[SIZE="1"]Translation of an article from WirtschaftsWoche 32/14[/SIZE]
[SIZE="3"]Estonia|Liberal*, dynamic, cosmopolitan - the northernmost state of the Baltics could be the prototype for the modernisation of the EU.[/SIZE]
Ats Vooglaid loves cars and speed. His 350 HP strong Lotus Elise accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5 seconds. The young entrepreneur now also wants to rev up electrically. 3 months ago the 38-year old Estonian bought a BMW i3. "This e-car drives like a racing car. And finally there's also space for wife and baby." For the Estonian the i3 is the "perfect addition" to the Lotus.
Vooglaid doesn't have the fear to be stuck on the road with an empty battery. He normally charges his i3's battery in the garage at night. And he was very sparing during the last trip. He used 14 kW, as the manufacturer app on his Nokia Smartphone shows. He gained back 1/4 of the energy with breaking. 100 km for 1 € - "a good balance", so Vooglaid. Cross-country trips ar also provisioned for in Estonia. Every 50 km there is a fast recharge post standing at the side of the road.
The area-wide charging-infrastructure for e-cars is Estonia's newest flagship project - and with this the northernmost Baltic state is again one step ahead. The small country, about as big as Nether Saxony (German federal state), especially dictates the rhythm of change as the most efficient bureaucracy of Europe. The administartion made in Tallinn could even provide the blueprints for the modernisation of the European Union.
For years the country with its 1.4 million inhabitants counts as the paragon of the EU. During the last 4 years she grew by about 4% on aveage - only the southern neighbour Latvia developed more dynamically. The government's debt ratio is at 10% of the GDP. During the financial crisis Estonia supported the recue project for Greece even though the South Europeans have a higher per-capita income than the Estonians. The country is working instead of complaning - and it's a stronghold of the ALDE, as the Alliance of Liberals* and Democrats for Europe calls itself.
CONCURRENCE TO SAP
The people make the difference. Persons like Vooglaid, who with some partners founded the successful enterprise Directo in 2000 and is currently a serious competitor for the German software corpopration SAP in Northern Europe. For him and his employees the connection with the digital world is an essential prerequisite for everything new in the country. Vooglaid regulates heaters and charging process in the i3 per App, analyzes his city tours and looks for the nearest fast charging post on the internet during cross-country trips. The state subsidises the purchase of an e-car with up to 18.000 €. After a slow start about 600 citizens are now following his example. Vooglaid also wants to "contributelly ecologically" with it.
New technologies avhe it easy in Estonia, especailly when they are digital. For years now the state is setting new standards in e-goverment. The country guaratnees every citizen a net identity, which everyone carries around in the form of his ID. The state calls the strategy to digitalise public administration E-Estonia. And Taavi Kotka is the It-head of government. "There is a fundamental right for internet", Kotka says. With card readers that are plugged int the PC per USB, and with the entry of a personal code Estonians authorise their data transfer with the state.
Declaring taxes. Deductible expenses like insurances, credits or kindergarten contributions are directly transferred to the tax office by enterprises and agencies. The tax declaration at the end of the year stands ready in the internet, the citizen just releases it. That takes two minutes. THe state remburses taxes within two weeks.
Founding a business. Founding an enterprise takes barely more than a quarter of an hour. VAT is accounted by the athourities in the shortest ammount o time. And of course businesses sign their contracts with a digital singature.
Viewing grades. Every school in the country is equipped with computers and IT. Lesson plans and class schedules are on the web. Parents can inspect their children's performance around the clock. Grades of exams are published online. THe digital school book is already reality.
Vote. Since 2005 Estonians can vote online - per card reader and ID. While only 2% of citizens voted in thecommunal elections back then, it was 31% in the European elections about two months ago.
Managing the health record. Recipes, x-ray pictures and diagnoses are saved on servers by the doctors. Doctors have access to the data of their patients, expensive double examinations are avoided. The system saves every inquiry. By wish the patient can block specfic data from access.
Which seems like a nightmare for Germans is a symbol of freedom for the IT-fanatical Estonians. Crucial with everything is control. "The citizens keep the sovereignty over their data", Kotka says. "They know what the state knows about them and can control, who acces the personal data when." IN Germany people are worried about their privacy and data safety when the state collects personal data. But Germans don't even know at all what the state knows about them. "In Estonia everyone knows."
Estonia has perfectionised e-government. The government in Tallinn calculates for us, that the stately IT only costs about 50 million € - a 400th of the British IT-budget. On top of that knowledge about the openness for net economy is spreading. Estonia is home to the video and voice service Skype, now a daughter of the US corporation Microsoft. Since then more start-ups have been founded. The idea forge** in Tallinn is booming, and international corporations are arriving. Kühne + Nagel (K+N) didn't make it easy on themselves. The globally third-biggest logistician seated in Switzerland put its bets on the outsourcing trend towards China many years ago. Besides the main office in Hamburg K+N also had its IT applications developed close to Hongkong - for a third of the hanseatic wage level. But because of inadequate English skills and lacking efficiency "our IT-location there was a lot more expensive than Hamburg on bottom line", Martin Kolbe says, IT-chairman of the logistician. 2009 K+N began the search for a new developer forge in Eastern Europe in 2009. Poland the the Czech Republic were disqualified, because too many businesse are already fighting for the few software developers. Some potential countries remained, like the Ukraine, Serbia, White Russia and the Baltic states. 2010 Estonia won the bid - "with a clear headstart", thus Kolbe.
Sicne then Kühne+Nagel is also developing in Tallinn. The number of employees rose from 100 to 150. "The Estonians convinced with excellent English skills, high loyalty and clever ideas", Kolbe says. Cooperation may not always be free of conflict, but Estonians would approach problems pragmatically and creatively. On top of that they would share a simlarmentality with the Germans. "The Estonians listen first, take consideration and then make a statement - always on the point". Estonia has lured numerous enterprises into the country. For logistics manager Koble this is also a consequence of the successful e-government strategy. "Here the Estonians showcase their pragmatism during the simplification and electonical presentation of administrative processes, for example with land register entries.", The government is advancing as a paragon here.
SIGNING OUT OF NOSTALGIA
Anne Sulling is the current star of the government in Estonia. The 37-year old belongs to the liberal cabinet since march of this year. On the day of her introduction she give the outh and signed the ministerial deed with a pen - the nly time during the last two months. "Signatures below official documents have a rather ceremonial character in Estonia", Sulling says. Thus during the last 5 years she has "signed most documents electronically". Sulling wants to bring her experience to Bruxelles in her future. "It is important that we have a common digital market inside the EU" says the minister for foreign commerce and entrepreneurship. Legal frames and infrastrcture have to be harmonised and standardised, "so digital signatures are valid everywhere". To convince e-governmence skeptics, the government in Tallin regularly invites foreign delegations into a showroom. "The people from other countries are routinely excited about what we have here."
Sulling and her colleagues already have the next coup in their view. They want to increase the number of those who use the complete repertoire of electronical services in Estonia tenfold. Until now only natives get ownership over an Estonian ID-card which entitles one to the usage of digital services. In the future non-Estonians shall also have access to them. THey could open a business in Estonia over the internet, open bank accounts and conclude deals within the EU - no matter where they are situated. "There is a big need for this service", Kotka says. He calls the foreignes who open the door to Europe in this way "satellite citizens". The IT-boss of the government puts the potential at 10 million people, who indireclty also increase security within the coutry. The more virtual residences there are in Estonia, the more strongly the state will be noticed in the international community. "The virtually increased population increases the survivability of the country", Kotka says. Other than the Crimea with its 2,4 million inhabitants Estland could then not simply be annyed by foreign states. Fear of Russia, the felt occupational force until 1991, is still present in Estonians. Therefore Estonia also wants to tranfser the administration of its national territory into other countries. "Data embassy", as Kotka calls it. All the server infrastructures which enable tax management, register of residents and voting shall be saved in the Estonian embassies in friendly states such as Australia, Japan, Brasil and Germany. Estonia could be "the first country worldwide in a digital cloud", Kotka says. "The state, her citizens and services would no longer be bound to a territory".
Original article by Christian Schlesiger.
[SIZE="1"]*The normal meaning of liberal is applied here, not the American one.
** x-forge is a favourite compound word metaphor in German for any place that does creative work. I decided to keep it literal because I don't know an English equivalent.[/SIZE]