken to get there.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, Ott Velsberg, outgoing Chief Data Officer of the Estonian government and responsible for Estonia's AI policy, tells us about the path from strategy to working infrastructure. And the long institutional work that makes it possible to coexist with both consent-based data sharing and AI adoption at scale.
When governments across Europe try to modernise, the challenge is rarely that they lack ambition or resources. More often, what is missing is the space to think carefully before acting – to understand what the actual problem is, what has already been tried elsewhere, and who inside the administration will need to carry the change forward.
The European Union’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) was built around exactly that gap: not funding, but structured expert support, delivered at the moment when a reform is still being designed.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, recorded around Europe Day, we speak with Florian Hauser, Deputy Head of Unit for Public Administration at SG REFORM – the European Commission’s Task Force for reforms and investment – and with Hannes Astok, Executive Director of the e-Governance Academy (eGA), which has been working closely with the TSI across a growing portfolio of themes in recent years.
Explore the European Union’s approach to reform support and what it actually takes to make them work. Tune in!
Thirty years ago, Estonia launched Tiger Leap, a programme that put computers and internet in every school and, in many ways, laid the groundwork for a digital society what we have known to call e-Estonia. Today, the country is attempting something just as ambitious with artificial intelligence (AI) in education. But the conditions are different this time.
When Tiger Leap started in 1996, neither the schools nor the students had the technology – everybody had to learn together. Now, the asymmetry runs the other way: the students have leaped, while the education system is catching up.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, Ivo Visak, CEO of AI Leap (TI-Hüpe), the national programme integrating artificial intelligence into Estonian high schools, Visak makes the case for why treating AI in schools as an intervention rather than an experiment is the only responsible path forward.
Tune in to explore the Estonian path in implementing AI in education!
Governments are racing to adopt AI in public services. EU-funded projects show the pace is only accelerating. But this push raises a deeper question: what lies beneath? Too often, the answer is the same – weak or uneven digital foundations.
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) can help integrate and connect siloed systems into a coherent digital government platform. So, where does it stand globally, as an enabler of AI development? What makes it work? And why does it matter more than ever for AI adoption? We explored these questions on this episode of the Digital Government Podcast with Krisstina Rao, now at Co-Develop, and outgoing Research Fellow at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London (UCL), where she led the work on the Digital Public Infrastructure Map.
Listen now and explore what’s really powering AI-enabled public services behind the scenes!
This podcast and podcast blog were produced within the project “EU Commission Project (24ES06/24DE33): Supporting regional entrepreneurship through the adoption of innovative technologies, including AI, in public services” with the financial assistance of the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument. The views expressed by the speakers in the project video are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
Leadership in the public sector has always demanded resilience. This is best exemplified by three elements: 1) the ability to hold long-term vision steady while reacting to short-term pressures, 2) to build consensus across institutions that do not naturally cooperate, and 3) to keep an organisation moving when the ground shifts beneath it. Digital transformation has sharpened all of these demands. The leaders steering this process need more than technical knowledge. They need self-awareness, the capacity to build the team and trust it, and the judgment to know when a crisis is also an opportunity.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, hosted by Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, we hear from Taimar Peterkop – former State Secretary of Estonia, former Director General of the Information System Authority, and now Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy. Drawing on over two decades at some of Estonia's most consequential institutions, Peterkop shares practical wisdom on what it takes to lead through change and crisis – with honesty and without pretending to have all the answers.
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Following Estonia’s example, Ukraine is launching a Personal Data Access Monitoring Subsystem embedded in Trembita, the government’s secure data exchange platform. The mechanism allows every Ukrainian to see who accessed their personal data stored in government registers.
In this episode we host Yurii Kopytin, Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy, and Hannes Astok, our Executive Director, about what transparency means in practice in Ukraine and, on the side, in Estonia too.
Tune in!
The topic of data protection spans the entire spectrum of the internet, from when users surf the web to when they benefit from efficient online services as citizens.
Cookie banners, privacy policies, GDPR compliance notices – all and more. And yet, for how practical the concept and its implications are, it still remains quite abstract for many. The rules exist, across the globe, actually, but the reality of what happens to your data most often stays invisible.
Estonia has taken a different approach. Through the Data Tracker, every Estonian citizen can log in and clearly see who has accessed their personal data in government registers, when it was accessed, and for what purpose.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we speak with Maarja Kirss, Head of Cooperation at the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (DPI), about what happens when transparency becomes a working system for the government.
Dive in!
We sit down with Eeva Hellström, Senior Lead in Foresight and Training at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, to explore one of today’s most urgent questions: how do we value what we cannot see?
Eeva explains why traditional economic models overlook the “invisible” factors that increasingly shape our economies. And why failing to recognise them leaves policymakers with critical blind spots.
We discuss:
✅ Why digital transformation shouldn’t be measured only by short-term ROI.
✅ The environmental and social costs of we rarely consider.
✅ What “post-growth” means for high-income countries.
✅ Why governments need new indicators of well-being and long-term public value.
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In this episode, governance expert Margus Sarapuu cuts through one of the biggest myths in government transformation: that digitalisation and public administration reform can happen separately. Spoiler: they can’t.
From Estonia and Ukraine to Moldova, Bangladesh, and Kosovo, Sarapuu shares why digital reforms often stall and how governments can avoid the trap of layering shiny tech on top of unreformed bureaucracy.
If you’re looking at how to build resilient, future-proof governance systems, this episode is a must-listen.
Tune in now and join the conversation about what it really takes to make government work in the digital age.
Governments worldwide are eager to harness AI — yet many remain stronger on ambition than readiness.
In this episode, “The Learning Curve for Effective AI in Government,” we talk with Piret Hirv, Head of the Data Management Competence Centre at the e-Governance Academy, about what it takes to turn AI pilots into lasting impact in public services.
We also speak with Oscar Del Campo Barxias, Deputy Director General for Entrepreneurship of the Community of Madrid, who shares the lessons learned for implementing AI in public services in the Madrid region.
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In this podcast episode with Dr. Lili Milani, Head of the Estonian Biobank and Professor of Pharmacogenomics at the University of Tartu, we discuss how Estonia’s national biobank has become a trusted platform where science, ethics, and personal agency meet.
The Estonian Biobank began as a research initiative focused on the genetics of disease, but over time, its purpose has deepened and broadened.
“The original goal was to understand how genes relate to diseases so we could improve care,” Milani explains. As more participants joined and the scope of available data expanded, the Biobank grew into a national tool for real, tangible benefits to people’s personal lives.
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Two decades ago, Estonia made democratic history. In 2005, it became the first country to hold legally binding national elections using internet voting.
At the time, it was a bold and technically complex initiative. But twenty years later, i-voting has not only endured – it has grown to become the preferred method for a majority of Estonian voters.
What can we learn from this story of digital continuity? In this podcast episode, Liia Hänni, digital democracy expert and former Estonian Minister, and Arne Koitmäe, Head of Estonia's State Electoral Office, take us through a journey in retrospect – without forgetting to look ahead.
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When cybersecurity becomes a national and societal priority, the challenge for governments is to ensure relevant messages resonate broadly, are easily understood, and are culturally meaningful.
This means going beyond technical language or one-size-fits-all solutions, and instead working with local trends, social dynamics, and communication habits that shape how citizens engage with digital risks.
In this podcast episode, Rica Williams, Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy, and Moldovan journalist Svetlana Gore share how Moldova is turning digital safety into a whole-of-society conversation.
Capitalising on all resources available, Moldova embraced creative and community-based strategies to embed cybersecurity into public life – with approaches ranging from digital street interviews to campaigns on public transport.
Tune in!
Can Europe really reclaim control over its digital destiny, or dependency on foreign tech giants looms ahead?
Global power structures, trade, and value chains are being reshaped – today. And with reliance on foreign digital infrastructure running deep, Europe is at a crossroads.
Paul Timmers, outgoing Chairman of e-Governance Academy and Visiting Professor at KU Leuven, joins us in this Podcast episode to discuss why EuroStack might just be the answer Europe needs.
At its core, EuroStack stands for a simple but powerful idea: Europe should be able to rely on itself when it matters most. But, as Timmers quickly points out, that doesn't mean shutting others out.
“It’s not protectionism. Rather, we need to address the critical dependencies we have, and ensure we keep a say in shaping our digital future.”
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Montenegro’s digital journey has been one of deliberate reconstruction and collaboration. In 2022, a major cyberattack exposed critical gaps in the country’s digital infrastructure.
The experience sent shockwaves through Montenegro’s public administration and made it abundantly clear that preparedness on paper does not equal resilience in reality.
Instead of responding with short-term fixes, public institutions focused on long-term change. They initiated a wide-ranging transformation, strengthening cyber capabilities, forming new partnerships, and prioritising resilience not as an end goal, but as an everyday practice.
In this podcast episode, we take a privileged look at what that transformation felt like from the inside with Dušan Polović, Director General for Infrastructure, Information Security, Digitalisation and e-Services at the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro, and Milan Sekuloski, Senior Cybersecurity Expert at the e-Governance Academy.
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Bureaucracy – everybody’s favourite colleague. A structure that ensures governance, compliance, and stability, however, at the cost of efficiency and agility.
Is bureaucracy a necessary evil? No need to wonder anymore, in this episode of the Podcast with Margus Sarapuu, Senior Expert at e-Governance Academy.
Seasoned in public sector innovation, he comes from the recent experience with Estonia's Zero Bureacracy initiative, within a wider framework of real-time economy plans taking place across the EU.
We shed light on how digital transformation can help governments cut red tape, enhance efficiency, and drive economic growth by addressing the details that matter. However, this also highlights the differences across the globe in how this is done.
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When catastrophic floods struck Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul in May 2024, the devastation was swift and far-reaching. Nearly 200 lives were lost, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and critical infrastructure - from roads to water systems - was brought to a standstill.
But in the eye of the storm, something else emerged: a remarkable story of how digital governance can respond to climate disaster.
In this podcast episode, we feature Gabriel Souza, Vice Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, who recounts how the regional government responded with digital adaptation, coordinated leadership, and institutional learning in the face of unprecedented crisis.
“We really innovated a lot,” he notes, reflecting on the urgency and innovation that emerged from the chaos. “We created a myriad of tools that are now part of the legacy of the crisis,” resulting from on-the-ground creativity under pressure.
A vivid example of how data, public trust, and agile governance structures can converge in a time of disaster to deliver solutions and reshape the future.
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Ukraine’s digital transformation is a masterclass in the power of purpose-driven leadership amidst adversity, where resilience and clarity of vision have turned crisis into opportunity. More than simply the evolution of services or infrastructure, the country’s experience is rooted in reimagining how a state serves its citizens under extraordinary circumstances.
Facing systemic challenges, a full-scale military invasion by Russia, and economic strain, Ukraine pushed forward, proving that digital governance too can contribute to upholding the core values of protecting sovereignty and democracy.
In many ways and for many reasons, this is a special episode. Valeriya Ionan, Advisor to the Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Hannes Astok, Executive Director of e-Governance Academy, dissect the remarkable trajectory that has seen Ukraine move from fragmented governance to championing digital resilience. All the while strengthening Ukraine's European aspirations, amplifying public trust, and much, much more through an era defined by uncertainty and rapid change.
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At the Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School this year, an idea resonated across sessions: our digital world is entwined into the fabric of society, influencing our security, values, and future prosperity.
In this podcast episode, we sat down for a conversation on technology, diplomacy and values withJohanna Weaver, Executive Director of the Tech Policy Design Institute, Australia. She offers a perspective that breaks away from technicism and focuses on what matters down the line – how can we embed fairness, trust, and resilience into the technologies we create?
"Diplomacy in the digital age is no longer optional," Weaver says, making clear that our choices today will define the digital world of the future. The introduction of values into digital systems starts at the design stage and must be reinforced through policy, education, and diplomacy. What we decide today will shape the face and substance of technology tomorrow. T
une in!
In cyberspace, borders are invisible, but the consequences are very real. As states continue integrating digital tools into national defence, diplomacy, and daily governance, the question of how international law applies to this domain has become increasingly urgent.
The Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School sharpens this conversation with sessions that this year include speakers Liis Vihul, CEO of Cyber Law International, and Agnes Kasper, Head of the Law Branch at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).
So, we brought them together. In this second instalment of our dedicated podcast mini-series to the Cyber Diplomacy fest taking place in Tallinn, we dug deep into what makes momentum grow among countries to shape and publish national positions on international law in cyberspace, with all the complexity, ambiguity, and realpolitik that surround this effort laid bare too.
AI governance is under pressure to match the speed and reach of artificial intelligence as it reshapes economies, political systems, and cultural norms. No longer a future concern, AI is a present force demanding immediate and coordinated responses. In this introductory episode to this year's Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School, we do just that with Lucia Velasco, AI Policy Lead at the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies.
Velasco says navigating geopolitical tensions and aligning regulatory practices requires a distinctive and urgent approach. And AI governance is about far more than legal frameworks. "Governance is not just regulation," she points out. "It's the framework that helps ensure AI is developed and used in fair, safe, and ultimately beneficial ways."
The call is for an anticipatory governance model that is not responsive. It should be capable of shaping AI's trajectory before its effects become unmanageable.
The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in to find out more!
Indermit Gill is the Chief Economist of the World Bank and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. Let’s start from there, proud as we are to have hosted his keynote at this year’s e-Governance Conference.
Known for his pioneering research and policy influence, Gill introduced the idea of the "middle-income trap" – a concept that continues to shape how nations approach economic transformation in the digital era. Something that strongly resonated with many of the conference participants, who felt it captured the challenges and hopes facing countries transitioning through digitalisation (as they made sure to let us know).
And just after his speech set the tone and the tempo for the entire event to follow, we sat down with him for a conversation about the hard realities of long-term reform and the public role in innovation. Throughout, Gill was clear: getting out of the middle-income trap isn’t about copying past models, but making digital transformation serve people. And enable institutions to keep pace with ambition.
Country representatives are grappling with how to turn digital transformation into genuine development. Their questions echo the message that digital tools alone are not enough. Dig in to find out, in this XL-sized episode, why meaningful change requires building the institutional capacity to integrate, govern, and innovate.
Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility that requires strong partnerships between governments and businesses. Governments, therefore, face the challenge of adapting to a world where – in the cyber domain – the state is not the sole provider of intelligence or security, and private sector emerges as a cyber intelligence actor.
In this Podcast episode, eGA’s Head of Cybersecurity Merle Maigre speaks with Jack McCurley, a senior intelligence consultant at Recorded Future, about what it takes to build national resilience when the threats are global and decentralised. “Threat actors are networked. If defenders aren’t, we’re already behind,” he says.
A first look, here, into the tools and public-private cooperation in cyber threat intelligence sharing reshaping cybersecurity from the inside out. All in anticipation of the e-Governance Conference 2025 session on public-private partnerships on the matter, where today’s speakers will be joined by Liga Raita Rozentale and Nerses Yeritsyan to discuss how shared responsibility can be turned into shared defence.
The EU’s Digital Decade 2030 agenda lays out an ambitious vision: a digitally skilled population, secure and sustainable infrastructure, modernised public services, and a thriving digital business environment. But how do we get there in a way that is concrete, practical, and scalable?
In this Digital Government Podcast episode, we sat down with Federico Menna, CEO of EIT Digital and the keynote speaker of the e-Governance Conference 2025. With a background spanning both telecom innovation and pan-European tech investment, Menna brings a dual perspective. And his message is clear: Europe must lead through strategic digital investment rooted in public value, ecosystem cohesion, and global competitiveness.
Artificial intelligence is moving into the mainstream of government and industry, and with it comes new responsibilities. Mapping today’s AI landscape, then, means looking into the behavioural shifts it triggers, the governance frameworks it demands, and the global power dynamics it reshuffles.
In this Digital Government Podcast episode we’re joined by Matthew Blakemore, CEO of AI Caramba! and a leading architect behind the ISO/IEC 8183 international AI standard. Known for bridging cutting-edge innovation with public value, Blakemore has helped shape global conversations on AI data governance, ethical deployment, and public sector readiness.
In preparation for his keynote at the e-Governance Conference 2025, we draw from practical frameworks and his experience advising governments and media networks to explore how to govern AI with clarity, caution, and intention. Well before algorithms outpace the institutions meant to oversee them.
What does it mean to lead digital transformation when the stakes are high, and the playbook is being written in real time? Statesmanship shines in this Digital Government Podcast episode with Taimar Peterkop, Estonia’s former State Secretary now with e-Governance Academy, and one of the architects behind the country’s acclaimed digital governance model.
From navigating the 2017 ID-card crisis, to coordinating national responses during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Peterkop brings front-row insight into the real-world meaning of purposeful leadership.
While governments worldwide keep evolving and adapting to new ways of rolling out public services, Ukraine – even faced with a full-scale military aggression – offers a compelling example of how savvy transformation processes can bring services closer to people. Here is where the Digital Competence Centre (DCC)/ Центр цифрових компетенцій steps in, as a hub for the development, standardisation, and optimisation of Ukraine’s public digital services.
Two guests join us in this episode to illustrate how it all comes together. Iryna Zabolotna, Head of the Department for the Implementation of Electronic Services at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Mykhailo Kornieiev, Senior Expert on Information Technology at the e-Governance Academy (eGA).
Methodology, challenges, and impact of digital service development in Ukraine – get a hold of the progress made, and the valuable lessons that may help governments worldwide improve their service delivery.
There’s motion in the Caribbean region. The area is known for its constant movement of people, businesses, and services across national borders. Whether for work, trade, or social reasons, citizens routinely engage in cross-border exchanges. Interoperability, as a consequence, becomes a prerequisite and enabler of these (and further) exchanges.
Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and Heiko Vainsalu, Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy, join us in this podcast episode to explore how facilitating such exchange extends beyond matters of technology. Rather, it is a natural step to translate existing patterns of movement and collaboration into the digital space.
Once past the first point of emergency, integration into a new society is not limited to finding – as basic as the need is – only a safe place to live. It’s also about access to services, employment, and a sense of community, too. For many Ukrainians who relocated to Estonia following the full-scale war launched by Russia, digital skills can be the key to more easily addressing the needs of this new reality.
The DEUCE project, led by the e-Governance Academy and funded by the U.S. Department of State, has done great in supporting this transition by empowering Ukrainian refugees with digital skills, strengthening their self-sufficiency, and training community resilience.
At the heart of the initiative are “digital envoys” – volunteers, trained to help fellow community members better engage with Estonia’s digital society. Through targeted mini-projects, including tools to prevent scams, improve access to local services, and enhance job market readiness, we explore what digital inclusion encompasses with Dmytro Khutkyy, Expert in Governance & Engagement at e-Governance Academy, and DEUCE digital envoy Olena Denysenko, also Analyst in Political Studies at Tartu University.
Digital transformation has long by now been a cornerstone of modern governance, reshaping how societies function and how services are delivered. How often, though, does the conversation evolve beyond efficiency gains and automation?
In this special episode, Kristina Mänd, Programme Director of the e-Governance Conference 2025, joins us to explore:
🔹 How digital investments can contribute to long-term economic development
🔹 Why governments must shift their focus from efficiency to impact
🔹 The role of public-private partnerships in building sustainable digital solutions
🔹 How to measure the true success of digital transformation
Under the theme “From Bytes to Benefits: Raising Prosperity Through Digital Transformation”, e-Governance Conference 2025 (May 28–29) challenges policymakers and digital leaders to think bigger, ensuring that technology creates real value for citizens, businesses, and governments alike.
Tune in now for an exclusive preview of the big conversations shaping the future of digital governance! And after listening, be sure to join us for dynamic discussions, and hands-on workshops at the e-Governance Conference!
Explore at egovconference.ee
It is no mystery that the search for IT professionals to join the public sector’s ranks has come to be a full-fledged quest. Yet, next to being a challenge to address, it opens up opportunities for organisational growth, and also – perhaps – a few ways to rethink work.
On the table, there should be a real understanding of people’s wishes and expectations from work. Next to that, public administrations should considerately present potential prospects of all value that comes from working in the public sector. Which means, for the community at large.
In this podcast episode, Kadi Kanarbik, Senior Expert at e-Governance Academy outlines what makes recruiting and retaining IT talent effective, and the value propositions that the public administration should never forget to highlight.
With cyber threats growing in sophistication and scale, organisations must rethink their strategies to safeguard digital assets and operational continuity. Security Operations Centers (SOCs) stand at the forefront of this effort, acting as centralised hubs where cybersecurity professionals monitor, manage, and mitigate threats.
The rise in cyber threats – estimated to have grown by 25% annually over the past half-decade – has amplified the importance of SOCs. In this podcast hosted by Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, Margus Vaino and Martin Paas from Telia discuss the evolution, challenges, and opportunities surrounding SOCs – from the point of view of a major telecommunications player.
Acknowledging the rising importance of SOCs is only the beginning: the increasing complexity of cyber threats, and the essential steps required to build and sustain effective cybersecurity infrastructures, are all part of the roadmap to effective cyber defence.
The AI reckoning is here, and that’s not just based on announcements and latest releases from top corporate actors in the field. Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how governments serve their citizens, making processes more efficient, policies more targeted, and economies more dynamic.
Among experts, few understand this transformation better than Luukas Ilves, former Chief Information Officer of Estonia, and now Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. You may find him where innovation is.
Drawing from his experience in two nations that are widely acknowledged as digitally advanced, he presents a compelling view of AI's transformative potential in governance. The challenges it brings, the practical steps needed to realise its promise – in this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we do a deep dive into what the future holds for governments approaching AI.
Awareness of the benefits of digital transformation is increasing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as it is collaboration with international entities to drive projects forward. Year by year, this is laying down pathways for a more connected and inclusive digital government, with tangible benefits for the population and the economic area as a whole.
Miguel Porrúa, Lead Specialist on Digital Government at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), sat down with us to share some valuable insight into the evolution of digital government across LAC. Picking up on the post-pandemic momentum is essential to keep the ball rolling in the region. But all development projects and new initiatives must be tailored to local, national needs, and the key topics in governments’ focus across the area.
It is a major step towards global digital integration, the one coming from Ukraine. The country recently launched its uResidency programme in September 2024. With that, the country aims to open up to international entrepreneurs who seek to establish and operate businesses in a vibrant digital economy. Without the need for physical presence – sound familiar?
Don’t call it an Estonian spin-off, though. Ukraine’s uResidency has its own winning features on considerably decreasing bureaucracy, taxation, and benefitting from all the country’s recent advancements in online services.
Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Andrii Piskun, Head of e-Services at e-Governance Academy in Ukraine, share insights on an initiative that welcomes the world into Ukraine’s digital sphere.
Estonia’s e-Residency program turns ten years old, and we join in the celebrations with a deep dive into what’s been, so far, a very exciting path. As one of the international golden children of Estonia’s digital and global economic policy, the e-Residency program has changed, evolved, and grown. In the digital space, ten years are no short time.
From government start-up, to world-known solution for digital entrepreneurs and location-independent workers. To explore the program’s journey, we sat down with Katrin Vaga, Head of Global Communication for e-Residency. Speaking milestones, tangible benefits of the initiative, and navigating as much global trends and cultural shifts.
As the fifth Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School currently taking place in Tallinn, attendees reflect on a year of diplomacy in cybersecurity. Some of them, too, having gone from participants to speakers. The program, organised annually, is designed to bridge theoretical understanding and hands-on experience in cyber diplomacy, and for Claudio Peguero and Alban Andreu, the Summer School has turned out to be a point of growth and community-building.
Claudio Peguero is Ambassador and Advisor on Cyber Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic. Alban Andreu, instead, Policy Officer in the Strategic Affairs and Cybersecurity Department of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
In this podcast episode, the two alumni-turned-speakers share their experience during and after the coursework, and how the previous year’s learnings played a role in their diplomatic work. Yet a testament to the Summer School’s role in shaping effective and adaptive cyber diplomacy leaders.
Can a group of Caribbean islands become the Estonia of the region, looked up to on digital transformation and service delivery? E. Jay Saunders thinks so – for both citizens and businesses. He is the former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, Investment, and Trade of the Turks and Caicos Islands. And at the 10th e-Governance Conference, by all rights took part in a panel on enlightened digital leadership.
In this episode, Saunders takes us through what digitalisation means for small countries in the area. Between breaking down barriers to better access digital markets, and providing citizens with a 24/7 experience of government that has nothing to envy from what they see in countries – on paper and volume of state revenue – with larger availability of resources and capital.
"2024 is the biggest election year in human history. Half of the world’s population – some 3.7 billion people – have the opportunity to vote this year across 72 countries.” So notes Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, on host duties for this podcast episode on securing elections.“Voting is at the very heart of democracy, making it vital that we safeguard the integrity of elections.” October, being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, provides the perfect backdrop to discuss these issues. Maigre is joined in the conversation by Priit Vinkel, Senior Expert at e-Governance Academy and former head of the State Electoral Office, and Tonu Tammer, former head of Estonia's CERT and Associated Expert of e-Governance Academy.
Elections are no longer solely about paper ballots and polling stations with sliding curtains. So what to look out for, in order to safeguard them in the digital era?
In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is advancing fast in digital development. A series of initiatives in the last ten years significantly brought the country forward in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. However, the transformation does not stop there.
With support from both the population and high-level decision-makers, digital leaders in the country have the opportunity (and full legitimacy) to look further ahead. Nuria Kutnaeva, Minister of Digital Development of Kyrgyzstan, tells us in this podcast episode where the country is at – and where it is headed next.
Digital advancements present us with numerous opportunities to move forward on the path toward more inclusive and democratic societies. That has been the case when tech-enabled social movements and civil society organisations to sprout, regroup, and act. However, the opposite holds true too – technology is agnostic, and supported by authoritarian or malicious intents, it can be used to threaten, surveil, and cancel out opposition.
Doug Rutzen, President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) and professor at Georgetown University, saw how this dualism unfolded throughout the past three decades. In this podcast episode, we discuss where we were and where we’re at. A wide-ranging conversation on including the Global South, safeguarding civic spaces, and advocating for the rule of justice (not just that of law).
Costa Rica has one Minister for four domains – science, innovation, technology, and telecommunications. It is Paula Bogantes Zamora, who joined us on stage at the latest e-Governance Conference 2024 for a panel on leadership in driving digital transformation.
Very fittingly so, as Costa Rica keeps advancing on its path towards effective and all-encompassing digital transformation. From healthcare to education, through digital identity and interoperability, a lot has been done already in the country.
Bogantes joins us for a chat on achievements, challenges, and future plans – during and beyond her term as Minister – in a small Central American country that keeps digitalisation at heart.
Digital governance, done right, calls for leaders and changemakers to be versed in a variety of spheres and domains. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, diplomacy, relations with societal stakeholders. In a way, that was to be expected – digital development and technological advancements accelerated global and international integration, of both markets and general trends, in the past thirty years.
All themes Paul Timmers, Research Fellow at Oxford University and Chairman of the Board at e-Governance Academy, has enthusiastically dived in in this podcast episode. An argued review of what awaits, how is Europe equipped to face the implications of technological dependence, and competition with other major international blocs.
Putting digital transformation to work for the benefit of society means taking an extra step, to Lacina Koné. The CEO of Smart Africa supports the idea that on the way from digital buzz to business success, efficient digital government can be key in attracting and retaining top talent and investments. On the path towards a digital Africa, though, a mix of deep-rooted challenges and bold steps to take awaits. Dive in this briefing on the state of digital transformation for business and society in Africa, with Lacina Koné, the CEO of Smart Africa.
Since years already, the Republic of Moldova has had to take measures to safeguard the integrity of its national cyberspace in the face of russian interference and aggression. In doing so, it has been supported by international partners and the European Union. But little would have been possible, without the effort and dedication of its civil servants.
It was our pleasure, then, to award the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation of Moldova as Partner of the Year 2024, at the latest e-Governance Conference and to speak to Alexandru Corețchi, Director of the IT and Cyber Security Service of the country, during the Conference days in Tartu.
In a heartfelt interview on our Podcast, he removes the lid on what national cybersecurity agencies did to keep Moldova’s online ecosystem safe and secure, and the necessity for continuing support to ensure the country’s independence – online too.
Digital frontiers are constantly reshaping the world, making digital diplomacy and public digital infrastructure critical areas of innovation and policy. Naturally, as governments navigate the complexities of fast-paced technological advancements that actively impact society, the need for a robust digital public infrastructure (DPI) and the effective use of digital public goods (DPG) becomes crucial.
In this last instalment of our Podcast before the upcoming e-Governance Conference 2024, we spoke to Nele Leosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs in the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The paths of digital progress and civic empowerment are tied and bound together, so how nations can benefit from sharing and re-using digital tools to enhance governance?
Digital public goods, digital public infrastructure and commons are shaping the digital societies of tomorrow. So the question is how can policymakers navigate the challenges of reusing, adopting, and scaling existing digital solutions and create synergies across national, European, and international digitalization initiatives to deliver effective digital public goods. The panel session at the upcoming e-Governance Conference 2024 will give the floor to Mr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Tiago Carneiro Peixoto, Coordinator for Digital Government Services at the World Bank to hear some examples and lessons. Join us at the e-Governance Conference on 22 May for discussion on “Uncovering the potential of digital public infrastructure”.
Digital landscapes, by default, evolve and expand beyond the borders of national cyberspaces. So it is natural that the paths of cybersecurity and geopolitics become increasingly intertwined. What countries cannot afford in this context, though, is to overlook roles and modes of countering effectively cyber threats.
On cybersecurity, the e-Governance Conference 2024 features a fireside chat between Andrew Grotto, seasoned expert and professor from Stanford University, and former White House advisor, and Merle Maigre, Head of Cybersecurity at eGA. In this podcast episode, the two introduce the upcoming session on protecting critical infrastructure, making sure responsibilities are clear, and deploying public-private partnerships for better strategies.
Some terms in the public discourse, despite filled with meaning and relevant concepts, somehow happen to not really take hold. The green transition, a necessity of our times to address, still it’s something that – here and there – could truly benefit from more support. That support can come from citizens, enabled to participate in more democratic decision-making processes, and from digital tools too, that favour and streamline such participation.
All in all, the end is still to achieve more inclusive and prosperous societies – which means, sustainable too. Kristina Reinsalu is a Senior Expert on Governance and Engagement at eGA, while Fabro Steibel is Executive Director of the Institute for Technology & Society (Brazil). In this intro episode to the e-Governance Conference 2024, we discuss how synergising digital and green transformations can supply more solutions to tackle pressing environmental problems.
Service design remains in focus at the e-Governance Conference – this year hosting a keynote by the former Director of Design for the UK Government, Lou Downe. The founder also of the School of Good Services, a design and consulting practice that resulted from the wide reach of their design principles, and the book ‘Good Services: How to Design Services that Work’.
A start in the arts, the switch to service design. To then set such standards and practices to create a community of designers committed to making good services. Many interesting things to unpack, in this introductory episode of the Digital Government Podcast. From the essence of services, through designing them all, to fostering a culture of innovation across government – dive in.
Interested in getting more insights into good service design? Join us at the e-Governance Conference on 22-23 May 2024! Check the programme and get your tickets at egovconference.ee
The European Union's AI Act is an initiative aimed at regulating the field of artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, March 13, the Parliament approved the regulation. It seeks to establish a legal framework for the use of AI, but also to position the EU at the forefront of global digital governance – at least on this aspect, and in this regard.
The approach is comprehensive, touching on a wide spectrum of applications, from low-risk to high-risk categories, tailoring regulatory requirements accordingly. Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, Adjunct Professor at TalTech and Associated Expert for e-Governance Academy, guides us through propositions and principles of the AI Act, and how the EU plans to move toward ensuring a thoughtful and ethical use of artificial intelligence. This podcast episode was recorded shortly previous to the approval of the EU AI Act.
The EU AI Act – principles, features, mission
“This is one of the first legal attempts by the EU to harmonise AI regulation across member states and protect against negative effects. The EU AI Act introduces a risk categorisation for AI, dividing it into categories based on the level of risk each poses. This approach dictates the level of regulation needed, focusing on what the technology does – rather than prescribing specific uses. It's a general but effective method to ensure that AI development aligns with European values and standards. But it's also a measure to protect consumers, users, people,” Nyman-Metcalf begins with.
The categorisation of AI systems into risk profiles is crucial here – in a range that goes from ‘minimal’ to ‘unacceptable’ risk. This risk-based approach allows for a regulatory framework that is fairly nuanced and can adapt to the diverse applications of AI, from consumer products to critical infrastructure. At the heart of the EU AI Act, after all, lies the ambition to safeguard European values and consumer rights while fostering a good environment for innovation. Thus, the Act's dual focus: preventing fragmentation of AI regulations among member states and ensuring user and consumer protection. With an eye on the EU’s internal market dynamics, and one on its global competitiveness.
Moreover, the establishment of an EU AI office is expected to guide member states on the matter. “The EU AI office is set to play a coordinating role, not just overseeing regulation at the member state level but also facilitating dialogue with the industry and civil society. This approach, more proactive than previous initiatives like GDPR, aims to involve all relevant stakeholders from the outset, ensuring that the AI Act is shaped by a wide range of insights and concerns,” Nyman-Metcalf explains.
- this podcast episode has been recorded shortly previous to the approval of the EU AI Act
Ukraine's journey towards digital transformation has been marked by significant achievements, notably through the development and implementation of Trembita, the nation’s data exchange layer, and the Diia app. These tools have revolutionised the way citizens interact with government services, making them more efficient, transparent, and accessible.
Zooming out, though, the context and circumstances within which this rapid development took place would make most of us go red. If there’s one – next to many more – story of unlocking digital success while taking a big leap among extreme hardships, digital transformation in Ukraine then ranks high on this chart.
Illya Rodin is the Chief Solutions Architect at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Oleh Burba is Component Leader of the EU4DigitalUA project and Senior Expert in Digital Architecture at e-Governance Academy. In this three-voice episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we delve into how Trembita and Diia complement each other, to provide Ukrainians with easy access to an ever-growing number of digital services. Tune in!
We find ourselves often saying that it is people, rather than technological tools, that make the digital transformation successful and effective. That holds true for what concerns listening to the needs of users, taking invaluable feedback, and returning to citizens with solutions that do actually fit their asks and necessities.
That holds true as well, though, when applied to managing teams, and leading them to goals set in plans and strategies. Public service delivery makes no exception in this sense – the essence of digital leadership lies as much in driving things forward, as in enabling teams to do that most organically.
Ingrid Toonekurg, recently appointed as a Member of the Management Board of e-Governance Academy, is no stranger to such practices. After years in sales management at large IT companies and a wealth of international experience, she joins eGA – and this podcast episode – to delve into the determinants of successful team management. In digital transformation too, indeed, listening to your team can be as valuable as listening to your end-users.
The e-Governance Conference reaches its tenth edition. In 2024, we mark a decade of digital dialogues – ten years through which topics and participants have become increasingly diverse, and the Conference established itself as a key appointment for practitioners worldwide.
This year, we invite you to unlock the secrets and key enablers of successful digital transformation. “Digital success leads to aware and competent societies that enjoy prosperity and openness. It involves a journey of continuous learning, committed national initiative, a systematic approach to the advancement of governance and regulations, smart technologies, enlightened leaders, and a competent community,” points out Kristina Mänd, Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy and Programme Director of the 2024 Conference.
People and their skills, modern technologies and their strategic selection, systematic processes and governance – all foundational elements to achieving digital success. In this podcast episode, Mänd highlights the core themes and speakers of this year’s Conference edition. And how we all deserve a moment to celebrate and acknowledge digital success, to move forward more conscious of our own strengths and capabilities.
Cybersecurity has been, undoubtedly, a dominant theme in last year’s digital governance discourse. The attention, and relevance, that cybersecurity increasingly enjoyed in the past years should be taken as a sign. As our life becomes increasingly digital, it is natural that more and more subdomains of it enter the scene too.
In this podcast episode, Elsa Neeme, Senior Expert on Cybersecurity at eGA, and Vitalie Varaniță, assisting activities in Moldova, tell us more about cyber laws’ role in the development of secure cyberspace. One of the topics in focus of the EU-funded Cybersecurity Rapid Assistance project taking place in the country.
How the cyber legislation benefit to safer cyberspace? What needs to be kept in mind when creating laws concerning cyberspace? What lessons can share Moldova after the launch of its first cybersecurity law? All of this and more, as we dissect with experts meanings and targets of taking action in cyber legislation.
Digital skills, collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors and governments are important in leading businesses into the digital era. We start the year with a strong vision and a focus on Europe, in light of the recently published DigitalEurope 2030 report. And we do so with Raido Lember, former CEO of the National Investment Promotion Agency of Estonia, right now consulting businesses independently and as eGA expert.
It is a strategy that goes beyond wishful thinking, or at least aims to do so. Of the many pillars to unpack, the government’s role as facilitator stands out. Of a more international reach for small and medium enterprises, of citizens empowered by savvy use of digital tools, of an increasing interconnection between national information systems.
In this podcast episode, Lember takes us on an insightful journey into future Europe – from where we stand today, towards an EU conscious of its digital potential, and what it takes to get there.
And here we are, at the end-of-year appointment with Hannes Astok, Executive Director and Chairman of e-Governance Academy (eGA) to take a look back at what 2023 meant for governments worldwide.
But also, we reflect on what the year meant for eGA. Through our projects and activities, we have once again had the pleasure – and duty – to work with an impressive number of countries, cultures, and various digital government ecosystems. Data quality, cybersecurity, and digital identity have been key themes in 2023. Looking ahead, whether it is about catching up, consolidating, or advancing, 2024 sure sports interesting trends for digital transformation practitioners.
Tune in!
“Digital skills feel like a superpower. Because if you can use computers and the internet, the world opens in front of you,” says Kristi Kivilo, Senior Expert in the Governance and Engagement unit of e-Governance Academy. And digital skills, indeed, are the perfect example of something rather small, but that may have a tremendous impact on people’s lives.
That holds true in rapidly growing countries, in nations tackling issues of digital and media literacy, or in the day-to-day with common cyber hygiene practices. Kristina Mänd, Senior Expert on Engagement at the e-Governance Academy holds the microphone, in this podcast episode, and joins as a host her colleague Kristi Kivilo. Together, they discuss the relevance of developing digital skills, how did that go in the past couple of decades, and what lies ahead.
The saying goes, that the weakest link in the chain of cybersecurity is people. But what about a change of perspective? People, instead, could be considered the first line in a cyber battlefield. An approach that signalled a change of mindset in Moldova, for example, within the ongoing EU-funded project on developing cybersecurity rapid assistance. Including citizens in the scope, next to technical development, to increase online safety.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, Rica Williams joins us to discuss the awareness-raising on cybersecurity. As an Expert and Communication Expert involved, from eGA’s side and that of local initiative (Digital Safety) Siguranța Digitală, we delve into what comes after disseminating valuable information, and some key tips to stay safe online.
Digital transformation of government in Central Asia, in this podcast episode, has the face of Kyrgyzstan. Almost a decade since the inception of the country’s first plans, public services are now available online for citizens, and data exchange is happening between government agencies.
Something Tõnis Mäe, Senior Expert of the Digital Architecture Competence Centre of e-Governance Academy, is rightfully proud of – and it shows. Fresh from his two-year tenure in Kyrgyzstan, we discuss with Mäe the country’s significant strides in digital transformation, and how digital evolution is progressing in the Central Asian nation.
Whether in population management, or more specific business processes and use cases, we can’t stress enough the significance of digital data quality. Because tidy registries equate to informed decision-making, and the possibility to build powerful tools and solutions on top of them.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we expand on how ensuring data quality might be an overlooked yet essential aspect of advancing digital transformation. And prepare governments for the next wave of data-hungry innovation – artificial intelligence and machine learning. Piret Saartee joins us to do just that, as the Head of the Competence Centre on Data and Services at the e-Governance Academy (eGA).
How long are two decades, when it comes to digital government? Well, very long – and with a lot of things happening. At least that is what it feels like, as the rapid pace of technological development presents governments with new opportunities, sure. But also, with challenges and risks, new elements to consider in strategy papers, and different ways of delivering services to citizens.
Arvo Ott has seen quite some things happen in this time span. First, as the first Government CIO of Estonia until the early 2000s; then, in his work for e-Governance Academy, where he is a Member of the Management Board. In conversation with Chairman Hannes Astok, we review how the task of managing digital transformation has changed throughout the years. In Estonia and beyond.
The past decade has seen digitalization efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean area ramp up rapidly. Development has been fast, but not homogenous. Differing approaches across countries have created a map of digitalization, so to say, that sees governments in the region excel at different things. So what’s the way forward, in such a rapidly moving landscape?
Carlos Vargas is an Expert at the Competence Centre for Government and Engagement of e-Governance Academy, currently based in Chile. In this episode, we explore with him the current status of digitalization in Latin America, and how diverse challenges and opportunities call for country-tailored approaches to propel digital development in the region.
Crucial distinctions exist between cybersecurity and cyber defence – even more so, at times when war and conflicts seem ever-present in news headlines from all around the globe. It is only fair, then, that governments look into enhancing their cyber defence capabilities and adapt plans and policy agendas to fit a constantly changing threat landscape.
Merle Maigre, Head of the Competence Centre on Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, joins us in this closing podcast of the cybersecurity month. We explore how war has already changed governments’ attitudes and priorities in national cyber defence strategies, and what international expertise can do to assist at-risk countries.
Times of digital love, those we live in – as Daft Punk stated too. Practically, the entire supply chain of romance has somehow been impacted by societal digital transformation. Instant messaging, dating apps. So why not take online as well all the boring bureaucratic steps that would lead to the “yes, I do”.
A podcast episode on love, war times, and digital services. All elements that coexist in the roll-out of the marriage application e-service, a reality in Estonia and now also in Ukraine. Tune in for peak digital romance tales with Ihor Podolskyi, Administrative Assistant, and Anton Yermakov, Communication Expert at the e-Governance Academy.
Podolskyi recently used the service first-hand, while Yermakov shed light on the ins and outs of making digital marriage application a reality in Ukraine.
October is cybersecurity month. Not that in the rest of the year we are not supposed to place the same attention to safeguarding our digital spaces – that needs to be constant, ever-present. But moments like this do help us highlight, and stress once more, the importance of cybersecurity as a cross-cutting component of digital development actions and strategies.
In this podcast episode, we do so by focusing on cybersecurity trainings – why do we need them, differences in skills and audiences, the salience of simulating real-life scenarios. With Merle Maigre, Director of the Cybersecurity at e-Governance Academy, and Aare Reintam, Chief Operating Officer of CybExer Technologies.
Civil society organizations (CSOs) are assuming growingly critical roles in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. These organizations act as intermediaries between citizens and governments, advocating for inclusive digital policies and services that cater to the needs of all.
In the Western Balkans, the ICEDA project aimed to foster and improve CSOs role and positioning in order to do just that. From shaping the digital agenda, to spreading a culture of cybersecurity and cyber hygiene. In conversation with Kristina Mänd, today’s host, Mila Josifovska Danilovska, Program Coordinator at the Metamorphosis Foundation from North Macedonia, tells us the ins and outs of this project.
The newly formed Competence Centre of e-Governance Academy on Governance and Engagement already has a track record of matching active citizenship with institutional dialogue, bringing citizens and administrations closer together.
But let’s zoom out for a moment. We have worked on improving the relationship between public service providers and users in Georgia, Ukraine, and many other countries worldwide. In what context and which direction, though, these developments took place more at large?
Dmytro Khutkyy, Expert at the Competence Centre and Research Fellow in Digital Governance at the University of Tartu, joins this podcast episode to do just that – draw the bigger picture, on latest trends in digital participation and civic engagement.
Changing trends in civic digital participation
Over the past decade, significant changes have occurred in the realm of civic digital participation. As Khutkyy notes, people are shifting from classic web-based platforms to social media for participation. While governments used to create dedicated participation platforms, citizens are now directly engaging with decision makers through more informal. "People use social media on an everyday basis, so sometimes they just reach politicians directly. This creates buzz around certain issues, and politicians take them into account," he explains.
Another notable trend is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into civic engagement. Municipal authorities and governments are starting to use AI tools to analyze popular sentiment and trends among citizens. AI can help structure and categorize these sentiments, providing valuable insights for policymakers. While this AI-driven approach is still in its infancy, it certainly holds great potential for the future of digital participation.
The relationship between democracy and participation
But we can’t talk about digital engagement without focusing on the connection between democracy and civic participation, too. The level of participation can vary significantly depending on a country's political context and regional factors. However, Khutkyy points out, some tools already worked better than others in getting citizens involved. Participatory budgeting has proven to be a powerful tool for local communities to influence policymaking, for example. "Participatory budgeting empowers citizens by involving them in the entire policymaking process, from generating ideas to monitoring and overseeing the results," he says. And this inclusive approach strengthens democracy at the local level.
Additionally, citizen assemblies make the chart as well, as a format of participation that has gained traction at the national or EU level. These assemblies allow citizens to deliberate and contribute to policymaking. Khutkyy believes that this format, when implemented effectively, can lead to substantial policy improvements and better democratic representation.
E-governance practitioners well know that the implementation of digital tools is essential, to enhance the provision and reach of public services. This applies across domains, from the most specific in user base to the more generalist ones. But innovation gains even further relevance when services matter to the entire population at large – in short when it comes to public goods.
Healthcare represents by full means one of these cases. And as of late, the e-Governance Academy features in its ranks an expert in this field.
Piret Hirv, Senior Expert in eGA’s Data and Services Competence Centre, joins this episode of the Digital Government Podcast to talk about her experience in the public and private sectors of healthcare, and how ICT – and understanding the needs of care – can improve healthcare provision for governments worldwide.
Digitalization is rapidly transforming democratic processes. Ensuring digital security, as a consequence, has become paramount for safeguarding free and fair elections. Countries in the Western Balkans have recognized the critical role of cybersecurity in preserving the integrity of democratic systems, but at what cost?
Repeated high-profile cyberattacks over the past year have underscored the urgency of adopting a well-structured approach to cybersecurity. The European Union (EU) has stepped in with its "Cybersecurity Rapid Response for Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia" project, implemented by the e-Governance Academy, to bolster cyber resilience in the region.
At the Tallinn Digital Summit, stakeholders and representatives involved in the project explored challenges and pillars in making the Western Balkan cyberspace more secure. Moderated by Merle Maigre, Head of eGA’s Competence Centre on Cybersecurity, we hear from Dušan Polović, the Head of Cybersecurity Department of Montenegro, Igli Tafa, General Director of the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security of Albania as well as Priit Vinkel, former Head of the Estonian State Electoral Office and e-Governance Academy Senior Expert about what it takes to learn, and bounce back, from cyber attacks.
Despite the war, despite the devastation. We saw it last year already, through the eyes and voices of e-Governance Academy’s team in Ukraine – digital transformation never stopped in the country. If anything, it picked up pace. In fact, in many ways, digital tools helped Ukrainians work and access public services despite the ongoing Russian invasion.
And another milestone has been reached in April. Ukraine has become the first non-EU country to see digital signatures of its businesses and citizens recognized by the European Union. Oleksandr Kozlov, Senior Expert on e-ID at eGA’s team in Ukraine, joins this podcast episode to explain trust services, the significance of this achievement, and the implications for businesses and individuals in Ukraine and the EU.
Speaking today is Serign Modou Bah, Director of Telecommunications and Postal Services at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy of The Gambia. In this episode, next to delving into the status of digital transformation in the country, Modou Bah discusses the importance of getting right needs and policy actions, and the role of international partnerships in advancing the country’s digital journey.
Status of digital transformation in The Gambia, at a glance
The Gambia, like many other countries, is in the process of embracing digitalization and leveraging technology to drive development. “We can distinguish three categories that define Gambia’s digital transformation journey: its evolution, the assessment of digital readiness maturity, and our work on e-government services,” Modou Bah begins with.
The Gambia's digital transformation journey began in 2005 with the goal of bringing telecommunication and internet connectivity to government offices. Over time, the country has made significant strides in digitizing processes, moving from analog to digital records.
Words do matter in understanding where the country is at: “We are in between digitization and digitalization, speaking of stages. Not yet at what is commonly identified as a digital transformation status. But we do stand as an emerging and developing government on the topic, whereby we have done certain things in certain areas, and strive now to reach a more advanced and established stage in digital development,” Modou Bah says.
Developing e-government services, advancing in maturity
That is valid, particularly, when framing their journey in terms of digital readiness maturity. The government has demonstrated strong leadership, vision, and political will to support digital transformation. Policies such as the e-government strategy 2021-2024 and the ICT for development policy have been implemented to guide digital initiatives. Collaboration with the private sector, proliferation of services, and the use of digital solutions at the government level are also notable achievements. But even if change continues, milestones have already been reached in e-government services development.
The government of The Gambia has introduced various e-government services to benefit citizens, businesses, and government employees. Notable examples include the single window business registration, which simplifies the business registration process and reduces bureaucracy. The recently launched e-procurement platform aims to streamline tender applications. Government websites provide citizens with access to information on policies, strategies, and laws. The transition from physical salary payments to electronic funds transfers and mobile money has improved efficiency for government employees. Additionally, The Gambia has implemented innovative solutions, such as mobile banking and digital wallets for social safety net projects, supporting disadvantaged individuals.
The milestones add up. By 2010, the country initiated an e-government program with a focus on infrastructure and digitalization. The establishment of an ICT unit within the government and the introduction of an e-government data center facilitated the development and hosting of various government systems and services. Connectivity milestones were also achieved through the connection to an international submarine cable. “That was definitely a game-changer, enabling private businesses and citizens to better utilize the Internet for communication and services,” Modou Bah says.
The all-African panel that took place at the e-Governance Conference 2023 brought into the spotlight country cases of digital transformation from the continent. An enlightening sessions, where everyone attending – both online and offline – got a unique chance to hear, at a glance, the most salient developments in digital taking place in Uganda and Namibia, among others.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we host one of the speakers of that session – Dr. Amina Zawedde. As the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance of Uganda, we discuss the status of digital transformation in the country, priorities, and the next steps on their journey.
National guidance in focus throughout the digital journey
First interesting thing to notice, as our attentive audience might have already thought, lies in the name of the Ministry – “National Guidance”. It does reflect, however, what information technologies and digital transformation mean to the country’s government. More and beyond plans and digital services, “it is also about incorporating in these ventures the values we uphold as a country, and as citizens,” Dr. Zawedde begins with.
“In some economies or ecosystems, you might notice that – with technology – people change too. You wonder where values or culture have gone. Instead, we want to make sure that we keep track, maintain, and preserve our culture,” Dr. Zawedde says. “In parallel with the natural mindset change that digitalization requires, we try to ensure that such national guidance is kept into consideration as we move forward.”
Status of digital transformation in Uganda, at a glance
Digital transformation, as we know, does not take place overnight. It is a long process, one that Uganda has already embarked on, and with interesting results so far. “We have had good progress over the last years where we now have over 71% of Government mainstream agencies using one form of an e-service. This comes with the much-needed benefits in reducing time taken to access an e-service, costs that would otherwise been incurred in tedious paper based manual processes and also removed the hustle of having to physically move between Government offices,” Dr. Zawedde says.
“As a result, we have calculated that over 5 million working hours have been saved to date over the last 10 years, and the country has improved its positioning in international rankings on digital government development. Uganda’s ranking on the E-Government Development Index has improved by over 5%. As per the World Bank’s recent GovTech Maturity Index, Uganda’s has moved from Group B to Group A of GovTech leaders. This shows that we have improved across all the four core areas considered in the GovTech Maturity Index: government systems, public service delivery, digital citizen engagement, and govtech enablers.”
The most used e-services are eTax, ePassport, automated business registration e-services, and e-procurement. All core components, among others, of a full-fledged and functioning digital government.
The Tallinn Summer School of Cyber Diplomacy returns for its fourth edition, keeping up the pace with global developments in diplomacy and cybersecurity. But it’s not just about the mainstreaming of cyber diplomacy as a foreign policy topic, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In both war and peace times, it has become evident how international collaboration can set the world to create a safer and more secure cyberspace – from attributing cyber operations, to applying international law on the Internet too.
Tanel Sepp is the current Ambassador-at-Large for Cyber Diplomacy at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Counting on his latest role after a long career in Estonian diplomacy, we explore together in this podcast episode how the Summer School invites everyone to keep upholding a free, open, and secure cyberspace. Tune in!
The upcoming book by e-Governance Academy, “Twenty Years of Building Digital Societies”, brings into focus the role that digitalization played in Estonia, in the countries eGA has collaborated with – and what such expertise adds to the digital development strategies of countries worldwide.
Vision, sustainability, people, security. We take the long view here, in a publication absolutely not to miss, into both the past and the future of digital transformation.
A peak into it is offered today by Peeter Vihma, author and social scientist at the University of Helsinki. Join us to hear how the book came about, and what makes it a must-have for your changemaker’s reading list.
For the first time, the 2023 e-Governance Conference is set to feature an all-African panel showcasing case studies from the continent. Exactly: both moderator and speakers will present examples of inter-sector cooperation from Namibia, Uganda, and the West African region. Collaborative partnerships for digital policy implementation are core to their experience, and there we stand to learn from them.
The African Union – European Union (AU-EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub is giving the floor to e-governance practitioners from a large and diverse continent. Helena Lepp, Digitalization Expert at the AU-EU D4D Hub, and Koffi Fabrice Djossou, Senior Programme Manager at the Western African Development Bank, join us in this podcast episode for a preview of the session – a long-time coming one.
The ongoing conversation and development around artificial intelligence are bringing data policy back into the spotlight, as we will explore in a dedicated session at the e-Governance Conference 2023. Perhaps it’s also a signal, an indicator of how much work and care is needed before AI starts convincingly scaling to the public sector.
Because while it is true that technological advancement can unlock new levels of digital governance, the great reliance of AI models on enormous amounts of information refocuses the importance of data quality, management practices, ways and purposes of use.
For an introduction to data policy and artificial intelligence in government, we are joined by Paul Timmers, Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and Senior Advisor, and Heiko Vainsalu, Programme Director on Technology. Plans, expectations, democratic legitimacy – how disruptive is AI set to become, exactly, in and to public sectors worldwide?
Interested in rethinking frameworks for data policy?
Join Paul Timmers, Heiko Vainsalu, Ott Velsberg – Government Chief Data Officer of Estonia, Claudia Oliveira – Programme Manager at EU Commission’s Department for Informatics (DG DIGIT), and Amos Mpungu – Principal ICT Officer, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Uganda in the discussions “Data deluge – do we control data or it controls us?” at the e-Governance Conference on 31 May at 11:00 – 12:30. And whether in person or online, join us to build better and inclusive digital societies!
Not just talks and panels, at the upcoming 2023 e-Governance Conference. As always, we didn’t forget about the practical side of things – workshops. One of them will focus on the design of public e-services. Designing and re-imagining public services takes effort and knowledge, but it becomes less intimidating when expert show how much common sense actually goes into it.
Piret Saartee, Senior Expert on Smart Governance at eGA, joins us for today’s episode of the Digital Government Podcast, and is here to help. What makes for a good e-service? An introduction to the e-Governance Conference workshop, and things to know on the path to making citizens’ life easier in a digital society. Tune in!
Interested in re-design public services effectively? Join Piret Saartee and Kristi Kivilo in the workshop“Digital services - constantly developing and improving” at the e-Governance Conference on 31 May at 11:00 – 12:30! Register now at https://2023.egovconference.ee/
We are well over one year into Russia’s ongoing threat to Ukrainian state sovereignty. And from terrain to the digital sphere, it is now more evident than ever before that the aggression has been total. If, in the beginning, the war seemed to take on a more traditional, kinetic shape, cyberattacks have intensified with the passing of the months – and with the staunch resistance of Ukraine’s forces.
This postulates the key takeaway, for international observers and governments alike, that modern warfare features a digital dimension. And who better than e-Governance Academy’s Programme Director of Cybersecurity, Merle Maigre, to take stock of how things have changed for states’ cyber defence and what lessons they carry for governments worldwide. Tune in!
Nothing about us, without us. From foundational principle of representative democracy, to inclusive approach to service design. The journey of this quote is long and spans across centuries, but gains renewed relevance today – when digitalization is ubiquitous, and public services must be designed for all, not just the ‘most’.
Margus J. Klaar is a strategist, service designer, and founding partner of agency Brand Manual. Services that are accessible to the most vulnerable, improve usability for everyone else too. So where do we stand on the way towards that, and how much do we really listen to people’s particular needs?
More on this at the e-Governance Conference on 30 May. A wonderful preview, instead, in this episode of the Digital Government Podcast.
Who are we designing for?
At its very core, and applied to digital service development, the Latin maxim that inspires this session has a straightforward meaning: good design takes into consideration who you are designing for. So let’s imagine, with a practical example, that we are going to design a chair for our mother.
“Once you prototype a chair that does not fall apart, then you’ll ask your mother to sit on it and ask her if she likes it or not. You will take her comments and go back to the workshop, a little angry that you didn’t get it right the first time, and you are going to make version two. Then version three, four, five, until your mother says it’s perfect,” Klaar begins with.
“It is then, that you will have designed something, for someone who can use it the way they want to use it.” Maybe with some specific add-ons your mother might have asked for. But ultimately, that is the whole idea of inclusive design. “In service design, that means expanding the scope to target groups you are designing for, and involve them actively in the process of creating that solution,” Klaar says.
Consider the minority, and make better services for everyone
This does not mean that, so far, all service design has purposedly discarded the opinions of the most digitally vulnerablein society. But the tendency to focus on the better able mass, so to say, has definitely been there for long.
“It’s actually quite common, in terms of user groups, to design for the mass of people who are going to use a certain service. But when you add vulnerabilities related to variables such as age, degrees of disability of different kinds, these so-called extreme cases tend to fall out of the majority group of consumers – and therefore they are not considered as important as that majority of reference, which is there by default,” Klaar points out.
But there is a paradox here. “People who have specific problems or issues in using a product, however, do have definite opinions about it. Using the insight of these very specific and narrow user groups to fix the service in general, as a consequence, will make a service more usable for everyone else too.”
Through another example, let’s take how cityscapes have become more accessible, once vulnerabilities were taken into account. “When we started focusing on the most vulnerable, such as someone bound to a wheelchair, and made cities completely accessible to that person, then suddenly the city is accessible also to other sensitive groups to this issue. The elderly, little kids, people who walk without paying attention to the sidewalk.”
“If you make something vulnerability-proof, then that product or service is automatically going to be easier to use than before for everyone else too. But in order to do that, you need to involve and take into account in the process those vulnerable groups,” Klaar explains.
A review of technological change in the past 20 years, applications and narratives, sweet birthday wishes. We have it all in this week’s episode of the Digital Government Podcast, where we head to distinguished technology experts of e-Governance Academy (eGA) for another expert chat dedicated to eGA’s 20 years anniversary.
Programme Director Heiko Vainsalu meets Mark Erlich, Senior Expert on eID. From popularizing tech talk in government and society, to novelties and black boxes to unpack, the two experts take us through two decades of digital transformation. To see what’s changed in digital development worldwide and, always clearly put, what’s not. Coming up next?
20 years of technological change and transformation
For how surprising it may seem to the least aware, technologists as well have a life beyond development projects and digital solutions. “20 years ago I was completing my university studies, I wasn’t that aware of e-governance. To me, it meant public services for taxes and banking, simply because those were my two point of contacts with the topic back then,” Erlich admits.
And while we heard from eGA cyber and e-democracy experts in previous episodes what these two decades of change entailed, what about the technology domain?
“The core is pretty much the same as 20 years ago. What happened is a crucial shift from niche to popularity. From niche products used just in some specific business areas, to technology getting out to the public. It was something only true techies knew about, people in general didn’t know about cryptography or anything else like that,” Erlich says.
“Moving away from the core, a lot has happened in terms of technological application. We see many new technical solutions around us that are part of our daily life. All kinds of smart gadgets, from smartphones to household appliances. That has evolved indeed, and we are benefitting from such development not just from the development side, but also simply as common people.”
Costa Rica is all but new on the world map of countries that took digital transformation as a priority. Over there, in Central America, this relatively small nation started investing in digital-related development and education already more than 20 years ago. Almost similarly to Estonia – and as similarly, they have come to create a crisis-proof digital society.
Jorge Mora Flores, now expert consultant and account manager in cybersecurity, is the former Director of Digital Governance in Costa Rica. In a podcast episode bridging across the ocean, he raises the curtains over the digital path of the country, and how resilience remains in focus after two decades of development.
Not to miss at the 2023 e-Governance Conference: “Crisis-proofing the digital society”, May 31. Hosted by Merle Maigre, eGA’s Programme Director on Cybersecurity, Flores will join Ministry of Defence from Montenegro Denisa Kurtagic to discuss preparedness and response in the face of cyber crises.
Preparations for the 9th e-Governance Conference are well under way, for what has come to be one of the highest level e-governance events globally. In the past few years, we addressed ever-so-salient topics such as resilience and crisis management, with the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine inevitably driving the agenda.
In the 2023 edition we look at what are the sustainable and distributed societal returns that come from technological development. “Digital Innovation as Catalyst for Social Change” is the umbrella for this year’s programme, and Senior Expert on e-Democracy Kristina Mänd joins us today for the appetizer, a preview of what to expect from the conference on May 30-31 in Tallinn and online.
‘Present calls the future’ – a conference about social change
This year’s e-Governance Conference features stories of digital transformation from all corners of the globe – from Costa Rica to Georgia, from Ukraine to Tonga. But the overarching scope lies on the long run, on how technology can serve lasting, viable social change.
“Because social change can be defined by human interactions and the relationships that transform our cultural and social innovations, and the impact they need to have,” Mänd explains.
In the past few years, digital development happened very quickly, so to say. “Now we are wondering what we can do in the field of healthcare, now in artificial intelligence implementation, now on improving this or that particular service. But the social change view needs to come along with that, to make sure that with those digital innovations we are not harming societies, the way they function, and the system of human interactions between people, and with the state.”
Find out more on the official website of the 2023 e-Governance Conference. And whether in person or online, join us to build better and inclusive digital societies, together.
Digital development has gone fast in the past two decades. Largely on its own momentum, as tools and their applications come to impact both more deeply and extensively different spheres of life. Also, due to unprecedented events and circumstances – see, the pandemic – that sped up digital adoption.
The question is, what fell in the cracks of such transformation? Who, if at all, has been left behind?
Two of e-Governance Academy’s top e-democracy experts come together in this podcast episode – Kristina Mänd, Senior Expert on hosting duties, and Kristina Reinsalu, Programme Director. Twenty years of digital engagement and participation deepened ties between governments and citizens, but not without challenges and new, digital social risks to address.
This podcast is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the e‑Governance Academy, to sum up the most influential digital developments in the last two decades and shed light on how it shapes the digital transformation topics and priorities in the near future.
There will also be an e-Democracy session at the upcoming 2023 e-Governance Conference entitled "Nothing for us without us: Empowering the digitally vulnerable".
“The more digital and connected we are, the more societies are exposed to new types of vulnerability,” Reinsalu points out. Tackling digital vulnerability means preventing people from falling into the cracks of the new, digital social risks stemming from accelerated development.
Something that only effective engagement can support. “Because engagement makes us bigger, as a nation, culture, society.” The point of engagement, “is not to find a solution that makes everyone happy, but to take decisions that solve particular problems the best way,” Mänd concludes. “And it’s not just the result that you can be happy with, but the process too, how we get there.”
The last time we started with a question “Is i-voting here to stay?”; this one around, we move on from a strong statement. One week ago, national elections were held in Estonia, and more than a few important records have been set. Among these, the highest ever overall turnout, and the highest ever amount of people casting their ballots through the national i-voting system.
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we welcome back Priit Vinkel, Senior Expert on Smart Governance. He worked 15 years in electoral management, of which six as the Head of the Estonian State Electoral Office. On the ins and outs of achieving such a key milestone, and more takeaways from a pivotal record in electoral history.
How long do 20 years of cybersecurity actually feel? Quite intense and intensive, for sure. It’s unlikely that anyone thought that with internet and ICTs would come no risks, no maliciousness, no actors aiming to exploit vulnerabilities of digital systems.
Two of e-Governance Academy’s own cybersecurity experts are here to remind us how far we’ve come. With them, we recap events and lessons learned on safeguarding digital spaces from two decades of activity. But also, how future strategies and actions should strike the right balance between protection and freedom.
Sweden is perhaps one of those countries that, in international rankings on government and digitalization, you sort of expect to do well – and indeed, so they do. Estonia figures among them as well, and we regularly see the interest this draws in understanding how development takes place, where, what’s next.
To take us there, and discover lessons learned, today we invite Johan Magnusson – professor, author, and Director of the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation (SCDI) in Gothenburg.
Beyond rankings: Where does innovation happen in Sweden?
In charts and rankings measuring the state of digital development, Sweden tends to fare quite well. As an example, the country ranked 4th overall in the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) of the European Commission – by far scoring better than the European average on topics such as digital skills, e-government, firms’ level of technological adoption. “But these rankings focus on antiquated metrics,” Magnusson begins with.
“On that regard, Sweden is excellent – we’re really good at forcing our citizens to go to a webpage and download PDFs. But that particular perspective on digital government is wrong. Digital government is about transformation, transparency, user first, proactivity. All of these things challenge the existing order of the organizations,” Magnusson says.
“I consider digital government in Sweden to be like an American doughnut. A lot of things are happening on the outskirts of it, in the municipalities, the local regions. But there is a hole in the centre, because input from the central government is really absent in these issues, and it’s not discussed. The Swedish Constitution makes authority very decentralized here,” so the logic plays out along these lines. “But that doesn’t look like something we would want to change.”
Digital solutions at work to face the demographic shift
And why would you, if it seems to be working? According to Magnusson, part of this is due to the fact that Sweden is a very rich country. “Sweden doesn’t have to change, they don’t need to transform, right? But that thinking is built on the notion that things are going to turn out just right in the future.”
Instead, digital transformation, and the use and demand for public services, could soon become an existential crisis for the public administration. “What we know, is that we’re seeing a massive shift in demographics. We’re talking 50% more senior citizens, for instance, in the next ten years. That will increase the demand in public services. But in turn, since we’re not that digitalized, that will increase the demand for new workers to join organizations,” Magnusson explains.
“At the same time, there’s the closing of the borders and a very tough situation in terms of getting employees to your organization. So we have a deficit of people who actually can work, and an almost acceleratingly increased demand for public services.”
“We are not the best” – but see the way forward
“I think the main thing we need is an understanding that we are not the best in the world. And that’s very hard for a Swede to understand. We invented many things, but are lousy at making more transformative changes. We can do better, and that’s the first step. Then, we need to understand what digital transformation is,” Magnusson concludes.
“It’s about the core principles in terms of digital government coming from the OECD as well – transparency, proactivity, user first, etc. That’s the fundamental shift. And in order to do that, we need more international cooperation – not in the way of filling out forms on how many kilometers of cables we dug down. But meeting each other, sitting together and talk about this. That’s what we need.”
It may sound like a paradox, but there is much, much more to it. In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we return to the Asian islands – southeast in the continent – to address public service development in Timor-Leste.
Piret Saartee, a Senior Expert on Smart Governance, was part of the team that drew up our study on the path to creating effective service centres in the country. With her, we dig into why limited network reach shouldn’t hold back e-governance projects, and how Timor-Leste aims to give its citizens one-stop shops to access services. Tune in!
Making national cyberspace more secure does not pertain only to protecting it from cyber-attacks. It is a day-to-day job, a commitment to small best practices too that do make a difference – and help prevent disruptions in our work activities, and the functioning of the public sector.
Epp Maaten, Team Lead on Cybersecurity, joins us from Chișinău, Moldova, to explore how e-Governance Academy assisted Tonga in its digital recovery from a natural disaster and the place of cybersecurity within that unique context.
Tune in!
That’s right. e-Governance Academy is turning 20 years old this year! Two decades of digital transformation; of understanding societies through the lens of technology; of advising governments worldwide on how to reap the benefits of digital development.
And who better than Hannes Astok, Executive Director at eGA, to draw a bit of a retrospective. In this episode, we take a look back, between personal memories and organizational milestones, to what has been a two-decade journey into the future of our digital societies. Tune in!
Another year has passed. Another year in which e-Governance Academy has been involved in digital transformation projects worldwide. Most might have expected calmer waters after exiting the emergency situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, with 2022 came a number of events that saw our experts at the centre of the international scene.
Executive Director Hannes Astok joins us to paint a picture of what year 2022 has been for our centre of excellence, and what topics defined it in the digital sphere. Tune in!
Digital skills are essential for the development of a full-fledged digital society. We can – and should – expect both companies and governments to develop their services in the most user-friendly way, to actually serve customers and citizens. But how to empower people further, and give them the tools to navigate effectively the information age?
Kristi Kivilo, in-house Senior Expert on Smart Governance, joins today’s episode of the Digital Government Podcast to talk the skills people need in a digital society, and how to get everyone on board with online services. Tune in!
Based on essentially all wiki facts and general information, Brazil and Estonia could not be more different. Geographically, culturally, and socially. And still, as we luckily very often saw happen in the past years, these too have a joint meeting point – digital transformation.
Interest in Estonia’s digital journey remains constant among policy and changemakers from the Latin American country, while Brazil’s own digital development probably picks up pace probably more than ever before. Raphael Fassoni, Co-Founder and CEO of Estônia Hub, gives us insight into the state of digitalization in Brazil and why Estonia remains a reference point across the ocean. Tune in!
It was just June that we were talking about improving cybersecurity capacity in the Western Balkans area. And a few months later, between August and September, the countries of Albania and Montenegro respectively suffered disruptive cyber attacks.
Merle Maigre, Programme Director on Cybersecurity at eGA, joins us again to take stock of the situation. Together with Klaid Mägi, Cybersecurity Strategist at Estonian company RaulWalter, we explore the importance of investigating the attribution and consequences of such attacks, and what to do to increase preparedness and resilience. Tune in!
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Digital citizens in a digital Europe? We are not quite there yet, but significant steps forward have been made in recent years with eIDAS. And progress doesn’t stop at the borders of political Europe, as a bilateral agreement between the Union and Ukraine is set to enhance the mutual recognition of trust services.
We hear all the latest from Mark Erlich, eGA’s Senior Expert on Digital Identity, and Business Architect at the Electronic Identity Department of the Information System Authority of Estonia. Government-issued digital identity can work across borders – let’s see how, and where we stand today. Tune in!
We could never say it enough – digital identity is a must-have to make societies more digital. It has been around for some time already, so it is natural that types and approaches to its development vary, between contexts and country specificities.
To explore these, Mark Erlich is the speaker of choice for a mini-series of podcast episodes on digital identity. He is the Senior Expert on Digital Identity at e-Governance Academy. And with his 15-some years’ experience on the matter at Estonia’s Information System Authority, we take a deep dive into typologies and use cases of digital identity, and lessons learned from Estonia’s, – one of the most digital countries – own journey. Tune in!
In Borneo Island, Malaysia, the largest of the 13 states making up the country has an ambitious plan – to turn the region into a digital economy powerhouse of the area. Through the works of the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) as its implementing agency, the government in the region is driving initiative to give the state a digital economy and society. During his last visit to Tallinn, we caught up with the Chairmen of the SDEC, Mohamad Morsidi, to hear about the premises and priorities of this transformative journey, and what inspires them in Estonia's digital journey. Turn in!
Our interviews with Chief Information Officers continue, and after Siim Sikkut (former CIO of Estonia) and Barry Lowry (CIO of Ireland), we are excited to feature Yolanda Martinez on this podcast episode. Martinez held the national CIO and Digital Strategy Coordination posts in Mexico for six years – five for the first, one for the latter. During that time, the Mexican public administration achieved terrific results, to name (really just) a few, exponentially increasing availability and access to the Internet, and reshaping the digital provision and use of public services.
Today, she is Overall Lead for the GovStack initiative at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Let’s see how approaching public sector innovation through building blocks can help governments accelerate digital transformation. Tune in!
The Western Balkan Digital Security Forum took place in Tallinn and online on June 15, 2022, bringing together leaders and experts in cybersecurity to discuss developments and challenges on the topic in the region. Merle Maigre, e-Governance Academy’s own Senior Expert on Cybersecurity, joins us in this episode to explore some of the takeaways from the high-level meeting, and how to support six Balkan countries in building strategic cybersecurity capacity.
Tune in!
Learn more about the Western Balkan Digital Security Forum here.
Let’s face it – we are more used to talk about the results achieved through digital transformation, its success stories and business cases, rather than drawbacks or failures. Despite, in any case, a growing trend of re-humanizing digitalization processes, with private change-makers and CIOs increasingly talking about drawbacks and lessons learnt too.
But some needs still might fall between the cracks of a bright narrative. That is why, both through our activities and at this year’s e-Governance Conference, we introduced the topic of digital vulnerability. Kristina Mänd, Senior Expert on e-Democracy at eGA, delves deeper into the theme in this podcast episode. According to her addressing digital vulnerabilities could be considered as a measure of government effectiveness and performance in delivering public services.
Tune in!
In today's episode, we invite you to explore the United Kingdom's government approach to designing public digital services for citizens with Lisa Talia Moretti. How do they design services that actually work for all – with their diverse needs, vulnerabilities, and behaviours in society?
Tune in to find out!
In the Western Balkans, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and governments are on a quest to increase civic engagement in the digital agenda. Take all the initials of this task, ICEDA, and you have the ongoing project that e-Governance Academy is currently involved in within the region.
Recently, stakeholders took the chance to visit Tallinn for a study visit. We caught up with two representatives from both sides, government and CSOs, to talk about the state of digitalization in the five subject countries: North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania.
Hear it from Snežana Nikčević, National Project Coordinator for NGO 35mm from Montenegro, and Admirim Aliti, Minister of Information Society and Administration from North Macedonia, in this episode. Tune in!
In the Horn of Africa there is yet another blue pin on the world map of interoperability supported by X-Road technology. The Government of Djibouti via ANSIE has recently completed the implementation of the data exchange platform, marking another step toward more efficient and effective public service delivery.
On e-Governance Academy’s side, Programme Director of Technology Heiko Vainsalu has managed and dealt hands-on with the project. In this episode of the podcast, we outline some insights into how the Djiboutian government did it, relevant points of strength, and recommendations to move forward. Sounds interesting? Tune in!
In today's episode, we take a look at how does effective digital transformation look from above? From the perspective of those who need to inspire, guide, and organize teams so that plans become policies, and then action. We are talking about Government CIOs, a role whose specifics we explored already in an episode with Siim Sikkut on 27 April.
Let’s take now a look at five lessons learnt through the lens of Barry Lowry, Chief Information Officer of the Irish Government, and Chief Adviser to the government on all things digital.
One by one, we present the main takeaways from his experience, in a wide-ranging conversation from user journey design to tech, regulation, and the meaning of innovation.
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
The wait could not have been faster. Just one week to go to the e-Governance Conference 2022, to discuss resilient and seamless governance with high-level government representatives, experts, and academics. So let us do the honours with an introduction, and a look forward, from Estonia.
Luukas Kristjan Ilves, freshly appointed Chief Information Officer of the Government of Estonia, features in this last episode of the podcast building up to the conference. What’s next in Estonia in terms of public service delivery? Tune in!
Interested in more? Register now and join us online at https://2022.egovconference.ee/!
Siim Sikkut barely needs any introduction. 17 years in the civil service, of which five as Chief Information Officer of the Government of Estonia. Throughout this time, many of our readers and listeners have had the chance to meet him, or hear from his team about what a constant process of digital transformation looks like.
At the upcoming e-Governance Conference in May, he will be among the changemakers to tell us what it takes to be effective digital leaders – based on his own and others’ experiences. Sikkut, in fact, has also spoken to 20 colleagues in leading digital government strategies and collected findings and reflections in a not-to-miss, upcoming book.
In the build-up to the e-Governance Conference, we caught up with him to give you an introduction to what is set to be one of the most interesting sessions on Day 2. In the episode, he shares also his two lessons for digital leaders. Tune in!
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Interested in more? Join the e-Governance Conference on 10 – 12 May to listen to the keynote of Siim Sikkut and panel discussion ‘ Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders’ featuring Barry Lowry, Chief Information Officer for the Irish Government, and Siim Sikkut.
Less than a month to go to the 2022 e-Governance Conference. To mark this countdown milestone, we called back a known voice of the Digital Government Podcast and the Conference, introducing the ever-more-pressing theme of digital sovereignty.
Taking the floor is Paul Timmers, a scholar at various European universities and former director at the European Commission for e‑government, health and ageing, future cities, and many more things digital.
With increased digitalization, governments are met with new and changing sets of challenges – over trust, service delivery, and cybersecurity. Here is a sneak peek into what his keynote and the panel discussion he will moderate will sound like, with a great conversation on current and fundamental issues urging decision-makers to keep sovereignty in focus for the information age.
Interested in more? Join the e-Governance Conference on 10 - 12 May to listen to the keynote of Paul Timmers and panel discussion ' Next step: Digital Sovereignty – How Is it Possible?' featuring Michel Paulin, CEO of OVHcloud and Lisa Talia Moretti, Digital Sociologist at the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom.
For this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we figuratively fly with our microphones to Africa. Specifically, to Kenya and Nigeria – where winners of the first Africa D4D Journalism Competition are based. 175 journalists from 35 countries participated, signalling a great response to the call submissions made by the African Union – European Union (AU-EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub project.
Labour markets and tech talent, agriculture and climate issues, telehealth and maternal care. These were the topics of the articles that won the first three prizes, all with digital tools and technology as the common denominator. We caught up with the three winners – Daniel Adeyemi (Nigeria), Wesley Langat (Kenya), and Beth Karuana (Kenya) – to hear about their work and the topics addressed.
Tune in!
Interested in the digital development of African countries? Join the discussion 'Laying Ground for Digital Services: Case Studies from Africa’ featuring Khaled El-Attar - Vice Minister, Egypt and Afiss Bileoma Director of Departement, ASSI, Benin at the e-Governance Conference on 10 May 2022!
Register here! https://2022.egovconference.ee/
In today's episode, we continue to introduce the speakers of the upcoming e-Governance Conference on 10 - 12 May. Vitaly Friedman is an author and UX designer who is right now involved in the navigation improvement of European Parliament websites - there are altogether 150 webpages. In this episode, we explore how design and clear principles can help public authorities ease citizens’ journey through the vast and deep sea of public data and information.
Tune in!
Interested in more? Join Vitaly Friedman at the e-Governance Conference to learn more about designing government webpages and other complex systems! Register now at https://2022.egovconference.ee/
Today's episode features Giovanni Allegretti, senior researcher and coordinator of the PhD programme “Democracy in the 21st century” at the University of Coimbra (Portugal). He has worked for over 20 years on citizen participation in budgeting and territorial management. Based on his abounding experiences, he casts light on how crowdsourcing, matched with technology, can enhance and amplify people’s voices in the halls of policy design.
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
Interested in more? Join Giovanny Allegretti at the e-Governance Conference in the discussion on ‘Next step: “Will People Make Policy Digitally?’.
Register now at https://2022.egovconference.ee/
In today's podcast, Hannes Astok, a member of the e-Governance Academy Board, sheds light on the two main keywords that should describe the future goals of digital transformation for every government organisation - resilience and seamlessness. Tune in to the episode to find out why these features are critical for any digital government!
Interested in more? Join the e-Governance Conference on 10 - 12 May to get the best insights into and lessons learnt about the digital ecosystems that cope with crises and create seamless digital services to help citizens cope with them.
Yurii Kopytin, Cybersecurity Component Leader of EU4DigitalUA project and general architect of Ukrainian data exchange platform the Trembita system, works now 18 hours per day by safeguarding the Ukrainian digital government, keeping the Trembita system functional and fighting with cyber attacks and fake news together with the government authorities of Ukraine.
Even the workload and conditions are very hard the digital transformation in Ukraine is not stopped during the war. Slowly but still some developments take place according to the project plan. Listen to the episode with him to find out how is the situation there and what developments are still ongoing despite the war!
Slava Ukraini!
Something might have caught many observers by surprise in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. After a solid history of cyber threats that could be linked back to the Federation’s territory, cyber warfare seems to not be playing a major role in the attackers’ plans this time. It hasn’t been the same in the past, and no one guarantees the current situation can’t change in a matter of weeks, or even days. Perhaps particularly when, on the ground, the Russian army appears to not proceed at the pace initially envisioned by the architects of the invasion.
Does that mean we can overlook the cyber side of the conflict? Absolutely not, Merle Maigre, Senior Cybersecurity Expert at e-Governance Academy and former top NATO diplomat in this field, warns in our conversation.
Let’s look at what is happening in Ukraine now and how to be better prepared at all levels – personal, organizational, national – to protect our systems and data in the face of a cyberattack.
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
This week, the world looks quite different from what it used to. We’re here to talk about a tragedy taking shape just before our eyes – the war in Ukraine. Oleh Burba is not a war correspondent, but a Component Leader in our EU4DigitalUA team in Kyiv, Ukraine.
With him, we look at how safety suddenly had to become the priority, and how the e-Governance Academy team there is dealing with the quickly escalating conflict.
The episode is hosted by Kristina Mänd.
Contribute to support Ukrainians in the fight for democracy in Europe and the freedom of Ukraine!
International Red Cross, https://www.icrc.org/en
Doctors Without Borders, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
United help to Ukraine, http://www.unitedhelpukraine.org/
Ukraina heaks, https://www.ukrainaheaks.ee/ (in Estonia)
Can a digital society exist sustainably without e-citizens? Who are the e-citizens - the user the e-services or something more? This is a topic we will discuss today with e-democracy expert Kristina Reinsalu.
In this episode, she introduces us to the e-citizen concept and to the digital nudging in society that supports the citizens' use of digital tools and better engagement in decision-making processes. You can explore examples from Island and Estonia with us.
Moreover, you will get more insights into the digital divide that digitalization can create, and how Estonia has decreased it. And finally, we address the governments and civil society organizations, while asking where to begin to have active e-citizens in a society. The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
In today's episode, IT-visionary Linnar Viik talks about the post-pandemic trends of teaching and learning at schools, and shares with us the findings from the survey he conducted among teachers and parents in Estonia. Listen to the discussion and find out how did the schools in various countries react to the lockdowns and how did the experiences that we gained from lockdowns change the expectations towards teaching and learning at schools.
Is there something useful that could be implemented in schools in the future or even right away? Tune in!
Every digital transformation journey needs a good place to start from. What’s the first step? Understanding where you stand, what are your valuable assets, how to move forward from there, and what to focus on first.
The Digital Readiness Review does just that. For a long, e-Governance Academy has been offering this analysis to both governments and businesses – to pinpoint strengths, and weaker spots to work on.
With Marit Lani, Programme Director of Smart Governance, we take a look at how both public and private sector organizations can benefit from it and become more digital. Tune in!
Behind a successful cyber attack, it is very often the poor cyber hygiene of internet users or employees of an organisation, as revealed by the analysis of cyber incidents. Thus, the demand of being cyber-wise concerns every citizen, and the government as well.
In this episode, Lauri Tankler, lead analyst of the Estonian Information System Authority, and Merle Maigre, senior expert on cybersecurity and former director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, shed light on what mistakes people make the most in cyberspace, what is the government’s responsibility in raising peoples' awareness of cybersecurity, and what could be done better based on the experience of the EU Member States.
Moreover, Lauri Tankler tells us in more detail how Estonia is raising cyber-wise people and what are the challenges they face. Tune in!
The discussion is based on the report 'Raising awareness of cybersecurity' that presents case studies of the EU Member States and provides recommendations for the experts of the National Authorities responsible for the design and the implementation of cybersecurity awareness-raising campaigns, in the following four areas: building capacities for cybersecurity awareness, regular assessments of trends and challenges, measuring cybersecurity behaviour and planning cybersecurity awareness campaigns.
Explore more of the report compiled by eGA experts within the project ‘ENISA: Research of Awareness Raising Activities‘!
AI is one of the technologies that influences the public sector service provision and also our expectations towards it. In today's episode, we invite you to explore how are governments approaching the use of artificial intelligence in public service provision. Consider Estonia, as a case study – and let Ott Velsberg, Chief Data Officer of the Estonian Government, be ourguide.
The country’s AI plans are rooted in words and deeds that started already in 2019. The AI strategy aims to make the government more proactive, seamless, automated. The end goal is zero bureaucracy, and AI plays a key part in moving meaningfully in that direction. So far, 80 case studies have been completed, with an additional 30 ongoing, and will soon be channelled through Bürokratt.
What tasks has the Estonian public sector entrusted to AI already? And what is the Bürokratt - the new tool of making bureaucracy more efficient and citizen-friendly?
Interested in exploring the topic more closely? Tune in!
Today we invite you to follow the government CIO’s special edition! Two former leaders of digital transformation, Siim Sikkut from Estonia and Randall Brugeaud from Australia, cast light on the trends that governments should follow in their digital transformation activities to benefit from pandemic lessons learned.
In the episode, our guests share their views on how to keep an innovation-driven mindset inside of the government, how to engage society and keep citizen-centricity in mind while developing new services.
'COVID proved things can be done very quickly, Estonia also had overnight solutions developed to react to the pandemic. But fatigue is now kicking in a bit, so it is on us as gov CIOs & digital transformation authorities to make sure that new normality will stick, ' said Siim Sikkut.
Tune in and get some inspiration to continue the digital transformation in your country or organisation! The discussion was moderated by Linnar Viik and live at the e-Governance Conference 2021.
With the year-end approaching, we could not let this opportunity slip for a proper wrap up of 2021. Hannes Astok, Executive Director at e-Governance Academy, gladly bears the weight of this responsibility in the latest episode of the Digital Government Podcast.
Remote work and cybersecurity are the topics that dominated the digital transformation landscape this past year. While flexibility is the keyword for the former, enhancing the safety of operations on the internet is the command for the latter. This pertained not only to the work of the e-Governance Academy but also that of the government organisations and partners – who have been facing similar and further challenges.
Achievements, announcements, pre-holiday wishes. In this lightweight episode, we salute the year that has gone by and give you all a recommendation: mark May 10-12, 2022, on your calendar, as the e-Governance Conference makes its return both offline and online!
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
The number of mobile users is already exceeding 7 billion worldwide, and 3 billion of them are using smartphones. The rising mobile penetration has pushed governments to develop services that could be used via mobile phone. On the other hand, more and more governments are exploring how to benefit from AI by providing public services. In this episode, we will explore with Margus Simson, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Komerční Banka, how these two developments change online service provision and should they be reflected in government digital strategies.
According to Margus, from 2025 and beyond, the new standard in digital service should be the significant inclusion of AI/ML. "It will beef up the intelligence efforts, and take companies and customers to personalization levels and business opportunities that have never been seen before. Mobiles are definitely crucial for customer service and digitalization, but honestly, it is already 10 years too late. Instead of mobile, simplicity should be the core strategic direction of transformation stories."
In the discussion, he reflects on developments that are taking place already in the private sector, and based on that, he predicts the future of developments for the public sector.
More precisely, Margus will cast light on
what horizons in service provision have AI and ML opened?
what could we expect as customers?
what changes should governments make in their digital transformation strategies to keep up with the technological developments?
Tune in!
The problem with fake news is becoming more and more topical for every public organisation. Due to that, we invited Dr Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, the Senior Expert on Legal Framework to the Digital Government Podcast to cast light on the freedom of expression in the digital age and the problem of fake news from a legal perspective.
In this episode, we walk through the following questions:
Can we "regulate away" misinformation?
What are the lessons learnt from the countries that have such legislation?
What would be the key points to keep in mind if and when regulating this issue?
Should not the big platforms like Facebook take responsibility primarily - as it is largely via them that misinformation is spread?
Turn in to find out whether there is still hope or if the battle is indeed lost!
The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Based on what trends we have witnessed in advanced digital societies - the next level of public services will be fully automated services that are based on AI and Machine Learning. In this episode, a distinguished legal expert on digital governance topics Katrin Nyman-Metcalf covers another side of the coin - essential and ethical dilemmas behind that process/development. She says that the key decisions on how, when and whether to automate are not technical, legal, nor practical - they are essentially strategic, political decisions about what kind of society we want.
But what kind of society do we want? That raises a lot of questions. For example, what is the role of public officials while machines are putting together facts and providing public services? What is the role of the state and the state administration? And how will society and citizens react? Will the norms change in society? Are we obliged to love robots? Is the challenge of transforming into a fully automated society a generational issue?
Listen to this episode to find out!
Despite a continued global vaccine rollout, COVID19's shadow remains large and limiting for all government bodies around the world. The need to cut through COVID fatigue with strong leadership has never been more urgent. Now the government leaders themselves play a crucial online role in shielding teams and policies from criticism and misinformation.
In today's episode, we explore with Roger Christie, a digital brand advisor from the Australian consultancy Propel Group, how to increase government leadership with the help of social media, to engage and influence key audiences, and to take action at a time when we all need our leaders to stand up and be heard.
The episode is based on the Digital Government Leadership Report conducted by Propel and Brandwatch and published this autumn. In the survey, they analysed the social media activity of the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and revealed how Premier Andrews successfully used Twitter to increase positive community sentiment during his state’s darkest period during the 2020 lockdowns. The data behind the Premier’s digital leadership reveals an important truth for all – government leaders need to stand up online.
The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
The pandemic caused countries around the world to employ digital solutions, which they had been ignoring or postponing, almost overnight. Such rapid development also raises several questions related to digital responsibility and accountability.
Digital responsibility has mainly been addressed by the business sector. However, the expectations to the governments to set the agenda for digital responsibility are becoming increasingly clear, as is the potential role of civil society organisations in challenging the governments in the process.
In this episode, Kristina Mänd (eGA), Aldo Merkoci (MJAFY!, Albania) and Robert Bjarnason (Citizen Foundation, Iceland) will address the expectations on governments, in addition to the role of civil society organisations in supporting governments in digital responsibility. Tune in to explore the practices used in Albania, Iceland and Estonia!
The discussion was live at the e-Governance Conference 2021.
The rapid digitalisation of societies introduces new expectations towards tech companies. People expect companies to take care of their ecological footprint, support free expression, respect privacy and develop a more secure cyberspace.
Explore how enterprises and governments can address these demands for digital responsibility with tech innovator Üllar Jaaksoo, from Greenergy, technology and public policy leader Eli Sugarman, from the Oversight Board, and senior expert of cybersecurity Merle Maigre, from e-Governance Academy.
Moreover, they talk about how the government could be a better partner for the private sector in this journey, and share examples from the UK, European Union and Estonia. Tune in!
The discussion was live at the e-Governance Conference.
Estonia conducted i-voting for the 12th time, in the recent local elections on 11 – 17 October 2021. In this episode, we cast light on these election results and explore with Priit Vinkel, the former Head of the Estonian Electoral Office and one of the implementers of the internet voting system in Estonia, what are the lessons learned from i-voting, both for Estonia and as well as for other governments who want to implement i-voting.
We will talk about building trust and voter and politician behaviour during the past 16 years (the first i-voting took place in 2005). Besides the Estonian experience, we cast light on the experiences of other countries, such as the USA, Norway, Switzerland, India, etc. Priit also explains what are the main barriers that are hampering the use of i-voting, although the need for a safer option (referring to an individual's health by avoiding physical contact) to vote is getting more and more critical during the pandemic. Tune in!
Today we invite you to listen to the episode on the next normal of digital transformation featured by futurist Thrond Arne Undheim and the former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Follow their discussion on what have the governments learned from 2020 and what they have refused to learn. Moreover, the guest will talk about the trends that will influence digital transformation the most in the future, and how the "Digital Only" approach will guide the way of administration and interaction. Do we see the governments controlling the e-governance of the future or is that something we are having an hopeless situation about?
The discussion was moderated by IT visionary Linnar Viik and was live at the e-Governance Conference 2021.
In today's episode of the Digital Government Podcast, you are welcome to meet our distinguished e-democracy expert Liia Hänni, who recently celebrated her 75th birthday! Known as the "mother" of the Estonian Constitution, she has had a massive impact in the design of Estonia's democratic face and digital society.
Within the following 21 minutes, she talks about the relationship between technology and democracy, and how using technology influences trust towards the government. Finally, on the eve of the Estonian local elections, she sheds light on what made i-voting happen in Estonia. Tune in!
In this episode, Heiko Vainsalu, a Senior Expert on Technology at the e-Governance Academy, debunks the most viral tech myths. These myths, expressed by buzzwords, are accompanying us while we are talking or listening to discussions on digital transformation and government innovations.
Join us to find out:
- What are today's most common tech buzzwords?
- How the following tech buzzwords influence the digital transformation of a country?
- In which area the real tech innovation is happening now?
- What are the questions innovators should ask themselves while choosing a tech solution for a country or organisation?
Tune in to see through the buzzwords!
Tänavu 17.oktoobril toimuvad kohalikud valimised, mille eel on kõigil soovijatel juba 12. korda võimalus e-hääletada. Pühendame oma saate e-hääletamisele ning e-riigi akadeemia eestvõttel loodud e-hääletamise heale tavale.
Saates räägivad e-hääletuse hea tava üks väljatöötajatest Liia Hänni ja kauaaegne valimisteenistuse juht, pregune E-riigi Akadeemia vanemekspert Priit Vinkel e-hääletamise protsessist ja tehtud uuendustest, valija- ja erakondade käitumisest, kordavad üle e-hääletamise põhitõed nii erakondadele kui valijatele ning kõige lõpuks ennustavad, kui populaarseks kujuneb e-hääletamine tänavu. Saatejuht on Hannes Astok. Head kuulamist!
Taustaks:
Elektrooniline hääletamine algab esmaspäeval, 11. oktoobril kell 9.00 ja lõpeb laupäeval, 16. oktoobril kell 20.00. Valijarakendus, mille saab enda arvutisse alla laadida, avaldatakse valimiste veebilehel www.valimised.ee vahetult enne e-hääletamise algust 11. oktoobri hommikul. E-hääletamiseks on vaja internetiühendusega turvalist arvutit ning kehtivate sertifikaatidega ID-kaarti koos kaardilugejaga või mobiil-IDd.
In English
In October 2021, local elections will take place in Estonia. Once again, citizens can cast their votes via the Internet as well. Due to that, we dedicate this episode to Estonian i-voting and the principles of fair i-voting, brought to you in Estonian.
The principles of fair i-voting were born from an initiative, of the e-Governance Academy in cooperation with political parties, in 2005, when i-voting took place for the first time. The aim was to cooperatively think through the specifics of i-voting, compared to traditional voting, and to ensure the smooth implementation of the new solution.
Liia Hänni, one of the developers of the principles, and Priit Vinkel, the former head of the State Electoral Office and current senior expert at the e-Governance Academy, talk about the i-voting process and innovations, voters’ and parties’ behaviour, i-voting principles, and finally, they predict how many citizens will cast their votes via the Internet. Just as a reminder, in the last European Parliament’s elections in 2019, 46.7% of voters used the opportunity to vote online, and in the Riigikogu elections of the same year, more than 247,000 voters cast i-votes.
Listen to the throwback of the i-voting experiences and the results of the Estonian local elections in English, on 20 October!
Estonia is preparing for its first e-census or register-based census, where all Population and Housing Census data will be compiled from the data of the national registers. About 24 national registers will be included, and they involve data on many fields of life. Only the information that is not available in registers will be asked from people. The e-census will take place at 00:00 on 31 December 2021.
Join our discussion with Liina Osila from Statistics Estonia to find out what have been the biggest challenges facing e-census and what preconditions a government must fulfil in order to conduct it. Also, you will find out what are the benefits of an e-census and finally, will the e-census be the next normality ?
Tune in!
Learn more at Statistics Estonia web-page .
While we approach the international identity day on September 16, we are addressing the topic that concerns our identity and its use, online or offline. In today's episode, we explore with Kaija Kirch, Head of Digital Identity Technologies at Cybernetica AS, the pros and cons of using biometric data in identification and providing access online or onsite. In particular, you will learn
What is biometric data?
How is biometric data used in our everyday life by businesses or governments?
Why is the use of biometric data getting more and more topical?
What should we be aware of to avoid the misuse of biometric data?
Where do we start the effective and proper implementation of biometric data for public service provision?
How is Estonia using biometric data for public service provision?
Will biometric data replace other procedures in the future?
Tune in to find out!
The host of the podcast is Federico Plantera.
The globalisation of economies, technologies and communication has challenged country sovereignty relative to actions and protection. In the global scene, we can witness every day how fake news attack democracy, and how hackers do the same to supply chains, electricity networks or hospitals. The problem of one country concerns simultaneously other countries too, as we all are connected to each other.
In today's podcast, Paul Timmers, a Research Associate of the University of Oxford talks about what are a country's sovereign assets, that need our attention in the digital age, and how can countries ensure both their protection and national sovereignty. The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera. Tune in!
Read more about the digital sovereignty discussion in the EU in Paul Timmers' article 'When Sovereignty Leads and Cyber Law Follows'
At the beginning of the school year, it is timely to talk about digital skills development since digital skills are one of the most critical enablers of digital transformation. In today's episode (a recording from the e-Governance Conference 2021), Kristo Vaher from Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication of Estonia, Cigdem Ertem (INTEL) and Kristel Rillo shed light on what kind of digital skills governments need to lead through digital transformation programmes, and who's the responsibility it is.
Some pure facts to introduce the topic:
- 12% is the number of people (engineers, architects) missing from the IT sector;
- Over the year we need 1000 people more working as engineers, architects, ICT experts.
- People already working in the ICT sector need to refresh their skills as ICT is in constant development.
What does it mean to the government that aims for digital transformation? Tune in to find out!
The discussion was held at the e-Governance Conference 2021.
Cyber attacks are becoming a natural part of our digital life. Hence it is wise to know how to defend your data and infrastructure to avoid losses. In today's episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we invite you to explore how governments and organisations can be better prepared for cyber attacks. Two distinguished cyber experts Ragnar Rattas, from CybExer Technologies, and Merle Maigre, from eGA, talk about the cyber exercises, their kinds, features, and benefits. They also cast light on the recent cyber exercise held for Ukrainian cyber experts, and explain how to conduct them in a meaningful and efficient way. Interested in exploring more? Tune in!
In this episode, Ville Sirviö, the CEO of the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS), casts light on how to get digital data securely running between two countries, based on the X-road trust federation, and how citizens of Finland and Estonia have benefited from it. As we know, Finland and Estonia are exchanging data of their population and business registers, and also their tax boards. Moreover, the information of medical prescriptions is also available across borders. Ville explains the enablers of making such data exchange happen and NIIS's role in all of this. Wondering how many countries have already functional X-Roads, or is the X-Road functional in your country as well? Tune in to find out!
After the episode, you are welcome to learn more about how the X-road has been implemented globally and could benefit your country at x-road.global
In today's episode, Urmo Kübar, the former advisor to the Estonian President and the Executive Director of Praxis, talks about the role of civil society organizations in a digital society and explains how can they benefit from digital tools for building a more seamless society. Being involved in the Estonian civic society development for more than 20 years, he is the right person to cast light on the topic.
In the episode, he also makes a throwback to the early years of civil society organizations in Estonia, and brings examples of how a worldwide known civic initiative 'Let's do it!' has used digital tools to gain its purpose: clean the world from illegally dumped trash.
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
This year’s e-Governance Conference – A Digital Decade in One Year – looks at the implications of the accelerated digital transformation resulting from the pandemic. The programme creates space to explore the new normal in which we find ourselves today, and the next normal that we are entering. In the build-up to the Conference, our podcasts will introduce some main speakers and topics that will take part in the programme.
Together with Kristina Mänd, Senior Expert on e-Democracy (eGA), we unpack the concept of digital responsibility and explore the role of governments as well as civil society organisations (CSOs) in achieving better outcomes in the field. Tune in!
At the upcoming e-Governance Conference, the session “Digital Responsibility: Government and the Civil Society View” on 20 May will dive further into the expectations for governments and CSOs in achieving greater accountability in the digital realm. Joining Kristina Mänd will be Robert Bjarnason, President & CEO of Citizens Foundation (Iceland) and Aldo Merkoci, Executive Director at MJAFT! (Albania).
Catch the LIVE discussion by registering to the conference at 2021.egovconference.ee/
This year’s e-Governance Conference – A Digital Decade in One Year – looks at the implications of the accelerated digital transformation resulting from the pandemic. The programme creates space to explore the new normal in which we find ourselves today, and the next normal that we are entering.
In the build-up to the Conference, our podcasts will introduce some main speakers and topics that will take part in the programme. With Siim Sikkut, CIO of the Government of Estonia, we explore Estonia’s experience in adapting to the new normal and consider what the next normal has in storefor national digital transformation plans. Tune in!
This year’s e-Governance Conference – A Digital Decade in One Year – looks at the implications of the accelerated digital transformation resulting from the pandemic. The programme creates space to explore the new normal in which we find ourselves today, and the next normal that we are entering.
In the build-up to the Conference, our podcasts will introduce some main speakers and topics that will take part in the programme.
In today's episode, interoperability expert Heiko Vainsalu invites you to explore interoperability, and why countries need it when developing e-government. Heiko shares some insights into various ways of reaching interoperability, and explains on what the approach should be based. Moreover, he sheds light on why some countries succeed and others not. More closely he discusses Mongolia's approach towards interoperability.
The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
Join us at the e-Governance Conference https://2021.egovconference.ee/ to hear more about what helps countries become digitally interoperable! The session 'Lessons on How to Make Data Run, Not People' will feature
Ville Sirviö – Chief Executive Officer, Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions,
Riho Kurg – Head of Data Exchange Technologies, Cybernetica,
Arvo Ott – Director of e-Governance Technologies and Member of the Management Board, e-Governance Academy.
And will be moderated by Heiko Vainsalu.
This year’s e-Governance Conference – A Digital Decade in One Year – looks at the implications of the accelerated digital transformation resulting from the pandemic. The programme creates space to explore the new normal in which we find ourselves today and the next normal that we are entering.
In the build-up to the Conference, our podcasts will introduce some of the main speakers that will take part in the programme. One of the keynotes will be delivered by Trond Arne Undheim - futurist, investor, author and entrepreneur. Together we discussed the future of e-governance and the considerations for leaders preparing for the next normal. Tune in!
For more than four years, the e-Governance Academy's team has assisted digital transformation in Ukraine by creating the conditions for digital services' provision. In this episode, our Ukrainian team leader, Mari Pedak, casts light on the technical developments within the EGOV4Ukraine project, the organisational developments in the Ukrainian government, and the changes in Ukraine's officials' and citizens' attitude towards digital solutions and services during the last years.
According to Mari Pedak, this change can be summarised as: within four years the question "Why do we need the Trembita data exchange platform and the Vulyk information system?" has changed into "When will they be ready?". Since the work that the EGOV4Ukraine project team has done is not as easy as a walk in the park, Mari also discusses the invisible work behind the scenes that the team had to do.
Tune in!
With the COVID19 vaccines developed and immunization campaigns being rolled out, governments and international organisations are now seeking a way to harmonize how to exit the crisis with vaccine certificates.
In this Digital Government Podcast, we invite you to examine what are the technological and organisational enablers to raise trust towards vaccine certificates.
The podcast features Konstantin Hyppönen (EC), Ain Aaviksoo (Guardtime) and Vincent van Pelt (Nictiz) and is hosted by Paul Timmers, the distinguished expert on digital health.
The episode is the recording of Digital Transformation Talks, which is a series of timely online discussions organised by the e-Governance Academy. For more information, visit the Digital Transformation Talks’ website ega.ee/ehealthsecurity.
Tune in!
In this episode, we invite you to listen to the topical discussion on cross-border health-data exchange challenges due to the new vaccine certificate. We examine the challenges and opportunities from the perspective of hospitals, governments and worldwide organisations as the World Health Organisation. How could we benefit from the health data exchange between countries? Why it is so hard to reach? Will the Global Trust Framework led by the World Health Organisation make it happen?
The discussion features Clayton Hamilton from the World Health Organisation; Dr Terje Peetso, from the North Estonia Medical Centre (Estonia); Marten Kaevats from the Government Office of Estonia and is moderated by Merle Maigre from the e-Governance Academy.
The episode is the recording of Digital Transformation Talks, which is a series of timely online discussions organised by the e-Governance Academy. For more information, visit the Digital Transformation Talks’ website ega.ee/ehealthsecurity.
Tune in!
Cyber threats and attacks are part of the daily management of IT systems and e-services. Usually, we, as regular users of e-services, do not know about attacks as long as the e-service is available and working. In this episode, Epp Maaten, Programme Director of Cyber Security, talks about how to secure e-services, IT systems or even networks from cyber attacks. She casts light on a process called 'penetration testing' that will give an overview of vulnerabilities in the targeted cyber environment and the risks associated with it. Close to hacking, penetration testing is a very useful method to keep IT systems and e-services safe.
Tune in to find out more!
The COVID19 pandemic has created a new reality for the healthcare sector, globally testing its limits. The European Commission, along with the World Health Organisation, is looking for a scalable digital infrastructure for secure vaccination certification to help governments to reopen societies and economies.
In this episode, Merle Maigre, the organizer of the Digital Transformation Talks introduces the digital health security discussions that will take place on 24 March online. The discussion will focus on digital health solutions and the challenges governments and the health sector is facing. “For credible future digital health solutions, we need people to understand better both the medical and the cybersecurity challenges,” is she convinced.
The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
For more information about the event, visit the Digital Transformation Talks’ website ega.ee/ehealthsecurity .
Register now to ensure your spot HERE.
Digital technologies have become ever more embedded in our everyday lives, introducing topical questions over their fair and ethical use. Openness and transparency in service delivery enable such requests. But, also, these trigger a change in values and attitudes that intensify pressure on governments and companies to be more accountable for the impact of their activities.
This impact might be social, economic, environmental, technological – and still, falling under the wide umbrella of the consequences of digitalisation. So how do we define this new set of expectations?
Linnar Viik, Programme Director of Smart Governance at e-Governance Academy, introduces us to the vibrant debate on Corporate Digital Responsibility. The episode is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, our guest Marten Kaevats, the National Digital Advisor of the Estonian Government, will shed light on why and how to deploy artificial intelligence for public service provision. Is AI a viral buzzword or a beneficial tool to make public service provision smarter and more efficient?
He familiarizes us with the new creature, the ‘Kratt’, that assists the Estonian government in deploying public services. And last, but not least, he shares with us how the engagement of AI will shape public sector thinking and procurement habits.
The podcast is hosted by Federico Plantera.
Tune in!
On Estonia's Independence Day on 24 February, we are glad to share with you the secret behind the digital transformation success story of Estonia. So, why did Estonia succeed?
To a great extent, Estonia's success is a story of luck and timing. But hindsight has allowed the architects of the digital state to extract a blueprint to support digitalisation in other countries.
With Linnar Viik, our Programme Director of Smart Governance, we reflect on the components that benefited Estonia’s digital transformation and the mindset that can help any country succeed. Follow us! And Happy Independence Day Estonia!
By now, we have become familiar with how the relationship between big tech firms and governments has largely been portrayed in the media. So often it looks like a clash between opposing factions – the first standing on its ground to keep the market as free as possible, with the latter proposing laws to holding these companies increasingly more accountable.
Is there, actually, a conflict between these two forces? A rather conciliatory response to this puzzle comes from Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, the Senior Legal Expert at e-Governance Academy. Through her contribution, we explore who makes the rules on the Internet today and why offering tech giants a seat at the law-making table could lead to more effective regulatory environments. Tune in!
Welcome to our 26th episode of the Digital Government Podcast! In today's episode, Janek Rozov, Strategy Director at the Information Technology and Development Center of the Ministry of Interior and the former Chief Digital Officer of the Estonian Government, clarifies the questions that should be answered before going digital with public services. We talk about the value of e-services, the legislation behind it, and the connectivity and social context of public e-services. Tune in!
What comes in your mind when you hear someone mentioning the Pacific Islands? Probably sandy beaches, palm trees and sunshine. In this episode of the Digital Government Podcast, we go beyond the tourist attractions and take a look at the digital side of these countries. Today's guest, Hannes Astok, sheds light on how the governments of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga are resolving the main challenges that are holding back their digital transformation. But he also shares his dreams on what horizons the better internet connectivity and IT-wise officials could open for the people of the Pacific Islands. Tune in!
Do you know how old is the concept of online voting? It comes back to the 19th century when Thomas Alva Edison introduced it to the US congress. Why then, even two centuries later, are there so few countries that use online voting to ensure equal access for their citizens to express their democratic rights? Even in today’s world, where due to pandemic it would be safer to vote remotely, staying at home?
In this episode, cyber security experts Liisa Past and Jan Willemson from Cybernetica Ltd talk about the historical and cognitive aspects of online voting and explain how technology and maths ensure the requirements of voting freedom and competitiveness, thus making online voting a secure and trustworthy solution.
Liisa Past introduces the talk as the followings: "Historical experience and constant practice make relatively static paper elections predictable and therefore safe. The dynamic digital world requires new approaches to the elections and a new risk assessment. Election organisers alone cannot operate in a much more dynamic digital world; they must be supported by scientists as well as cyber security guards and communicators."
According to Jan Willemson: "The reason why we consider paper elections to be safe is due to historical experience, but not always due to rational risk analysis. The danger here is that the historical experience is valid in a historical environment, but the environment is currently changing very rapidly. Therefore, the security level of paper elections should also be reassessed in the context of current rapid technological development. The benefit of mathematics is that it allows us to make stronger claims for online voting, than what you possibly have about paper voting."
What are these claims? What makes online voting secure? Tune in to find out!
The podcast was recorded on January 6.
“Corruption as a disease, for which transparency is the cure” is a politically popular analogy, that surely resonates when trying to capture such widespread, global challenge all countries continue to face today. But researchers contend that the actual manifestations of corruption are far too complex to fit into the simple frames built by this parallel.
If we build a conceptual bridge with healthcare, the analogy holds more easily. The sector has been long benefitting from technology and emerging innovation – can the same happen to the fight against corruption?
Together with Carina Paju, Executive Director at Transparency International (TI) Estonia, and Kristina Reinsalu, Programme Director of e-Democracy at e-Governance Academy, we explore some of the latest digital tools deployed to combat corruption. Tune in!
At the beginning of the year, we summed up our lessons learnt from the digital transformation journeys of various countries. Our team has been on these journeys for the past 18 years and obtained useful lessons that could benefit every country that starts or continues its digital transformation.
In this episode, Federico Plantera and Hannes Astok provide the list of preconditions and main features that assure the successful development and implementation of digital solutions.
Their talk is showcased by examples from Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and the Pacific Islands. Tune in!
The year 2020 became definitely a crossroad in digital transformation. Has it been any easy, with all the pain this pandemic caused? Absolutely not. But, on the flip side, the digital way has been now internalised as a must and a necessity by everyone like never before.
This year, what awaits is a systematisation of all the disruptors that shaped new normality. With Linnar Viik, Programme Director of Smart Governance at e-Governance Academy, we shed light on the digital trends set to shape transformative projects in the public sector in 2021. Tune in!
What lessons learned should governments and public officials take away from this year? In this year’s final episode of the Digital Government Podcast, former President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves shares his hopes, fears and criticisms on how governments have coped with the pandemic challenges.
As expected from the former President of Estonia, his recipe for governments to challenge the pandemic is to go digital and enhance cooperation. In the episode, he highlights the need for cross-border interoperable data exchange to track the coronavirus and share vaccination information. Moreover, he points out the bottlenecks that don't allow us to fully benefit from technology. Tune in!
In a democratic society, the quality of the relationship between governments and citizens is a key talking point – and if not, most probably it should. Across the layers of governance, municipalities certainly represent the closest governmental actor to citizens. Such proximity not only works as the testing ground for state-to-people interactions but also as an incubator for innovative ideas directly sourced from the citizenry.
Kristina Reinsalu, Programme Director of e-Democracy at eGA, has been one of the main initiators and facilitators of the Participatory Budgeting in Estonia, and Georgia.
In this episode, we explore with her how engaging citizens in decision-making unlocks hidden resources for local administrators and dramatically contributes to community building.
Tune in!
In the light of the ongoing pandemic, today's Digital Government podcast addresses one of the most sensitive topics - privacy and human rights while governments are combating COVID19 and developing tracking apps.
Are our rights and privacy in danger? How can governments address these concerns and what should be a good practice?
Listen to Katrin Nyman-Metcalf and Linnar Viik to find out.
In today's Digital Government podcast we invite you to Benin, a West-African country with more than 10 million inhabitants. Our collaboration partner Serge Adjovi, Director General of the National Information Systems and Services Agency (ASSI), and our Project Manager Marit Lani talk about the lessons learnt by the Beninese government, gained through the implementation the Estonian-origin backbone for government e-services - the secure data exchange platform - and the development of the citizen portal for the provision of government services.
What were their biggest challenges? Tune in to find out!
Recent elections in the US and in other countries raised a lot of claims that election results might be manipulated. Our CyberConf2020, to be held online on 24 November, dives deep into the topic of how to secure elections in the digital era. In today's Digital Government Podcast, Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of Estonia and a speaker at the conference, sheds light on the ways countries are struggling with the integrity and trustworthiness of elections. Tune in!
In parallel with a crisis of public health, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great damage also to the national economy of most countries.
Regardless of how hard these have been hit in terms of casualties and infection rates, lockdown measures have been enforced to different degrees almost everywhere in Europe and around the world. As a consequence, an unprecedented economic crisis has disrupted jobs, incomes, value chains, requiring governments and international organizations to act fast and channel funds into domestic markets to stay afloat.
In today's episode, Linnar Viik sheds light on how governments can shape their post-pandemic labor markets and economies. His main suggestion is: shift the focus from public services digitalisation to the economy and society as a whole. The digital DNA of companies and societies is very much needed during these times. But how is it gained? The talk is lead by Federico Plantera. Tune in to find out!
In the Digital Government Podcast Episode, the previous contributors to the report "Freedom on The Net", Linnar Viik and Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, shed light on this year's Internet Freedom Index global report. They clarify two different views on freedom of expression, which is one of the cornerstones of Internet freedom, and answer the question of why governments don't like the Internet to be free.
The report "Freedom on The Net" is published by a US-based think tank annually. It analyses the rights and freedoms of people in 65 countries regarding public webspace. The index covers areas, such as obstacles to access, lack of unfounded restrictions on online content, ensuring user rights, as well as the freedom and responsibilities of online user behaviour. The overall findings of the report this year were that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating a dramatic decline in global internet freedom.
At times of COVID-19, cyber hygiene became particularly important. Being more cyber aware and practising healthy cyber hygiene is what will ultimately help you keep your business or administration continuity when you need it. In this episode, our senior cybersecurity expert Merle Maigre shares best practices of cyber hygiene from France, Estonia, the UK that is useful for every Internet user and organization. Tune in!
In today's episode, we focus on cybersecurity, as October is European Cyber Security Month. Epp Maaten, Programme Director of Cyber Security at the e-Governance Academy peeks into the main features and goals of the National Cyber Security Index (NCSI) to explain how it serves as a fundamental tool for governments to advance their cybersecurity capacities and protect their cyberspace.
Tune in!
When it comes to political participation, elections represent something that most countries have in common, but that differentiates them between each other at the same time. All democratic nations set rounds of voting to renew people’s representatives in national assemblies; however, almost all nations vary in the ways elections are carried out.
From registration to counting and publishing of the results, there are many opportunities to implement electronic means to facilitate and streamline the process of voting. But moving parts of this process to the cyberworld, of course, carries related risks.
The speakers of today’s issue of the Digital Government podcast have a far-reaching background in electronic voting and the risks connected to it.
Liisa Past, outgoing Chief Cyber Risk Officer for the Government of Estonia, was also one of the driving forces behind the Estonian Comprehensive Risk Assessment of Elections, as well as the Compendium on Cyber Security of Election Technology. Epp Maaten instead, currently Programme Director of Cyber Security at eGA, has served in the Estonian National Electoral Committee and as Deputy Head of the Electronic Voting Committee.
Discussion is moderated by Federico Plantera.
Listen to the podcast to delve deep into the challenges and breakthroughs of making digital solutions common practice in elections!
Much as in the fight against Covid-19, prevention proves to be a key determinant of our safety on the internet. However, deliberate threats to both citizens and organisations still hide just around the corner. Despite our individual care and attention towards cyber behaviours, malicious actors might intentionally try to hijack personal data or information systems.
As a discipline, cyber security taps into the gaps left uncovered by ordinary cyber hygiene – cybercrime, or the protection of critical cyber infrastructure. Consequently, governments must provide protection against such threats as a way to shelter the public good online, letting citizens and businesses sleep well at night with regard to their internet assets.
Raul Rikk, National Cyber Security Policy Director at Estonia’s Government CIO office, speaks of what defines the role of government in ensuring cybersecurity for everyone.
Where do we come from? Where do we stand? And where to go from here? Though the feeling might be that of a high-school psychology blog, there is no existentialism in these questions – at least in the current case. In order to formulate with efficacy digital transformation roadmaps for governments, policy makers must first understand the digital maturity of their own institutional environment.
Linnar Viik, Programme Director of Smart Governance, presents here a government digital maturity assessment. As a stepping stone towards conscious e-governance development, the analysis works as a tool to identify bottlenecks and opportunities in moving towards a digital process management. Tune in and find out how does it work!
To many, the road to e-governance may seem rocky. Not only during some client meetings, but also in seminars and just conversations in general, an age-old question is often brought up: “Digitalization, okay, great. But there are too many legal obstacles to implement it in our country.” Today, we get this one off the board too.
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf, Senior Expert on Legal Framework at e-Governance Academy, addresses the legal obstacles to e-government that, as it turns out, basically do not exist. Easier said than done?
Are you interested in starting your country's digital transformation despite the pandemic? Wondering where you should begin? Listen to our new episode of the Digital Government podcast where Annela Kiirats, Programme Director of e-Governance Training explains the benefits of the e-governance training group courses, offline and online, where all team members are included.
Having more than decade of experience in advising various organisations in digital transformation, Annela shares the examples of the best trainees and what they have achieved so far. Tune in!
In this podcast, Kristina Reinsalu, e-democracy programme director, sheds some light on e-participation. She explains what makes ‘e-participation’ similar to ‘participation’ and why they differ. The use of ICT-solutions in decision-making processes is more and more popular in the world, but does it motivate people to participate more and are they heard by the government? She shares examples of various countries on how to make people’s engagement in decision-making processes more efficient and enjoyable for both citizens and officials.
As the UN e-Government Survey 2020 was recently published, Kristina digs through the e-participation rankings and explains what the survey measures. You will hear why the countries at the top have reached these positions and what the Estonian government has done differently to be ranked first in e-participation. Additionally, you’ll be aware of why there are only European, Asian and North-American countries at the top, but no African or South American countries. Does the ranking describe the local reality truthfully?
And as the cherry on top, Kristina lists e-participation best practices from Finland, Spain, USA and the UK.
Tune in and find out why they are worthy to be followed by your government!
eGA's Digital Government Podcast is focusing today on Ukraine’s digital developments. Linnar Viik and Hannes Astok shed some light on the latest digital developments and challenges in one of Europe's biggest countries. In the last few years, Ukraine’s government has endeavoured incessantly to detach itself from paper-based procedures, to enable and provide e-services, and to reduce corruption with the help of IT-solutions and of the secure data exchange platform 'Trembita'.
How has Ukraine managed so far? What are the highlights of success and what setbacks materialised in its digital transformation journey? Tune in to find out!
Hannes Astok and Linnar Viik continue examining the DESI - the Digital Economy and Society Index. This time they focus on how citizens use internet services, how businesses are moving towards digital, and on the development of e-government in different European countries. They look behind the numbers and explain where EU's national governments have succeeded and where they have failed.
There are many ways to measure the progress and impact of digital transformation in societies. Today, Hannes Astok and Linnar Viik make a deeper dive into DESI - the Digital Economy and Society Index. They look behind the numbers and explain where EU's national governments have succeeded and where they have failed. In this episode, they focus on digital skills and connectivity in EU countries. Moreover, Linnar explains what the European digital paradox is. Tune in to find out!
In today's episode, Hannes Astok and Linnar Viik shed light on the world's best driver of digital transformation - the COVID19 pandemic. They talk about the main obstacles in the way of epic digital transformation in many countries. We know that paper-based public services are practically useless when whole countries are shut down because of the pandemic. Why does it require governments so much effort to start providing public services online? How can governments build on the momentum?
Tune in to our podcast and find out!
In this week's intro episode Hannes Astok and Linnar Viik take you through the last four decades that shaped Estonian e-governance, share flashbacks about the early years and take a peek into the future.
Tune in every Wednesday to hear our experts' insights and worldwide examples on how digital technology could benefit every society.