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On February 19th, the President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid opened the new e-Estonia Briefing Centre in the Öpiku Building in Ülemiste City, which introduces our unique digital society and e-solutions to high-level foreign visitors from both the private and public sector.
“Our e-solutions have made Estonia an honest, transparent and efficient country. We have set an example for Europe, and now have a following, especially among the Nordic countries. Nordic countries helped Estonia to succeed economically in the 90s. Now it’s time to return the favour and guide them to a more flexible 21st century and show how to operate as an e-state,” said the President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid in her speech at the opening of e-Estonia Briefing Centre.
The Managing Director of the Briefing Centre Liina Maria Lepik says interest in Estonia’s e-solutions has continued to grow over the years. “Last year, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre received more than 800 delegations and close to 9 000 guests, exceeding the previous year by 20%. Our e-story is unique and fascinates the international community, and a number of e-solutions, which seem common to us, are still utopian to a large part of the world,” she added.
According to Lepik, many countries are beginning to understand the necessity to build a digital society and the opportunities that these developments would bring. “There is a growing interest in understanding how to adopt one or another e-solution in their own country – and they turn to Estonia for guidance. One of the objectives of our Briefing Centre is to bring interested parties from foreign countries together with those Estonian businesses that provide our e-solutions and, thereby, to increase Estonia’s export of e-services.”
Doris Põld, the Cluster Manager of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications, believes that the e-Estonia Briefing Centre plays an important role in shaping and maintaining the image of e-Estonia. “E-Estonia Briefing Centre is a gateway for foreign guests, which helps them get a better understanding of our digital services as well as our companies’ capacities. The Briefing Centre is crucial for our companies to make international contacts and establish partnerships.”
The Briefing Centre is celebrating its tenth birthday in a new space with a completely overhauled and updated concept for exhibiting Estonia’s e-state. The focus is more on special, innovative, and customised digital solutions and less on physical exhibits. The exposition takes visitors on an e-journey enhanced by interactive games, allowing them to build their own e-state and, in contrast, experience the labyrinth of bureaucracy.
The digital exposition introduces the e-services the Estonian state provides which are still unavailable in most countries, including digital identity, X-road, i-voting, e-Tax Board, e-residency, and many more. Estonian technology and software companies’ solutions are also on display, including those of Nortal, Stigo, Cybernetica, Guardtime, Helmes, Veriff, Icefire, Proekspert, and Datel.
Over the past 10 years, the e-Estonia Briefing Centre has hosted over 52 000 people and close to 4000 delegations. Visitors include Heads of State, public sector decision-makers, academics, journalists, entrepreneurs and investors from more than 130 countries. Over the years, the Briefing Centre has been visited by the King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander, President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen, Foreign Minister of Australia Julie Bishop, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, New Zealand`s Minister of Interior Peter Dunne, Japan`s Minister of Economy Akira Amari and large corporations like Deutsche Post, Google, Baker Hughes General Electric, Novartis, Fujitsu and many others.
Facts about the e-Estonia Briefing Centre:
- Established in 2009 as an ICT Demo Centre
- Moved to Ülemiste City in 2014 (Lõõtsa 2A)
- Represents 47 companies (number set to increase)
- Close to 9 000 visitors and over 800 delegations in 2018
- 52 000 visitors from 4000 delegations in total since opening
- 10 employees
- Size of the new centre: 500m²
