Day #2: Estonia: best example of digitization?

After knowing that one of the topics this week is the idea of "digitization", I remembered a piece of news that I read some months ago about Estonia. Their impressive system of e-government is a model for many developed countries. I don't recall exactly the article I read, yet there is plenty of information when googling "Estonia" + "digitization", such as this, this or this.

They all talk about the same: e-Estonia. That is the name of the approach taken by the government to incorporate electronic solutions to the interaction cititzens-state. That includes many aspects, from voting (i-Voting) to taxes (e-Tax Board), from schools and universities (e-School) to telemedicine.

One of the most interesting aspect is the idea of e-Residence, started in 2014. Estonia became the first country to offer electronic residence to people from outside the country. Although it doesn't grant physical residence or the right to enter the country, it lets non-residents access other Estonian electronic services, as well as signing documents over the Internet.

But perhaps the most surprising fact is that 20 years ago, just after Estonia became independent, under half of the population had a phone line. It proves that a strong commitment with technology makes the society advance towards full digitization.

However, I think that this kind of revolutionary changes can only work in small places, like Estonia or Singapore, another country with a high index of digitization. Or at least nowadays. In my case, I really feel the difference between the level of digitization in Spain, my home country, and Sweden, where I live. And I consider that one of the many reasons for this difference is the number of inhabitants, in the sense that  services like these are easier to implement and controll with a low number of users.

Anyway, that is not a excuse, and I feel that Estonia's effort should be an example for all countries interested in digitization. Actually, the former Estonian president credited for this digitization process, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, will help the Greek government to prepare the digitization of the Greek public administration. 

e-Residency kit, from e-resident.gov.ee