Recent in-depth analysis of the costs of the election manifesto promises of all the political parties in Estonia revealed proposals which would cost money vastly exceeded those which would bring in revenue. Whilst this was not surprising, writes Rauno Vinni, many political parties have also offered a reduction in bureaucracy and cutting back of officialdom. But would such state reform actually help to solve the shortage of resources? There is a strange paradox where reducing bureaucracy actually costs money, making it difficult to afford to reduce said bureaucracy.
All political parties are promising new services at these elections, and large-scale investment into key areas like education, health, international and external security, social policy etc. However, the gulf between how much implementing these costs, and the potential which could be reaped from them, is so great, that merely trimming back the state apparatus is not going to be enough to garner the resources needed.
Estonia's bold digital initiatives earned it a spot in the highest echelons of the UN's E-Government Development Index. Find out what other countries can learn from Estonia's e-government success.
The European country of Estonia is steeped in history—it's home to the best-preserved medieval capital in Northern Europe. But in the 21st century, Estonia is perhaps most famous for looking to the future, thanks to building an impressive system of e-government.
Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) attended the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos this week, where he spoke to heads of state and government as well as to business representatives about the Estonian experience with its e-state and e-government.
Mr Ratas met with the CEOs of Apple, Accenture, BenevolentAI, Booking.com, Coca-Cola, Ericsson, Facebook, Investor AB, Koc Holding, Proteus Digital Health, Paypal and Uber Technologies. According to a government press release, the main topic of discussion was the potential for further cooperation.
Read more: Ratas speaks on Estonian e-state experience at World Economic Forum
- What is Estonia’s e-Residency program? How many e-Residents are there globally and how many Indian e-Residents are there?
E-Residency is a status provided to people who are neither citizens nor residents of Estonia, but are granted an Estonian digital ID and access to Estonia’s e-services.
Estonians can access about 99% of public services online through an encrypted digital ID.
- A new report from The Associated Press outlines Estonia's most recent advancements in its digital government.
- Estonia allows its citizens to vote, obtains medical data and register business documents online.
- Given security concerns and other complications, it remains unclear whether nations like the U.S. could implement similar systems.
Read more: How Estonia’s paperless e-government serves as a model for other nations