Estonia ICT Day

Smart Digital Solutions for Sustainable Development

Friday, October 2, 2015 I Preston Auditorium 1818 H Street, Washington D.C.

In recent years Estonia has emerged as one of the leaders in the area of innovative digital initiatives, especially in digital public service delivery. Estonian government is one of the most tech-savvy governments in the world, including its X-Road interoperability platform, mobile ID, online voting platform, online tax filings, and, most recently, its unprecedented e-residence initiative. This one-day, knowledge-sharing event titled “Estonia ICT Day – Smart Digital Solutions for Sustainable Development” will be an excellent opportunity to learn about Estonia’s digital transformation initiatives. The event will be preceded by a Keynote Speech from the President of Estonia, His Excellency Toomas Hendrik Ilves. A presentation by the World Bank team that authored the World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends will help place Estonia’s experience in the global context, providing an overview of the report’s main findings. The event participants will also hear from Estonian government and private sector leaders, and discuss how the Estonian experience can be leveraged in the World Bank activities for the benefit of developing countries. Given the timing of this event – scheduled shortly after the launch of the new Sustainable Development Goals 2030 at the UN General Assembly – and the emerging consensus that data-driven digital solutions are critical for their success, the wider objective of this event is to generate a discussion about what it means to become a digitally smart nation and how digital, data-driven solutions can help accelerate sustainable development.

This event is organized by World Bank Transport and ICT Global Practice in cooperation with the World Development Report 2016 and the Estonian

Embassy (in the United States).

 

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Agenda

Part 1. High Level Policy Roundtable

8:00 – 9:00

Registration and Coffee

High-Level Opening Keynote Session on Digitally Smart Development

9:00 – 9:05

Welcome by Pierre Guislain, Senior Director, Transport and ICT GP, World Bank (Chair)

9:05 – 9:15 Opening Remarks by Cyril Muller, Regional Vice President, Europe and Central Asia,  World Bank

9:15 – 9:30

Keynote Speech by His Excellency, President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves “Why Digital Technology is Critical for Sustainable Development?”

9:30 – 9:50

WDR Presentation on the state of e-government in general and Estonia’s e-government progress in the global context Speakers: Deepak Mishra, Co-Director, and Zahid Hasnain, Chapter Author, World Development Report 2016 “Digital Dividends” Discussant: Hans Timmer, Chief Economist, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank

9:50 – 10:10 Questions and Answers

10:10 – 10:30

Coffee Break

Presentation and Panel Discussion Session on Digital Transformation in Estonia

10:30 – 12:00 Presentation: “Digital Transformation in Estonia: Key Results and What Next” Abstract: Estonia has become one of the global leaders in digital governance, developing innovative solutions for public services. Estonia’s modern digital ecosystem was born out of necessity, smart public-private partnerships, administrative flexibility and forward-

 

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looking decision-making. The speaker will talk about how Estonia has solved organizational and technical issues related to the management of the state information system, explaining the legislation and implementation practices that have contributed to increased interoperability, usability, cost-efficiency and transparency in citizen-state relations. Estonia has minimized privacy issues by giving citizens an overview of who sees their data and the ability to restrict access. A special focus will be given to “once only” principle in data management, that is delivered by a decentralized data exchange platform (X-Road) connecting all digital governance applications. A high level of digital development has also brought challenges for defending the digital way of life, therefore cyber security has a very special attention in Estonia since cyber attacks in 2007. Speaker: Taimar Peterkop, Director General, Information System Authority, Estonia Panelists: Stela Mocan, Manager, ITSDC, WB (former CIO of the Government of Moldova) Ryan Panchadsaram, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer (TBC) Carlo Maria Rossotto, Lead ICT Policy Specialist and ECA/MENA Regional Coordinator, World Bank

Moderator: Samia Melhem, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank

12:00 – 1:00

Lunch

Part 2. Business Roundtable on Estonian Digital Solutions

This Roundtable will feature presentations and discussions on Estonian Digital Solutions by leading Estonian experts and high-level representatives from Estonian IT companies,

followed up by discussion and Q&A.

1:00 – 1:05

Welcome by Satu Santala, Executive Director for Nordic-Baltic countries, World Bank

1:05 – 2:00

Session 1

Presentation 1: “Dissemination of Good Practice of Open Democracy and e-Government” Speaker: Villem Alango, Head of Global Operations, Datel and Senior Expert of eGA (e-Governance Academy)

Abstract: E-Governance Academy is a kind of governmental non-profit organization which staff is mostly of political, governmental and scientific

 

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background with profound experience of transitions management and knowledge dissemination in different cultural contexts. We provide e-government developments with its political, legislative and sociologic expertise. When tangible practical results are required, we co-operate with technology partners. eGA has implemented a number of development co-operation projects (e.g. Afghanistan, Central Asia, Palestine and in different African countries to give some examples). E-Governance Academy has also introduced Estonian ICT solutions for delegations from the developing countries (e.g. Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia; etc.). In this respect we are co-operating closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With regard to the United States, we have been co-operating with USAID in the format of the Emerging Donors Fund (several projects in Central Asia).

Presentation 2: “Secure and Scalable e-Government Backbone Customs Engine – declaration Processing System for Customs Authorities” Speaker: Arne Ansper, Development Manager, Cybernetica Abstract: Cybernetica is a developer of the Estonian X-Road system that has been running continuously for 14 years and handles annually more than 400 million transactions. In addition to Estonia, Finland has decided to build their governmental e-services backbone on the same platform. Our company has productized the technology and is currently deploying it in Namibia and Haiti. We have also developed Customs Engine - Declaration Processing System for Customs Authorities. It is a modular, web-based system for customs authorities for handling customs declarations and automatic customs processes. It offers also web-based interface for traders. It is currently used by Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Presentation 3: “Software for efficient management control in tax collection” Speaker: Kris Hiiemaa, Chief Executive Officer, ERPLY Abstract: It is the duty of the government to narrow the excessively large gap between the planned tax revenue and revenue received. Therefore, it is of great importance to reform the fiscal system to establish sustainable tax return and ERPLY could be a tool to help carrying it through. The implementation of ERPLY ́s GOV POS will ultimately tackle challenges in areas such as tax evasion, slow growth of tax base and traders not issuing tax invoices. ERPLY automatically transmits tax information to the government agency responsible for the intake of government revenue; it has irreversible date mechanism; it issues fiscal receipts which are uniquely identifiable; it can be used as a stand-alone and configured into a network; it automatically saves configured data and records on permanent fiscal memory and has tax memory. As a result, it is expected that the effective use of GOV POS in a country

 

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would revolutionize and modernize state’s fiscal systems and conclusively increase government revenue collections. Presentation 4: “Business registry transformation in Oman; implementation of the latest healthcare data in Lithuania” Speaker: Taavi Einaste, Director of Healthcare Business Area, Partner at Nortal Abstract: Imagine a society in a state where everything just works. Where proper use of technology creates a perfect, continuous flow. Everything is orderly, logical and aesthetically consistent. ‘Quality’ is a word seldom uttered – it has become second nature to everything around us. The environment we have created and inhabit is seamless. Discussant: Ana Milena Aguilar Rivera, Health Economist, Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank  

2:00 – 2:15

Networking Break and Coffee

2:15 – 3:15

Session 2

Presentation 1: Cybersecurity in Digital Society

Speaker: Matthew Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, Guardtime Presentation 2: “Secure and Easy Cross Border E-Signing & Authentication” Speaker: Tiit Anmann, CEO and co-founder, SignWise Abstract: SignWise provides trusted and secure cross-border integration infrastructure to authenticate and validate identities and e-Sign electronic documents. Basically it is one service implementation (several eID-s (Electronic Identities) from more different EU and other countries. It is fast and secure cloud-based digital signing solution giving legally binding equal to handwritten e-signature. It helpis to get e-Services and internel systems to be end-to end paperless (replacing paper based document processes). For this end one Web Browser Module is needed to get access to different eID tokens (smartcards, cryptosticks, etc). Presentation 3: “Using Cloud-Based Mobile- and Web Solutions for different business areas (land use management & monitoring; real estate taxation; municipal permits issuance)” Speaker: Villem Alango, Head of Global Operations, Datel and Senior Expert of eGA (e-Governance Academy) Abstract: Every decision we make needs geospatial intelligence, the more data can be provided in a simple, clear format, the more effective we can be. We have taken web mapping to a new level, making GIS

 

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(geographic information system) simply a tool to make government services simpler, faster, and easier. From utility mapping to economic development and building permitting, location based information is all around us. Bring demographics, land value, emergency plans, utility routes, park locations and voter data to life. Cloud-based systems keep IT costs low as you no longer need your own servers and can access platform from any device with a web browser. Our solutions allow for easy integration with other e-Gov solutions and can produce electronic evidence of user activities, thus helping to develop governance practices towards transparency and observability. Discussant: Natalija Gelvanovska, Senior ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank Presentations will be followed by Open Discussion

3:15 – 3:30

Closing Remarks and Road Ahead Samia Melhem, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank, and Andrus Viirg, Director of Enterprise Estonia, Silicon Valley