Estonia Small Country, Technology Powerhouse - Andrewprozes

1. Estonia: Small Country, Technology Powerhouse Through my family’s long heritage, stories from my parents and relatives, and my own travel to Estonia, I have been amazed at the Estonian people’s perseverance and innovation, especially in the field of technology. All this subsequent to their freedom from Russian occupation in 1991. I recently had the pleasure of helping Estonia’s prime minster Taavi Rõivas bring a delegation of Estonian technologists and entrepreneurs to the United States to encourage investment by private equity and other sources in new information and technology in Estonia. With a little more than 1.3 million people and a challenging history (to say the least), one would not expect to be a leader in innovative technology. However the development in Estonia of Skype and other new innovations (such as TransferWise) have proven that Estonia is capable of some remarkable technological feats. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Estonia had the choice of adapting commonly accepted old systems and government practices, or develop a brand new innovative way of governing based on technology. Right from the very beginning of its new found freedom in 1991, Estonia decided to look forward and began investing in technology infrastructure and instilling a technology centric culture. As one example, all school children start to learn how to code as early as grade 1 (age 7). Today, Estonia’s so-called e-government connects medical and government records with virtually all personal information such school records, parking locations, passports, drivers’ records, local real estate records, etc etc. At the same time, the government is committed to privacy, security, transparency and adaptability. Each citizen is issued a unique ID code and card that is also connected to his or her mobile device, allowing citizens to vote, file taxes, receive tax refunds, sign legal documents, fill prescriptions – virtually do everything that, in some cases, we still handle the old fashioned way. To make the point about Estonia’s capabilities in data privacy and security, NATO established its center of excellence for cyber security in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In part, the rationales undoubtedly tie back to Estonia’s expertise in technology, its proximity to Russia, and the recent learnings from Russia’s vicious cyber-attacks on Estonia in 2007 as a direct retaliation for Andrewprozes | http://andrewprozes.com

2. Estonia moving a monument to Russian soldiers from the center of Tallinn to a nearby cemetery for fallen Russian soldiers. The fall of the Soviet Union also allowed the people of Estonia to own property and to pursue business ventures. Seeing the potential of the Internet, the government made access to the Internet a human right, built nationwide Wi-Fi networks and as mentioned above, started to train students in coding at the age of seven. The country’s technological accomplishments came to the world’s attention with the creation of Skype, which was developed primarily by Estonians in Estonia, and eventually sold to eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion, and then once again to Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion. Some of the Estonian developers who benefitted from the sales of Skype have reinvested in new ventures, continuing the virtuous circle of technology success begetting new successes, and further strengthening Estonia as a hotbed for technology start-ups, outpacing most other countries in Europe and across the world. There are more start-ups in Estonia than any other country in the world except Israel. It is remarkable that a country a quarter-century from Communist rule has been able to create an innovative technology-focused society. Estonia leapt back from the recession with a 1.1% budget surplus in 2011, the only EU country to achieve a surplus. Although virtually all Estonians want to make more money and live better, and there is discontent with government’s slowness in delivering higher wages and the like, there is no argument that they have come a long way since 1991, The Estonian government should be seen as a model for all countries committed to using technology as a platform for long-term sustainable economic growth. Estonia is an example of what can be done with hard work (starting at a very early age), perseverance and commitment to innovation based technology. Andrewprozes | http://andrewprozes.com