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In this Q&A with Rannar Park, our Head of Business Engagement, we explore why delegations continue to visit the e-Estonia Briefing Centre and how our tailored programmes help them understand not only Estonia’s digital solutions, but also the mindset, culture, and partnerships that make them work.
Why do organisations choose to visit the e-Estonia Briefing Centre instead of just reading about Estonia’s digital government online? What do they gain from the programmes that they can’t get elsewhere?
To provide an exhaustive answer to this question would be akin to writing a novella, but to keep it brief (since we are the BRIEFing centre, after all), I would use the analogy of textbooks and teachers. A textbook holds all the information a person would need to get their answers, but it is the teacher who brings that material to life through context and storytelling. The business programmes can be seen as one-on-one tutoring in this analogy, where the content is personalised to the delegation’s interests to provide as much clearly defined value as possible.
What are the most common challenges or questions delegations bring to you, and how have these changed over the years?
Today, the hottest topics are, of course, everything and anything related to artificial intelligence – from the educational impact of the AI Leap initiative to improving citizens’ quality of life in the health care sector through private entities like Better Medicine and Elnora AI.
When it comes to changes in the questions that delegations ask, it feels like the shift from “why” to “how” has been the most notable. For me, this is a sign that our visitors from around the globe have reached a certain level of maturity and political willingness when it comes to change. Less and less do our digital transformation advisors have to convince delegations of the merits of digitalisation, and instead get to focus on the meaningful ways in which we have re-imagined how a state interacts with its citizens.
Can you share an example of a delegation that took insights from our programme and turned them into real changes back home?
Often, the immediate impact is difficult to see since these relationships may take months, if not longer, to develop into something tangible. Sometimes, the spark IS instant, a few examples come to mind!
Just ahead of their presidential election, we hosted members of the Moldovan government for a short business program. Through this, the delegation met with our very own Digital State Academy and Digital Nation, returning home with a clear goal in mind: a mission to build trust through education, clear messaging, and a structured digital citizenship education program.
Throughout the year, we’ve also had a massive increase in delegations interested in digital health. A noteworthy visit comes to mind from February, when representatives from a global pharmaceutical company visited us, seeking to understand how the pharmaceutical industry can contribute to developing digitalised healthcare services and improving patient outcomes, as well as what’s being done in this regard in Estonia. After meeting with the Estonian Cancer Centre, Better Medicine, and the Genomics Institute of the University of Tartu, the delegation received input on their plans from the organisations, and conversations continued after their visit regarding personalised (and in some cases, preventative) medical service design for everyone.
How do the programmes help visitors understand not just the technology, but also the mindset and culture behind Estonia’s digital state?
The main aim of the business programmes has always been so much more than a product demo or a pitching session from companies and organisations. Instead, the programmes always aim to create a public-private narrative fitting the specifics of the delegation, showing just how interconnected our system is and how “the digital state” is so much more than just the efforts of the government, but rather a collectively trust-building exercise through decades between public, private and third sector actors.
If you could give one piece of advice to a country beginning its digital transformation journey, what would it be, and where do you see our programmes fitting into that?
It feels cliché, but the proverb of “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step” is most apt here. If ancient Chinese isn’t your cup of tea, Nike’s “Just Do It” also works.
The concept of digitalisation can be incredibly overwhelming when considering a whole-of-state view, and analysis paralysis can set in very quickly, but change needs to start from somewhere. Come to Estonia, get in touch with us at the Briefing Centre and let us help find you the best “sherpas” to guide you along the way.
Register your interest for our programmes and we’ll be in touch with more details.
