10 May, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets opened a conference on e-governance, noting that the digitalisation of states was particularly important in today’s world, which is going through turbulent times. She added that Estonia has built an open and inclusive digital society based on trust, transparency and human-centric values.
“Estonia knows first-hand how digitalization can increase resilience. Estonia had to build its institutions from scratch in the 1990s. Going digital was the most efficient solution. Today, 99% of our services are available online at all times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these services continued uninterrupted, ensuring the continuity of the state,” the minister said.
Minister Liimets underlined that new technologies entailed many risks and challenges. “The number of malicious cyber operations has increased, targeting critical infrastructure, public e-services, the banking system, and the media. Cybersecurity has to become a natural and fully integrated part of all digital projects and partnerships.”
The minister said that in Europe, these efforts were now part of the Global Gateway strategy. Through Global Gateway and under the banner of Team Europe, Europe is supporting a more active and strategic engagement of its partners in driving values-based investments into high-quality digital and physical infrastructure, as well as in facilitating digital development in general. One such tool is the Digital for Development Hub, of which Estonia is a founding member.
“I am pleased to let you know that at this very moment, Estonia is handing over an innovative digital platform — the Team Europe Partnerships Portal — to the European Commission. This platform, developed by the Estonian private sector, will support EU member states in creating an even stronger bridge across all of the EU’s development cooperation initiatives.”
