Like many state-provided services in Estonia, the welfare benefit system has moved to a convenient, online environment.

Accessing the system through the State Portal, an individual can apply for maternity benefits or worker's disability without even leaving home.

Thanks to the X-Road, data from a number of different sources is all pulled together to allow the application to happen as one transaction. Whereas earlier an applicant would have had to visit a number of different offices to collect various documents proving their eligibility, now records from hospitals, the health insurance fund and other institutions are integrated via the X-Road, eliminating the applicant's need to visit them in person.

This reduction in bureaucracy also means applicant receives the benefits sooner.