If you saw the headline for this article, one of your first thoughts might have been “What the hell is an e-society?” If it was, I get where you‘re coming from. It kind of sounds like another half-baked buzzword you’d hear dropped in a middle-of-the-road TED Talk, but I swear there's a lot to it.
At a high level, an e-society is a society that leans on electronic information and communication technologies to streamline interactions with the state, facilitate private innovation, and improve quality of life for citizens — and there are few (if any) nations that have executed on that premise better than Estonia.
The country has digitized its bureaucracy. Almost any bureaucratic task can be done virtually, including safe online elections and online income tax declarations — making it the world's second leader in e-government development, according to the UN's E-government Development Index (EGDI).
However, its digital commitment extends beyond the public sector. Estonia has also pursued programs and implemented policies to make the nation a hub for global business and private innovation, housing the highest number of startups, investments, and unicorns per capita in Europe.
Here, we'll take a closer look at how Estonia has landed on the cutting edge of digital transformation and positioned itself as a benchmark for future e-societies — along with some key lessons and takeaways its model offers.
Tips & Takeaways from Estonia
1. Innovation isn't insular.
Estonia‘s position at the forefront of digital transformation is a direct byproduct of its willingness to involve contributors beyond its population. It’s “friendly” on a lot of fronts — whether that be to foreign entrepreneurs, startups, or digital nomads.
In 2014, it became the first country to offer digital residency to non-Estonians living anywhere in the world. As part of the program, nonresidents are given a smart ID card that gives them access to many of the same e-services available to Estonians (including the ability to open and operate an Estonian company and business bank account).
As of 2023, Estonia had granted e-residency to roughly 105k people, generating an estimated 183M euros in economic impact for the country.
It also took other strides to fold more tech innovators into its population, including its pandemic-prompted Digital Nomad Visa — allowing foreign remote workers to stay in Estonia for up to one year.
Estonia has also worked to become a hub for global tech entrepreneurship by starting its special Startup Visa program in 2017, helping non-EU founders grow their tech startups in the country and easing the process for Estonian startups to hire non-EU talent.
The Takeaway
If there‘s any lesson to be pulled from how Estonia has leveraged virtual resources and accessibility to establish itself as a blueprint for e-societies, it’s that a thriving digital society can't be insular.
Overseeing a population of less than 1.4 million, Estonia's government seems to recognize that its ability to develop forward-thinking tech on its own is inherently limited. The country has been able to expand its reach and reputation as a hub for innovation through its e-residency programs and expedited avenues for establishing and growing businesses.
Digital transformation is a democratizing force, so naturally, countries that stake their identities on staying on top of it can't be too restrictive of external influence.
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2. Invest in a sound, forward-thinking edtech infrastructure.
Estonia was ahead of the game on e-learning solutions, going into the pandemic — like really ahead of it. 100% of Estonian schools were using e-schooling solutions long before the coronavirus forced pretty much every student, teacher, and (if we're being real) parent on the planet to adapt to remote learning.
Estonia has had computers in every classroom in the country since 2000, and as early as 2015, the Estonian government pledged to digitize all education materials. When the pandemic hit, Estonia became both a role model and an invaluable resource for the international community when it made its ed-tech solutions for distance learning available to all countries for free.
But Estonia‘s contributions to e-learning don’t begin and end with its government. Private Estonian edtech companies built solutions to help remedy issues teachers were facing. Those included Clanbeat — a virtual teachers’ lounge and well-being resource that enables school staff to connect at a distance.
The product started as a teacher onboarding tool and place for principals to conduct personal development reviews and has evolved into a community platform where teachers can share their successes and challenges — and crowdsource help from colleagues.
The Takeaway
Saying that education systems need to remain adaptable in the digital age isn‘t revolutionary. The fact that so many struggled in the mid-pandemic is evidence of that. And it’s even less revolutionary to point out that a sound education infrastructure is foundational to a country's future.
Still, where several governments have lost sight of those facts, Estonia has made a point of doubling down on both. Education is one of the main areas where the country has stayed on the cutting edge, and it shows.
Estonian children are the most knowledgeable in Europe according to results from the 2022 PISA test: a global standardized test that gauges students' proficiency in key subjects. They rank first on the continent in natural sciences and mathematics and second in reading.
Estonia, as a reference point for future e-societies, demonstrates the value of investing in innovative education solutions — showing future digital-first societies where their priorities should lie.
3. Don't let cyber threats undermine your commitment to digitalization.
Cybercrime is big business. It's an industry in itself — expected to impose an annual cost of $13.28 trillion globally by 2028, and Estonia is no stranger to its impact. In 2007, the country fell victim to the first-known cyberattack on an entire nation.
The attack impacted or fully took down online services across the board for weeks, disrupting everything from banking to public institutions to media outlets.
It was a wakeup call for a country with such massive digital aspirations — a real put up or shut up moment for a country looking to stay at the forefront of digital transformation — and it's safe to say Estonia woke up.
In the wake of the attack, the country has established itself as an international heavyweight in cybersecurity. Estonia currently has the number one global cybersecurity index in the EU and the third best in the world as a whole. It's also home to one of the wider ranges of cybersecurity startups and consulting firms worldwide.
The Takeaway
Cybersecurity might be the main concern most people would have about living in an e-society, and that's perfectly reasonable. The prospect of having everything from elections to tax declarations to education securely shifted online is inherently nerve-racking.
It takes a lot of trust to sell your population on digitizing pretty much every aspect of society, so a massive cybersecurity breach that upends that process isn't super ideal.
But Estonia didn't let the attack undermine its goals — instead, the country demonstrated its capacity to adapt again. It took the strides necessary to establish itself as a cybersecurity powerhouse and bolster its position as a model e-society.
Ultimately, Estonia kept its legs moving to remain at the forefront of digital transformation in Europe — showing aspiring e-societies that cybersecurity threats don't have to derail their digital ambitions.
Adaptability and persistence make an e-society.
If there‘s anything to take away from Estonia’s push towards becoming a bonafide e-society, it's that adaptability and persistence are key. If you want to be at the forefront of digital transformation, you have to commit to being forward-thinking.
Successful e-societies are going to address social, economic, and political challenges with digital solutions — above all others — and Estonia has been a model for that kind of prioritization.
From bolstering its education infrastructure to fostering innovation in the private sector, the country has consistently thought digital-first. It's that mentality that has made it such a benchmark for future e-societies.
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